For hundreds of years, people with psychiatric, neurological,
and medical conditions were often removed from society,
sometimes for a lifetime. In Toledo, many were sent to the state
hospital to live out their days. From 1888 until 1973, those who
died and weren’t claimed were buried in one of two cemeteries.
1,994 people who had been forgotten in life were also forgotten
in death, buried in graves identified by small concrete blocks
marked only with the number of their burial. Even these
anonymous grave markers were eventually lost underground after
decades of neglect. The city grew up around the cemeteries, and
the people buried there were forgotten. The Toledo State
Hospital Cemeteries became a visible reminder of how society
shunned people with disabilities until the late 20th century. In
2005, The Toledo State Hospital Cemetery Reclamation Committee
(TSHCRC), under the auspices of NAMI of Greater Toledo, began
working in cooperation with the University of Toledo (the owner
of the property which contains