This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/01/bones-notorious-boys-home
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Bones dug up near Dozier boys' home | Bones dug up near Dozier boys' home |
| (17 days later) | |
| Searchers have recovered human bones in Florida from a "boot hill" graveyard where juveniles who disappeared from a notorious reform school more than half a century ago are believed to have been secretly buried. "We have found evidence of burial hardware – hinges on coffins," said Dr Christian Wells, an anthropologist from the University of South Florida, in a briefing about a mile from the closed excavation site near the former Arthur G Dozier School for Boys. "There appear to be a few pieces associated with burial shrouds and there are pins consistent with the 1920s and 1930s – based on the style of the pins – and they appear to be brass," he said. | Searchers have recovered human bones in Florida from a "boot hill" graveyard where juveniles who disappeared from a notorious reform school more than half a century ago are believed to have been secretly buried. "We have found evidence of burial hardware – hinges on coffins," said Dr Christian Wells, an anthropologist from the University of South Florida, in a briefing about a mile from the closed excavation site near the former Arthur G Dozier School for Boys. "There appear to be a few pieces associated with burial shrouds and there are pins consistent with the 1920s and 1930s – based on the style of the pins – and they appear to be brass," he said. |
| Some former residents of , now in their 60s and 70s, have told of brutal beatings and boys – mostly black juveniles – disappearing without explanation more than 50 years ago. | Some former residents of , now in their 60s and 70s, have told of brutal beatings and boys – mostly black juveniles – disappearing without explanation more than 50 years ago. |
| Fragments of large human bones were found on the first day of digging, Wells said, but it was impossible to know if they came from any of the teenage boys housed at Dozier during its infamous 111-year existence. The school was closed in mid-2011. The bones will be examined in laboratories at the University of South Florida and the University of North Texas as part of a programme funded by the US department of justice and state of Florida. Blood relatives of some of the boys have given DNA samples, to be matched against evidence taken from the skeletal remains. The dig came after forensic investigators using ground-piercing radar and old public records detected 31 spots showing possible human remains. Researchers planted white crosses on a nearby hillside to commemorate the unaccounted-for boys. Tananarive Due, who came to the dig with some family members, said her great-uncle, Robert Stephens, died at the school in 1937. "The story was ... he tried to run away at one point," she said. "The official cause of death was a stabbing by another inmate, that's what it was listed as. But with so many of these boys, who knows how they died? Their families never had a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones." | Fragments of large human bones were found on the first day of digging, Wells said, but it was impossible to know if they came from any of the teenage boys housed at Dozier during its infamous 111-year existence. The school was closed in mid-2011. The bones will be examined in laboratories at the University of South Florida and the University of North Texas as part of a programme funded by the US department of justice and state of Florida. Blood relatives of some of the boys have given DNA samples, to be matched against evidence taken from the skeletal remains. The dig came after forensic investigators using ground-piercing radar and old public records detected 31 spots showing possible human remains. Researchers planted white crosses on a nearby hillside to commemorate the unaccounted-for boys. Tananarive Due, who came to the dig with some family members, said her great-uncle, Robert Stephens, died at the school in 1937. "The story was ... he tried to run away at one point," she said. "The official cause of death was a stabbing by another inmate, that's what it was listed as. But with so many of these boys, who knows how they died? Their families never had a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones." |
| Johnny Lee Gaddy, 67, said he was locked up from 1957 to 1961 for truancy. He said he was severely beaten but in his teens became a good farm worker, hoping to be released. | Johnny Lee Gaddy, 67, said he was locked up from 1957 to 1961 for truancy. He said he was severely beaten but in his teens became a good farm worker, hoping to be released. |
| "I know some [boys] they said had gome home, but they hadn't been here long enough to go home," Gaddy said. "They said some others ran away or were transferred to other places. We never saw any bodies or funerals." John Due, father of Tananarive, said descendants and civil-rights activists who pressed the state for disclosure of what happened to the young men ran into rigid resistance from authorities for decades. "People didn't want to talk about it, and we found that particularly among black families," he said. | "I know some [boys] they said had gome home, but they hadn't been here long enough to go home," Gaddy said. "They said some others ran away or were transferred to other places. We never saw any bodies or funerals." John Due, father of Tananarive, said descendants and civil-rights activists who pressed the state for disclosure of what happened to the young men ran into rigid resistance from authorities for decades. "People didn't want to talk about it, and we found that particularly among black families," he said. |
| Officials have said remains that can be identified will be re-interred at family plots and any unidentified remains will be numbered and buried – with records kept for later return to families, if any come forward. | Officials have said remains that can be identified will be re-interred at family plots and any unidentified remains will be numbered and buried – with records kept for later return to families, if any come forward. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
Previous version
1
Next version