"Below a simple granite headstone in a peaceful section of the Russian River Cemetery in Ukiah lie the remains of hundreds of people, a reminder of a dark, 80-year period during which people confined to the local state mental hospital during life were, after death, buried in unmarked graves, then forgotten.

“Let no person ever be laid to rest without recognition,” the headstone reads in part.

Those people, many confined against their will, are forgotten no more. Their lives were among tens of thousands honored on Monday in “remembrance” day ceremonies being held across the state, including ones at Napa State Hospital and the Sonoma Developmental Center.

It’s the 14th year of such ceremonies, according to Disability Rights California and People First of California, the two advocacy groups sponsoring the events. In 2010, the state Legislature deemed the third Monday in September as the “California Memorial Project Remembrance Day.”"