The remains of at least 7,000 people have been buried beneath the University of Mississippi. The bodies of the state’s first mental institution ‘Insane Asylum’ stretch across 20 acres of campus. A group of academics has formed a consortium dedicated to studying the remains.
Officials predict that it may cost up to $21m, to recover and rebury each body. The campus medical centre, where the bodies have been discovered, is looking at alternatives much more cheaper than the present rate.
They hope to create a memorial and laboratory where students can study the patients’ remains, as well as remnants of clothes and wood unearthed in the process.
According to records, of the 1,376 patients admitted between 1855 and 1877, more than one in five died.
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