University of South Florida researchers began exhuming dozens of graves Saturday at a former Panhandle reform school in hopes of identifying the boys buried there and learning how they died. University spokeswoman Lara Wade said in a message Saturday that the work had begun. Researchers are removing dirt with trowels and by hand to find the remains believed to be between about 19 inches to a little more than three feet under the surface. ‘‘In these historic cases, it’s really about having an accurate record and finding out what happened and knowing the truth about what happened,’’ said Erin Kimmerle, a USF anthropologist who is leading the excavation. Former inmates at the reform school from the 1950s and 1960s have detailed horrific beatings that took place in a small, white concrete block building at the facility. A group of survivors call themselves the ‘‘White House Boys’’ and five years ago called for an investigation into the graves. In 2010, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ended an investigation and said it could not substantiate or refute claims that boys died at the hands of staff. USF later began its own research and discovered even more graves than the state department had identified. USF has worked for months to secure a permit to exhume the remains, finally receiving permission from Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet after being rejected by Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who reports to Scott. Robert Straley, a spokesman for the White House Boys, said the school segregated white and black inmates and that the remains are located where black inmates were held. He suspects there is another white cemetery that hasn’t been discovered.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 14:47:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015