After years of neglect, the 188 souls buried at the Hillside Cemetery are finally getting the respect they deserve.
The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) will be unveiling a monument honouring those buried at the cemetery on Saturday, Sept. 28 and, in many ways, laying the dead to rest.
The monument and interpretive signage will recognize the men, women and children who lived and died at the Lunenburg Municipal Hospital, which was a provincial government facility that institutionalized the poor, physically sick and mentally ill.
The hospital was one of several opened by the province in the late 1880s.
Closed in 1980, the hospital occupied the same grounds which currently house the Municipal Activity Recreation Complex (MARC).
But until now, the dead at the cemetery — those whose bodies were unclaimed by family or friends — did not have a permanent monument testifying to their experiences.
Janice Rand, the former recreation program coordinator for MODL, said the hospital residents were considered inmates and many were forced into the system.
She worked on the file on behalf of the municipality until her retirement in 2018.
“At the time they were buried here, these people were, unfortunately, considered by some to be the unwanted of the community,” she said during an interview with the South Shore Breaker.
Rand said the municipality had been discussing doing something for the Hillside Cemetery for at least five years but the budget was only approved this year.
Council voted unanimously to approve the design and wording of the monument and signage back in November.
“It’s nice to finally see it come to fruition,” she said, adding that the community was key in making the monument happen.
In addition to the monument, interpretative signage will include the history of the cemetery and hospital through text and photographs.
“It’s about the people who are buried there and kind of ignored and left unidentified,” said Rand. “Nobody should be ignored.”
For his part, veteran journalist and South Shore Breaker columnist Peter Simpson said he was pleased that justice was being done for those buried at the cemetery.
Through his column Here’s What I’m Thinking, Simpson has advocated that the dead at the Hillside Cemetery be recognized by the municipality.
Simpson was also asked to address MODL council on multiple occasions as a result of his investigative articles.
“I think it’s wonderful that the folks who are buried there are going to be honoured in a respectful way,” he said.
“This is one of my proudest moments to see this come to fruition and get these people acknowledged and respected.”
In a previous interview with the South Shore Breaker, MODL mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson said it’s important for the municipality to pay its respects.
“The hospital might not be a part of our heritage that we can take particular pride in but it is a part of this region’s history and placing a remembrance at the cemetery is the right thing to do,” she said.
The unveiling will take place at 11:00 a.m.
