Cemeteries have historically been the places people go to remember family members and friends who have died. Remember who they were and what they did while they were alive. In some cemeteries, such as the one on the grounds of the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center, it can be a place to forget.
More than 12,500 graves in institution cemeteries in Minnesota are marked with only a number, if at all, according to Remembering With Dignity, a coalition of disability rights and advocacy organizations founded in 1994 to identify those people buried beneath a number and record their histories. Remembering With Dignity, together with the Americans with Disabilities Act Road to Freedom tour, held a ceremony Saturday to honor the placement of hundreds of new grave markers in the treatment center’s cemetery.
Songs were sung and a play performed by the United We Stand Players of New Ulm and the AKTION Club Theater of Mankato, acting groups for people with various types of disabilities, all with the theme of remembering. Remembering those who have been forgotten and not forgetting those that are here.
Currents
Related Photos
-
Heidi Myhre places flowers on the new headstone of Frank Chermak after an installation ceremony Saturday at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center’s cemetery. Pat Christman
-
Flowers rest on newly-placed headstones near their numbered markers Saturday at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center’s cemetery. Pat Christman
-
A flower sits on a grave marker bearing only a number Saturday at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center's cemetery. Pat Christman
-
Members of United We Stand Players and the AKTION Club Theater Group, acting groups for people with various types of disabilities, hold masks in front of their faces during a play called “Calling Names on the Wind” during the ceremony Saturday. Pat Christman
-
Hundreds of new headstones wait to be placed in the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center's cemetery. Pat Christman
Advocacy group marks patients' graves
Ceremony at St. Peter Regional Treatment Center honors those whose graves were marked by just numbers
- Currents
-
-
Literary Laborers
These founders of independent literary magazines and presses face long hours and long odds.
-
Coolio, Dead Days lineup heat up Mankato music
Two-day festival also features Useful Jenkins
-
Sounds good: Loggins the man as genuine as his music
Writer of "Footloose" and "Danny's Song" coming to Verizon Wireless Center on Feb. 23
-
MSU's 'Imaginary Invalid' is 'pure comedy'
The last Mainstage show before 'Phantom of the Opera' in April
-
Art Exhibits Feb. 9-15
-
Entertainment Calendar Feb. 9-15
-
Kent: For art's sake Ligon lets the F-word fly
Samuel Ligon and Kristin Naca are featured in the next installment of the Good Thunder Reading Series
-
Art with benefits
Darth Vader Helmet Art Contest has online auction to benefit two local charities
-
'Dying to Make It:' The makings of a rock opera
Three St. Peter natives collaborate on a rock opera debuting Feb. 17 in Minneapolis
-
Closeup: Pert Near Sandstone: An American sound coming to Mankato
- More Currents Headlines
-
