Archaeologists in Clearwater, Florida, confirmed the discovery of at least 328 graves from a Black cemetery beneath a commercial building on Wednesday. The graves also extended to a nearby road.
The tombs, according to WTSP, are from the St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery, which opened in 1902 and remained in use until the 1940s. Midway through the 1950s, pressure was put on the church to sell the land for $15,000. Researchers claim that 328 graves were located at the Black cemetery that was uncovered in May.
Following the discovery of the cemetery beneath the office building, the state declared it would set aside $30 million from the American Rescue Plan to establish the “Abandoned African American Cemeteries” Task Force.
At a meeting of the Clearwater African American Cemeteries Memorial Committee, which was hosted by a nearby NAACP branch, senior archaeologist Erin McKendry revealed the team’s discoveries.
FrankCrum President Matt Crum previously admitted to WTSP that he was unaware that a Black cemetery existed beneath the premises. He was eager to find out what transpired and make amends for earlier wrongs after learning about the finding.
“To me, it’s the next logical step, to find out, you know, what the perimeter of the old cemetery was, how many possible remains we’re talking about,” Crum told WTSP last year. “And then we can start having a conversation with all stakeholders to say, ‘OK, well, what do we do now.’”
A number of Black cemeteries and mass graves, including one in Tulsa, Oklahoma, holding bodies from victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre, have been found across the nation. Additionally, a Black cemetery for ex-slaves was found in Maryland last year.
The committee, the city of Clearwater, and FrankCrum are now cooperating with the Clearwater/Upper Pinellas NAACP to decide how to best honor individuals buried at the cemetery and how to enable future cemetery-related choices.