Rochester has a long relationship with poverty and death.  We compare how the poor were treated at the end of their lives 150 years ago versus now. Learn about the Highland Park “bone yard”, and visit a local non-profit that makes caskets for Rochester’s homeless.  

Thanks to Don Skillman & Memorials Co-op, Stephanie Ball & the RMSC archives, Teej Jenkins and Nicole Delgrosso for making this episode possible.

This episode digs into the history of a park that we take for granted every May. The ground on which vendors pitch tents and sell fried dough and hot tubs is hallowed. Through much of the 19th century Monroe County didn’t know what to do with the poor, and certainly didn’t want to deal with them when they died. Part 1 of this episode covers the excavation of some of the bodies by a team from Rochester Museum and Science Center. Part 2 examines how attitudes towards death and the poor have (or haven’t) changed.