Hearts Remembered Memorializes 699 Forgotten Children in Unmarked Graves
Thursday May 11, 12:29 pm ET
'Survivor's' Rupert to Speak at Memorial Unveiling Event June 4 at Indianapolis Cemetery

INDIANAPOLIS, May 11, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The unmarked graves of 699 children are located on ``Community Hill'' at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, in the shadows of the cemetery's noted ``Crown Hill,'' where the rich, powerful and privileged are buried. More than 100 years after the first children were buried without grave markers, the Hearts Remembered Memorial will be unveiled at a special event at 2 p.m., June 4, 2006, finally paying the proper recognition to these forgotten children who died from neglect, maltreatment and disease.

Hearts Remembered is a program of the Care for Kids Foundation, an Indianapolis-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that raises funds to support initiatives and programs centered on assisting or creating an awareness of the needs of vulnerable children.

The memorial itself comprises three black granite monoliths. The 9-ft. center stone features a 30-in. cut circle that houses a bronze sculpture of two children, hand-in-hand, and is flanked on either side by 5-ft. complementary stones. Engraved with the names of the nearly 700 children, the five-ton monument will stand in the shadows with the children as a chilling reminder that we as a society must pay attention to all children.

``Memorializing these forgotten children is not only the right thing to do, it also helps remind us how precious the lives of our children are,'' said Michael Thierwechter, president of Care for Kids.

``Survivor's'' Rupert Highlights Unveiling

With a long history of working with at-risk youth, Survivor star and founder of Rupert's Kids, Rupert Boneham, will be the keynote speaker at the June 4 memorial unveiling ceremony. Prior to his celebrity status, Boneham worked with a variety of children's organizations, including the Dawn Project, where he excelled in his ability to work with hard-edged youth with whom many other mentors and caregivers had difficulty connecting.

The scraggly haired, teddy bear of a man has since used his $1 million Survivor prize money to continue helping children in need through the not-for-profit Rupert's Kids. Hearts Remembered was an obvious fit.

In addition to Boneham's appearance, the free public event also will feature performances by the Indianapolis Children's Choir and a local dance group.

The Bigger Issue

While the children found in Crown Hill died between 1892 and 1980 -- some from diseases not prevalent today -- the fact is children continue to die needlessly every day.

``The children at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis may be only a fraction of the forgotten children in the United States,'' Thierwechter said. ``And, this problem didn't end in 1980. The tragedy lives on today.''

The recent data is staggering. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System reported an estimated 1,400 child fatalities in 2002, and 1,356 children throughout the nation died in 2000 due to child maltreatment, which is equivalent to almost four children each day.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 906,000 children in the United States were confirmed by child protective services as being abused or neglected in 2003. Recent psychological studies have shown children who experience maltreatment are at increased risk for lifelong adverse health effects, including suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, sexual promiscuity and certain chronic diseases.

A Vicious Circle

Sadly, situations such as alcoholism, drug abuse and sexual promiscuity were among the lifestyles that catalyzed many of the untimely deaths of the 699 Indianapolis area children who came from the Board of Children's Guardians, the Children's Bureau, Indianapolis Children's Asylum and the Home for Friendless Colored Children. Now all that remains of these children's lives are notes found in the archives at the various organizations, all similar to the following actual transcripts:

  He is an illegitimate child...The child had not been properly

  cared for and it showed unmistakable signs of neglect.

  The Kinleys are a bad set. Father is in penitentiary. Mother

  notified of Paul's death. Did not attend burial.

  Syphilis was the disease and she was a terrible object to look at.

  He is an illegitimate boy. The mother was arrested for

  prostitution...The house was filthy and the child not cared for.

``By finally recognizing the lives of these children, we hope to encourage people to work toward protecting all children,'' Thierwechter said. ``That's truly what Hearts Remembered is about -- honoring the innocent lives lost and reminding everyone to love and nurture all children. What's more, we hope others across the nation will contact us with their stories, so we can help other forgotten children receive the recognition they deserve.''

Unfortunately, the children were buried in Crown Hill Cemetery without even a simple grave marker. The hillside gravesite is littered with surveyor posts, but no headstones can be found.

On the first Sunday in June, the children will finally receive an appropriate marker. The Hearts Remembered Memorial's prominent center stone, in which the evocative reflection of the barren gravesite can be seen, is inscribed with the following: ``Every life touches someone, and no life should ever be forgotten, especially the life of a child.''

Hearts Remembered memorializes orphans, abused children and others who are buried in unmarked graves. These children died from neglect, maltreatment and disease. They remind us every day how precious the lives of our children are and that we as a society must protect and nurture all children.

Hearts Remembered is a program of the Care for Kids Foundation, an Indianapolis-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that raises funds to support initiatives and programs centered on assisting or creating an awareness of the needs of vulnerable children.

June 5, 2006
 
Forgotten no more
Monument is dedicated to 699 orphaned or abandoned children at Crown Hill

By Dan McFeely
dan.mcfeely@indystar.com

Harry's short life and tragic death in 1913 were all too familiar to the nearly 700 other abandoned or orphaned children also buried on the same shady, sloping hill, without gravestones, over an 88-year period.
In this historic Northside cemetery -- where a U.S. president, three vice presidents, Booth Tarkington, James Whitcomb Riley and Eli Lilly are buried -- these children had long been forgotten.
Until now.
On Sunday, the Care for Kids Foundation -- with help from Rupert Boneham and U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. -- unveiled the Hearts Remembered Memorial in honor of 699 children buried on what is called Community Hill. The charitable foundation that supports vulnerable children through a variety of agencies raised $30,000 for the memorial and a ceremony fit for the kind of people these children never had the chance to become. With more than 200 people watching, the memorial was unveiled to the sounds of the Indianapolis Children's Choir. A flock of white doves was released as the children sang. "If we don't remember what happened to our kids in the past, then we won't care about what happens to them in the future. And today's kids will be doomed," said Boneham, who put some of his winnings from the show "Survivor" toward his own Indianapolis-based program to help children.
The new memorial consists of three black granite monoliths. A 9-foot center stone features a 30-inch cut circle with a bronze sculpture of two children arm in arm.
It's flanked by two 5-foot stones, upon which are inscribed the names of the 699 children, whose identities were revealed after months of research into old records.
The 5-ton memorial will become one of Crown Hill's 60-plus key attractions, noted on maps handed out to an estimated 10,000 visitors each year. The children were buried there from 1892 to 1980, and they came from four community agencies, including the now-defunct "Home for Friendless Colored Children," the "Indianapolis Children's Asylum," the "Board of Children's Guardians" and the "Children's Bureau." Slightly more than half of the 699 buried on the hill were boys -- about a third were black. Many came from broken homes, in which fathers died or deserted their families and mothers turned to prostitution to make ends meet. They fell victim to heart ailments and diseases such as tuberculosis. Some simply starved to death. And once they were turned over to the orphanage, they often were separated from their brothers and sisters.

Harry's story

Harry Lockwood was among those waiting for a family. Born Sept. 2, 1898, Harry had been raised in what social workers called a filthy home. His mother had been a prostitute, and he was classified as illegitimate when he entered the orphanage in 1910 at the age of 12. In July of that year, he was placed with a family from Danville, who seemed more interested in adopting a worker for the farm. According to Guardian Home records, Harry "was returned when he refused to pull a few weeds and said he did not have to work." He reportedly asked his new family whether they thought he was a horse, rather than a child. A month later, he was placed with a different family in Rush County, and things seemed to be working out until he suffered an appendicitis attack about three years later. After a minor operation to drain fluid from his side, doctors told his new family that Harry needed to have a second operation to remove the appendix, but they refused to pay. In April 1913, the doctor visited Harry again, and this time he insisted that an operation was necessary to save the boy's life. So Harry was brought back to Indianapolis and admitted to City Hospital. But it was too late. After months of neglecting the condition, Harry died in his hospital bed Aug. 10, 1913, a few weeks shy of his 15th birthday.
He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery two days later.

Memories won't fade

Burton spoke Sunday of his experience as a young boy in an orphanage in the 1950s. He was a temporary resident in the Children's Guardian Home after his father tried to kill his mother, he said. Burton said he does not remember how long he was in the home. His mother had fled to another state, and his father ultimately went to prison.
Still, he stayed long enough to build memories that will never go away.
"I can still remember the faces of those kids," Burton said, "and the way they would all look with anticipation whenever people came in looking for a kid to adopt."
Mike Thierwechter, the president of Care for Kids, said the problem of neglected and abandoned kids remains today. "The children at Crown Hill are only a fraction of the forgotten children in the United States," Thierwechter said. "Memorializing them is not only the right thing to do; it reminds us just how precious the lives of our children were yesterday and are still today." Nationwide, 1,356 children died in 2000 due to child maltreatment, according to Prevent Child Abuse America. And more than 900,000 children were reported abused in 2003, according to the federal government, although experts say thousands of other abuse cases go unreported.

An intern's passion

Crown Hill is the nation's third-largest nongovernment cemetery with 555 acres and more than 190,000 graves. It conducts more than 1,200 burials each year. In addition to President Benjamin Harrison and other political notables, the cemetery -- which offers public tours of its grounds -- is home to the remains of bank robber John Dillinger. Crown Hill long had a policy of providing free burial space for orphans and impoverished children. But it wasn't until a college intern started digging into old cemetery records four years ago that the extent of the burials in Section 37 came to light. Anna Sturgeon -- who has since married and now works in Columbus, Ind. -- was an IUPUI student working with the Marion County Children's Guardian Home. Care for Kids stumbled upon an old deed for some ground at Crown Hill and asked Sturgeon to look into the matter. "She found about 67 children in unmarked graves from the Guardian Home," Thierwechter said. "And then the more she dug, the more she found." Sturgeon, who could not be reached for comment for this story, told The Indianapolis Star in a 2003 interview that she compiled the list by scouring through pages of old records and reels of microfilm, looking at handwritten records of the lives of the forgotten children. At the end of Sunday's ceremony, those present formed a long line up Community Hill to place a flower at the base of the memorial, while children took turns reading off the names of the deceased.
"Until we recognize who these children are, they cannot become angels," Thierwechter said. "Today we have 699 new angels."

Call Star reporter Dan McFeely at (317) 444-6230

Buried deep in the dirt of Section 37 at Crown Hill Cemetery, young Harry Lockwood waited 108 years for a little love and respect.
The boy didn't get much of either as an abused and neglected orphan.