There was an article in the Omaha World Herald on 2 Nov 2007, Sec B p 1 by Robert Nelson that needs our attention as concerned genealogists. Currently there is a cemetery in Hastings NE where about 1,000 people who were former patients at the Hastings Hospital when it was a mental institution (now the Hastings Regional Center). These people's graves are marked by a single slab with a number (there's a picture of one.) Burials in this cemetery took place between the late 1880s and the 1950s, and the people had been residents had been clients of the "State Asylum for the Incurably Insane." People requesting information about loved ones who MAY have been buried there have had to spend up to $1000 to get the information. Otherwise, they remain anonymous numbers. If someone in the family went missing, they're probably still missing from our records, if they ended up there. Please join our voice in protesting this mass hiding of records under the guise of medical confidentiality. We are not asking for diagnosis, or treatment, or any medical information. Please emphasize that. All we want is to have made available a name of the person and a date of interment. Write to your state representatives, to the governor, to the Nebraska Health and Human Services (or all of the above), and join us in requesting the right of families to know where loved ones ended up. Even those who died unmarried & childless probably had extended families who care. Other states have made available the names of people who died in state institutions, so there is precedent for releasing the names and burial dates to the public. You can read the entire article in Friday's World Herald. Feel free to pass this message on to other Nebraska genealogy related email lists. Karen ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

Hi Karen Par for the course for the State of Nebraska!!!! Talk about being in the dark ages, the State is a black Hole when it comes to researching a family. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Sahara346@aol.com> To: <nedodge@rootsweb.com>; <nedougla@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 7:52 AM Subject: [NEDOUGLA] Requesting attention and action > > There was an article in the Omaha World Herald on 2 Nov 2007, Sec B p 1 > by > Robert Nelson that needs our attention as concerned genealogists. > Currently > there is a cemetery in Hastings NE where about 1,000 people who were > former > patients at the Hastings Hospital when it was a mental institution (now > the > Hastings Regional Center). These people's graves are marked by a single > slab > with a number (there's a picture of one.) Burials in this cemetery took > place > between the late 1880s and the 1950s, and the people had been residents > had > been clients of the "State Asylum for the Incurably Insane." > > People requesting information about loved ones who MAY have been buried > there have had to spend up to $1000 to get the information. Otherwise, > they > remain anonymous numbers. If someone in the family went missing, they're > probably still missing from our records, if they ended up there. > > Please join our voice in protesting this mass hiding of records under the > guise of medical confidentiality. We are not asking for diagnosis, or > treatment, or any medical information. Please emphasize that. All we > want is to > have made available a name of the person and a date of interment. Write > to your > state representatives, to the governor, to the Nebraska Health and Human > Services (or all of the above), and join us in requesting the right of > families > to know where loved ones ended up. Even those who died unmarried & > childless > probably had extended families who care. > > Other states have made available the names of people who died in state > institutions, so there is precedent for releasing the names and burial > dates to > the public. > > You can read the entire article in Friday's World Herald. Feel free to > pass > this message on to other Nebraska genealogy related email lists. > > Karen > > > > > > ************************************** See what's new at > http://www.aol.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NEDOUGLA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >