title: Field of blood, field of the forgotten. The Potter's Field of Milwaukee County.
abstract: A recent discovery of a forgotten pauper cemetery at the Milwaukee County Medical Center has profound and far-reaching ramifications. More than 5,000 are buried in this graveyard, compelling an investigation into the circumstances surrounding its loss. That the cemetery lies beneath county buildings without official knowledge is a disgrace. The proper dignity of a marked and undisturbed grave was denied to these former county residents because of their poverty. How this discovery is managed will reflect our commitment to both high ideals and the law. This project endeavors to reconstruct the origins of the pauper cemetery, containing a brief history of the poor in Milwaukee County, and an examination of the Almshouse, Milwaukee County's first medical institution. Finally, a postscript offers a parallel between the writings of Charles Dickens and the pauper cemetery.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McBride
mesh_terms: D002048:Burial / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011203:Poverty / Q000266:history*; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000266:history; D014922:Wisconsin