Finding the Stories of NYC's Unclaimed Dead

Roy Foss was a father who fought and lost a battle against alcoholism. Jan Winiarski sent money back to his family in Poland. Kenneth Selesky loved to cook. And Leonard Melfi was a famous playwright—who eerily wrote a play about dying anonymously.

These are just a few of the stories of the thousands of unclaimed dead buried in New York's City Cemetery on Hart Island. Since 1980, prisoners from Rikers Island have buried thousands of poor, homeless, and unidentified people on Hart. This part of the city has been under the control of the Department of Corrections since 1968 and closed to the public. But now, artist Melinda Hunt has launched an interactive online memorial that provides digital access to the cemetery. Through the Traveling Cloud Museum, loved ones can look up information, build community, and share memories.