Re-Burial Is the Right Thing to Do

Dennis McBride is correct.

Skeletal remains of about 1,600 people unearthed from paupers' cemeteries on the Milwaukee County Grounds during the early 1990s ... during construction of an addition to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.

An archaeological excavation recovered remains, personal effects and funeral hardware, such as nails and coffin fragments, from 1,649 burial sites.

The Wisconsin Historical Society takes the position that all these remains will forever be kept at UW-M for "study."

Fortunately, Dennis McBride of the Wauwatosa Historical Society is not bereft of common sense:

"It's disappointing to have this decision. I can tell you that from our knowledge of the various proposals, we think this is perhaps technically correct but, shall we say, morally disappointing," McBride said.

"There's nothing wrong with UWM doing research, but we think in this situation, these people never had the opportunity to make an informed, voluntary decision about whether they wanted to remain research subjects for the rest of time."

His take is reasonable. Research is not wrong per se. But respect for the dead, commonly held by all civilizations, demands re-burial.