More than two dozen grave shafts have been discovered at a lost, but not forgotten African American cemetery in Clearwater. Among the team of researchers who took part in the effort are USF-based archaeologists helping to give a community the chance to memorialize those still at rest under layers of dirt, time and development.
Jeff Moates is the regional director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network's (FPAN) West Central Region, housed within the USF Department of Anthropology. Moates and his team, led by Tampa engineering firm, Cardno Inc., were brought in by the City of Clearwater to investigate the site, known today as North Greenwood, after calls from local community organizations, including the Clearwater/Upper Pinellas branch of the NAACP.
"The work that was done at the North Greenwood site is monumental to the North Greenwood community," said Zebbie D. Atkinson IV, president of the NAACP's Clearwater/Upper Pinellas branch. "For so long the community has voiced that there were bodies that hadn't been removed, but those voices fell on deaf ears. The work that FPAN and Cardno have done proves that the community was correct, there are still bodies at the site and there needs to be recognition of the wrongs that have been committed against the African American community in the North Greenwood area."
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Jeff Moates, regional director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network's West Central Region, housed within the USF Department of Anthropology, documenting the existence of remaining grave shafts at the North Greenwood site.
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USF alumna working at the North Greenwood site
Becky O'Sullivan, M.S. '12 (left), and Mary Maisel (right), both Cardno employees, taking measurements at the North Greenwood site.
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Archaeologists consulting one another at the North Greenwood cemetery site
Eric Prendergast, M.S. '15 (left), and Jeff Moates (right), working at the excavation site in Clearwater.
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Jeff Moates holding samples from the site
Moates bagging samples from the dig site. A number of artifacts, including currency, were found during the excavation work.
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Jeff Moates at the cemetery site
Use of North Greenwood as a cemetery dates back to between 1940 and the early 1950s. In 1954, a number of gravesites were relocated to a cemetery in Dunedin to prepare the site for development. However, for years, community members have believed a number of unmarked graves still remained at North Greenwood.
This latest work confirms those suspicions after archaeologists spent two weeks excavating grave shafts first located using ground-penetrating radar (GPR).
"It's a privilege to be out here working on behalf on this community," Moates said. "We've heard from people here who remember going to funerals at this site and spending time with family here. So, to be part of bringing these sites back to the forefront and giving these communities the chance to memorialize them is really special."
Archaeologists with Cardno, Inc., many of whom are USF alumni, will now analyze data collected at the site, develop a complete report and present it to the City of Clearwater for further determination on how to proceed.
"We're really trying to answer the questions that the community and the property owners have about what happened here and we're trying to use our expertise to get those answers," said Becky O'Sullivan, M.S. '12, a senior archaeologist with Cardno and USF alumna. "It's important work and we're all glad to be part of it."
North Greenwood is the latest in a number of African American cemeteries across Tampa Bay to be rediscovered. Zion Cemetery in Tampa was the first site to be found after an extensive investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and subsequent archaeological work by USF, FPAN and Cardno. Moates says that along with North Greenwood, another site in Clearwater has already been identified for further investigation. And while each of these sites represents an opportunity for a community to get answers, he hopes more will be done.
"When the Zion Cemetery project came out, Tampa Bay legislators joined together to sponsor a bill that looks at this issue statewide," Moates said. "African American cemeteries faced different challenges than the majority of cemeteries in Florida, especially those that are predominantly white. So, taking steps at the state level to really look at these issues is an important part of moving forward."
If passed, that legislation would set up a task force to investigate abandoned African American cemeteries around the state. Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, first introduced Senate Bill 220 early last year. The bill was unanimously passed in the Florida Senate but is still awaiting a vote in the House.
Until then, archaeologists with USF, FPAN and Cardno will continue their work finding and documenting these lost but not forgotten sites.
