Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery

The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery Population at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Currently UWM cares for individuals from the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery who were disinterred in two separate time frames (1991–1992 cohort and 2013 cohort) in advance of development projects and as provided for by Wisconsin Statute §157.70. This work and responsibility is undertaken by the Cultural Resource Management program within the Archaeological Research Laboratory Center (College of Letters and Science).

1991-1992 Cohort

UWM has been providing long term care for the individuals in the 1991-1992 cohort since 2008 through an unfunded agreement Memorandum of Understanding [01] with the Wisconsin Historical Society and following the provisions of state burial site regulations (Wis. Stat. §157.70). Upon their arrival at UWM in 2008, significant efforts were undertaken to implement ethical curatorial standards.

UWM has been working since 2008 to identify Individuals and reunite them with descendants. There are numerous challenges with our on-going efforts to identify individuals. We discuss these challenges on our website.

Despite these challenges, UWM has had some success in provisionally identifying individuals through fine-grained understanding of cemetery interments through space and time, careful documentary research, and development of biological profiles.

Research Moratorium and Descendant Engagement

Since 2022, a research moratorium has been in place for the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery.

UWM recognizes that engagement with descendant populations is an ethical imperative of bioarchaeological research

UWM continues to fulfill stipulations in the MOU [01], abiding by professional ethics and standards regarding the treatment of human remains, and securing all necessary approvals and consents prior to more invasive analytical procedures. Updates on UWM progress can be found here [02, 03].

Questions related to the MCPFC should be directed to arlc-mcpfc@uwm.edu or via our webform.

2013 Cohort

UWM is temporarily caring for the 2013 cohort on behalf of the Wisconsin Historical Society until such time that the Wisconsin Historical Society makes a final disposition decision. UWM’s involvement is limited to providing curatorial care in a secured facility for this population. No research is being conducted on this population. UWM is not permitted to transfer custody of the 2013 cohort until it receives direction from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Questions related to the MCPFC should be directed to Jennifer R. Haas at arlc-mcpfc@uwm.edu as the community liaison for the project.

Contacts
• Community Liaison: Dr. Jennifer Haas, arlc-mcpfc@uwm.edu
• MCPFC Project Director: Dr. Shannon Freire
• MCPFC Project Director Emerita: Dr. Patricia Richards