Another Possible Lost Cemetery Site Found in Florida

News November 16, 2020

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TAMPA, FLORIDA—According to a report in The Tampa Bay Times, an investigation into the whereabouts of a segregation-era lost cemetery has found possible burial sites with ground-penetrating radar on the property of MacDill Air Force Base. Historical records show that the Port Tampa Cemetery for Blacks was surveyed in the 1930s by the federal Works Progress Administration, but there are no known records of what happened to the remains of the people who had been buried there when the base opened in 1941. Researchers have identified 38 people who were buried in the cemetery, including 12 stillborn infants, through obituaries and death certificates. For more on the archaeology of Florida, go to "Around the World: Florida."

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