Print
Harvard Crimson

Dying Without Identification in Harvard Square

What exactly happens to an unhoused person if they die, unidentified, in the state of Massachusetts?

About a year ago, on Nov. 19, 2021, Kody Christiansen found an unhoused man dead in front of the Bank of America in Harvard Square.

“I’ll never forget his face. It was blue — it was frozen in time — he was gone,” Christiansen, a Harvard Extension School student and special student to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, wrote in an article for the Harvard Political Review.

The man was known around the Square by the name of “Michael” — no last name, no further identifying familial information. He had been living around the neighborhood for years. Some residents knew to leave peanut butter and crackers, one of his favorite snacks, for him in the community fridge.

But without a confirmed full name, state ID, wallet on his person, or fingerprint in the government system, the state of Massachusetts considered Michael to be “unknown” at the time of his death.

By the time the winter snow melted and spring began, no one had laid claim to Michael’s body. Thus began a series of communications between local residents, who wanted to memorialize Michael after his death, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, whose decisions were governed by the state’s right of disposition laws.

For many locals, the incident raised a critical question that few had asked before. What exactly happens to an unhoused person if they die, unidentified, in the state of Massachusetts?

‘Waiting and Waiting’

At the time of his death, the only identifying object that Michael had on his body was a yellow silicone wristband with a phone number to the Capuchin Mobile Ministries.

The group, which defines itself as a “ministry of spiritual caregiving” for unhoused people, runs outreach trips throughout the Greater Boston Area, offering religious resources as well as meals to those in need.

According to Father Sam Fuller, Michael had approached the Ministries at their Harvard Square stop.

“We didn’t quite know his name — he didn’t say much — but he certainly had a benevolent presence about him,” Fuller says. “We didn’t really get involved until we all of a sudden got a call from the city morgue.”

Unfortunately, the Capuchin Fathers had no identifying information about Michael to provide the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. “It was heartbreaking,” Fuller says. Months later, members of the Capuchin Mobile Ministries noticed a short poem — which Christiansen wrote — pinned to a tree outside the Bank of America. Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, had helped organize the small act of tribute.

The poem, which addresses Michael as a “neighbor” and “friend,” reminisces about the days he would sleep outside storefronts in the Square and wishes him peace throughout his permanent rest. “Your soul, your light — not forgotten by us here,” it reads. “Forever in our hearts your memory shall stay dear.”

The lines moved Fuller to reach out to Jillson and lead the Capuchin Fathers in planning a brief memorial service for Michael near the Bank of America tree. But both Jillson and Fuller recognized that a proper funeral could not be held without the state handing over Michael’s body.

“We were all waiting for the body to be released, and waiting, and waiting,” Fuller says.

Released as ‘Unknown’

According to Massachusetts general law, after a proper investigation or examination by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, bodies may be released to the descendant’s “surviving spouse, the next of kin, or any friend of the deceased.” In the case that a body cannot be identified, it becomes the responsibility of the state’s Department of Transitional Assistance.

The DTA specifically provides for the disposition of deceased individuals who are recipients of government assistance, who would have been eligible for assistance at their time of death, or who died anonymously. In such situations, the DTA has a budget for organizing a funeral and final disposition for the person.

Michael’s body would supposedly be released to the DTA, and it seemed that it would stay there. Even as far out as late April, residents who hoped to organize a funeral for Michael still faced resistance from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

“It’s been six months. We have all of these people in the community who are willing to take the body and embalm it, have a service, and bury him appropriately. Will you release the body?” Jillson remembers asking the Examiner’s Office at the time. “They absolutely [would] not.”

At the end of May, an official from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office reached out to Jillson to say the state had “exhausted all efforts in trying to make a positive identification for the Unknown Male that was pronounced at Mt. Auburn Hospital.”

“He will be released from our office as Unknown,” the email said.

Jillson reached out to those in the neighborhood who had offered to help with Michael’s case, expressing relief and gratitude.

Tim Keefe, whose family owns the Keefe Funeral Home in Cambridge, volunteered to embalm Michael’s body. He calls the situation a “very rare case.”

“Typically, a body that’s not identified is not released,” he says. He adds, “There were no fingerprints on record; he had no police record. And then, the medical examiners weren’t even sure if Michael was indeed his real first name.”

But Keefe believes that it was Jillson’s persistence and willingness to take responsibility that likely made the medical examiners amenable to the request. The Keefe Funeral Home became the official claimant of the body.

“They were comfortable releasing him into our care knowing that cremation was not going to take place and that he would be buried in a grave that would be marked — and ultimately, space would be given for him,” Keefe says. (Cremation would prevent potential family members or friends from being able to come forward and claim Michael’s body in the future.)

On June 30, Keefe brought the hearse in front of the First Parish Church in the Square. The long wait for Michael’s remembrance ceremony had come to an end. Michael was given a burial plot at the Cambridge Cemetery, finally laid to rest.

I Deserve ID

It has been a year since Christiansen found Michael in front of the Bank of America, and that cold morning in November, that image of Michael’s face, remains on his mind.

“The community coming together for Michael was beautiful,” Christiansen recalls. “I wish it had been easier.

Christiansen had, of course, hoped that the coroner would succeed in identifying Michael’s body and reaching out to his family members. “Somebody somewhere is missing their brother, their son, their cousin,” he says.

But given that this wasn’t the case, Christiansen says he feels “blessed” that he was the one to find Michael and could make the effort to ensure he did not “just disappear into the ether.”

To help prevent cases like Michael’s from occurring again, Christiansen has launched a program at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter called “I Deserve ID.” Funded by grants from the Harvard College Social Fund and Harvard Radcliffe Institute, I Deserve ID assists HSHS clients with acquiring identification, a process that Christiansen knows to be both difficult and expensive from personal experience.

“As a formerly homeless person myself, I lost my ID on multiple occasions. Things were stolen from shelters; things were lost in the evenings,” Christiansen says.

He adds, “When you’re in a homeless shelter or when you’re on the streets, it’s really hard to motivate yourself to go get the help that you need. I personally was depressed. I didn’t think there was a lot of light at the end of the tunnel when I was at my lowest point of homelessness. So thinking about going to the Social Security office and standing in line for hours and trying to prove who I am without any documents — in order to get a document — just felt like a Herculean task.”

HSHS, which hosts up to 24 people every night from October to April — now provides its clients with a document of comprehensive information about how to apply for an ID, pays for their application, and allows them to set the shelter as the return address for the ID. This return address is a key part of the process — the unhoused population faces a particular barrier to procuring identification because they do not have a home address to send it to.

Christiansen says that several people have already utilized the program. He hopes HSHS will continue offering the service in years to come.

As Christiansen prepares to leave campus upon graduation in May, he imagines that Michael’s story will encourage Harvard students to reflect on how they treat Harvard Square’s unhoused residents.

Michael’s loss is just one of many within Cambridge’s unhoused population, although it received more attention than most others. But beyond the issue of identification, his death has prompted many residents to seriously consider what it would take to keep unhoused people safe — to see them as neighbors, to show care and concern for their lives and not just their deaths.

Print
The Crimson

New Fish on the Block: Students, Locals Welcome Ice Cream Store Taiyaki NYC to Harvard Square

Days before soft serve ice cream store Taiyaki NYC celebrates the grand opening of its Harvard location, the newest addition to the Square has already lured in students and local residents.

Taiyaki NYC, which sells its soft serve ice cream — known as creemees in parts of New England — in instagrammable fish-shaped waffle cones, found fame on social media for its unique desserts. The Harvard Square store is The Dough Club’s first location in the state, but the ice cream chain’s second store in Massachusetts.

The chain first welcomed customers in Harvard Square on Nov. 21 at its “unannounced opening,” according to store employee Winnie Tan. The ice cream store opened alongside The Dough Club, its sibling Japanese mochi doughnut store, at the former location of the clothing store Mint Julep on 6 Church St. The stores will host their grand opening on Friday.

Arleen K. Saini ’25 said Taiyaki NYC’s waffle cones are “really unique” and “very cute.”

“I could see a lot of people taking photos with it,” Saini said.

Cecilia Hermawan, a local resident who visited the new shop on Sunday with her niece, nephew, and seven-year-old daughter, said she had visited the chain’s Boston Seaport location several times and was excited to see it open in Harvard Square.

Hermawan’s daughter, Natalia, jumped in to offer her praise of Taiyaki NYC’s ice cream.

“I like how they also decorate it, and how it looks on the outside, and how it tastes on the inside,” she said.

Minh Trinh ’15, who visited Taiyaki NYC on Sunday with Nga H. Nguy ’15-’16, said the ice cream is “definitely better” than Harvard’s dining hall food.

Print
WCVB

Massachusetts business owners express gratitude on Small Business Saturday

Many people look to get their holiday shopping done in the days following Thanksgiving, which feature some big discounts.

People were able to score deals at major retailers on Black Friday, but Small Business Saturday is all about shopping local.

“It’s a wonderful day. People truly do come out and they support. They want to shop. They want to say hello,” said Brooke Garber, owner of Mint Julep in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Garber spent Saturday morning preparing her women’s clothing boutique for a flood of customers. She has been in business for nearly two decades with locations in Cambridge’s Harvard Square and Coolidge Corner in Brookline…

Print
The Travel

You Don’t Want To Miss These Fun Activities In Boston For The Ultimate Christmas Celebration

There are numerous cities in the northeast that vacationers can settle for in December, but none of them matches Boston. The city transforms into a magical paradise with a unique charm that comes alive at Christmas. From huge Christmas trees to ice skating in some of the most impressive rinks to beautiful streets lined with colorful sparkling lights, plus lots of fun adventures, there is a lot to experience in Boston during Christmas. You don’t want to miss these fun activities in Boston for the ultimate Christmas celebration.

Print
Boston Restaurants

Beat Brew Hall in Cambridge’s Harvard Square Has Closed Down (Again)

A Cambridge dining and drinking spot that was reborn earlier this year as a “honky tonk” has shut its doors once again.

According to a source, Beat Brew Hall in Harvard Square is no longer in business, with a Facebook comment from the Brattle Street place confirming it has indeed permanently closed. The restaurant and bar returned in May after being shuttered for approximately two years; it first opened in September of 2018, replacing Beat Brasserie.

It isn’t known why Beat Brew Hall closed, nor is it known what might go into the space, so stay tuned for updates.

The address for the now-closed Beat Brew Hall is 13A Brattle Street, 13A Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138.

Print
The Crimson

Over 100 Protesters Oppose Brazilian Election in Harvard Square, Drawing Counter-Protest

Draped in Brazilian flags and holding signs alleging fraud, more than 100 protesters gathered in Harvard Square Sunday to oppose the results of the Brazilian presidential election.

Leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the Oct. 30 election with 50.9 percent of the vote, replacing far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who garnered 49.1 percent after serving one term in office. Protests have erupted across Brazil and the United States, with some Bolsonaro supporters alleging the election was fraudulent and calling on the military to stop the transition of power.

There is no evidence to suggest the election was illegitimate. Brazilian military officials, who helped supervise the election, said they have not found any signs of voter fraud.

Sunday’s protest was organized by Congresso Conservador Brasileiro, a conservative Brazilian group based in Framingham.

The protesters questioned the integrity of electronic voting machines, through which nearly all Brazilian voters cast their ballots.

A group of Harvard students counter-protested Sunday’s demonstration, calling the display an attack on democracy.

João Pinheiro ’23-’24 and Helena Mello Franco ’24, co-presidents of the Harvard Undergraduate Brazilian Association, said the organization did not condone the Bolsonaro supporters’ actions.

“It’s an attack against democratic values — an attack against the electoral system in Brazil,” Pinheiro said.

“We also felt like it was an invasion of our space as well to have these protesters here in the middle of Harvard Square, many times confusing the students at Harvard who could be thinking that these people were affiliated somehow with us,” said Mello Franco, who attended the counter-protest.

Mello Franco described Sunday’s counter-protest, which was not organized by HUBA, as a demonstration in support of democratic institutions.

“The protest was not necessarily pro-Lula,” Mello Franco said. “I think the protest is more accurately described as a protest pro-‘respect electoral results and democratic institutions.’”

Lula, who is set to take office at the start of next year, previously served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. In July 2017, he was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled Lula’s sentence in March 2021, and he was released after spending 580 days in prison.

At Sunday’s demonstration, protester Fatima Heath said she was “upset” that someone who was previously imprisoned was elected president of Brazil.

“We don’t want a bad guy,” Heath said. “If the left [has] another good guy, we will respect. We will respect it, because we support the democracy.”

Heath, along with several other protesters at the event, advocated for military intervention in Brazil.

“We want, we call, we need, we ask for our army [to] resolve that,” Heath said.

Pinheiro, HUBA co-president, drew comparisons between Sunday’s protest and attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.

Mello Franco said she hoped Sunday’s demonstrations would shed light on Brazil’s political climate, which she described as “polarizing.”

“I hope that in a way this event also makes people more conscious of how important it is right now to support Brazilian democracy and to leads fights to make sure that democracy is upheld — that the results are upheld,” she said.

Mello Franco also called for compassion toward Brazilian students.

“Try to be as comforting and as compassionate as possible because it’s very tough for us to see something like this happening to our democracy and with us being so far away from it as well,” she said.