Ever True to Thee: History and Archaeology at Asylum Hill

From 1855 to 1935, the Mississippi State Asylum occupied a tract of land north of downtown Jackson, property that is now part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) campus. Graves discovered during construction on campus in 2012 belonged to a cemetery established for patients who died in the asylum. Because this burial ground is the last undeveloped land on campus and is needed for vital expansion, a plan was developed to respectfully excavate the interred patients in consultation with direct descendants and descendant communities.

In this presentation, Lida Gibson, Director of the Museum of Medical History at UMMC, will discuss the history of the Mississippi State Asylum and the background of the Asylum Hill project, as well as her work with the surviving historical records and members of the descendant community. Jennifer Mack, Lead Bioarchaeologist of the Asylum Hill Project, will explain the archaeological work and the chronology of the graves excavated from 2022–2024.