The Pandemic of 1918 at Marianna's School for Boys

264 sick and thirteen dead in 48-hours.

by Dale Cox

The African American dormitory at Florida Industrial School
for Boys, where 196 of 198 students fell ill within 48-hours.

The Florida State Reform School became the Florida Industrial School for Boys (later Dozier School for Boys) in 1914. Four years later, it was devastated by the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918.

The flu hit with a vengeance, and the best efforts of doctors, nurses, and public health officials were quickly overwhelmed. Reports prepared by the latter indicate that 371 Floridians lost their lives to the flu during a twelve-day period that ended on October 17, 1918. And these deaths were just the beginning.

Jacksonville officials quarantined their entire city and urged citizens to wear masks. St. Augustine closed its schools, theaters and soda fountains while banning public gatherings and even church services. The month was remembered for years there as “churchless October.”

The Great Flu Pandemic of 1918 was the most severe and deadly pandemic in recorded history to strike the United States. Estimates vary, but between 500,000 and 650,000 Americans lost their lives, as did millions of people worldwide. The number of deaths from Spanish influenza was higher than the number of battle deaths suffered in World War I.

Children wearing masks during the
1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic.

Influenza spread like lightning, and in Jackson County, as much as 50% of the population fell sick within a matter of days. The Florida Industrial School for Boys, tragically, was not exempt.

Of the 267 students at the school, 264 fell ill within 48 hours. The assistant superintendent of the North or “colored” campus became sick, as did his entire family. All three of the school's engineers succumbed to the illness, along with all of the students that helped them run the school’s power, water, and sewage systems. With no one to run the pumps, the school’s water dried up.  With no water, the toilets and sinks stopped working. The small hospital, a wooden building measuring only 16 by 16 feet, had no water, power, or sanitation.

The African American North or “colored” campus (as it was called in that day) was overcrowded before the Spanish flu. Within three days, 196 of the 198 students and eight of the ten employees there fell ill. The matron of the North campus was the first person at the school to die. Her body lay unburied for 24 hours because there was no one to dig a grave. On the white or South campus, meanwhile, 68 of the 69 students became sick along with all but one or two of the employees.

The situation deteriorated so quickly that “horror” is the only word to describe it:

Nurses helping sick soldiers during the 1918 pandemic. The
Spanish Influenza killed more American soldiers than died
from enemy fire in World War I.

Conditions at the school are very bad. Sewerage imperfect, no sanitary rules at all, screens broke, fleas by the thousands. There were thirty-five cases of pneumonia, lack of medicine and lack of proper nourishment. No linen, boys lying under wool blankets, naked, with dirty mattresses on the cement floor; the reason said to be that the husks would all run out if put on a cot. The condition was one of filth, body lice, improper food, no bathing for lack of towels.^[i]

Dr. George W. Klock, who wrote the above, was an official with the U.S. Public Health Service. He arrived at the school as influenza was raging and conditions were at their worst:

 The dinner of the well colored boys the day I was there being hoecake and bacon grease thickened with flour. The dinner of the white boys being rice and bacon grease gravy. One boy said he was flogged for refusing to cook peas full of worms; that meat sent to the boys was kept until spoiled and then fed them and they all were sick.^[ii]

Klock did not note in his report that the citizens of Marianna were also suffering from the flu. Only one of the city’s doctors remained on his feet and was so overwhelmed that he simply could not care for the hundreds of patients pleading for his help. Most citizens had to care for themselves as deaths multiplied across Jackson County. Graves dating from the fall of 1918 dot the landscape at cemeteries throughout the area. Many of the dead were children.

Eleven students and two employees died at the Florida Industrial School for Boys during the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Although the University of South Florida, citing a Miami Herald report, claimed that all were African American, school records indicate that both white and black students were among the deceased:

Wilbur Smith, 1918; Influenza; African American; Student

Willie Adkins; 1918; Influenza; African American; Student

Lloyd Dutton; 1918; Influenza; White; Student

Hilton Finley, 1918; Influenza; White; Student

Puner Warner, 1918; Influenza; White; Student

Ralph Whidden, 1918, Influenza, White, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, Race unknown, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, Race unknown, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, Race unknown, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, Race unknown, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, Race unknown, Student

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, African American, Female Employee

Unknown, 1918, Influenza, White, Male Employee

The "Boot Hill Cemetery" on the Dozier School
campus was shown on topographic maps as
early as 1948. 25% of the people buried there
died of the Spanish flu in one week.

The flu continued with deadly effect at the school until doctors and nurses from the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee reached the scene. The arrival of trained medical personnel stopped the spiraling death rate and improved conditions at the school.

Governor Sidney Catts ordered an investigation of conditions. A group of three physicians made this inquiry and issued a report in January 1919. On the defensive, the doctors scalded Dr. Klock for his failure to investigate better the causes of the horrific conditions he witnessed:

…Did Dr. Klock say that the superintendent was not a well man? That the assistant superintendent, in charge of the colored department, with all his family were stricken? Did he say that one of the matrons died and remained for hours without attention because the few not in bed had to give aid to the living? Did he say that the attending physician, the only doctor on his feet in Marianna and surrounding community had ten times as much to do as any human being could perform? Did he say that the school was without water for lack of help to run the pump, causing the sewers to choke? Did he say that sixty-eight out of sixty-nine white boys and one hundred and ninety-eight colored boys were down practically at one time? Did he say that the dining room…with cement floor, was temporarily converted into a hospital by a physician, to relieve the congestion in their dormitory?... Did he say that the good people of Marianna had been acting as nurses of this institution until the needs of their own families and surroundings took them away?^[iii]

Spanish Influenza affected the region for decades to come. Families struggled without their lost loved ones, while children still in the womb later suffered much higher rates of learning and physical disabilities than babies born just one year later.

Physicians and scientists study the pandemic of 1918 to this day, searching for lessons to help them rates of death and infection from new worldwide outbreaks.

References:

---

[i] Report of Dr. George W. Klock, U.S. Public Health Service, reprinted in Tampa Tribune, November 2, 1918.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Report of the Physicians’ Committee to the Commissioners of the Board of State Institutions, Marianna, Florida, November 5, 1918.

USF confirms it! NO new bodies found at former Dozier School site!

Road leading to the site of the "non-graves"
excavated last week on the former Dozier School
for Boys property in Marianna, Florida.

University of South Florida (USF) professor Erin Kimmerle confirms that the "anomalies" at the former Dozier School site are NOT graves after all. We first reported this news last week, but the professor announced this morning that the initial dig is over.

NO bodies or human remains were found in excavations at a site pointed out by New South Associates. The ground-penetrating radar firm thought it had found "clandestine graves" on the campus of the former school for juvenile offenders.

The site was originally called the Florida Reform School and later the Florida Industrial School for Boys or the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. It is now called Endeavor.

The possible "clandestine graves" proved to be places where pine tree stumps had been removed.

USF will now move on to studying Lidar imagery to see if it can find any other signs of graves on the campus. The whole new study is costing taxpayers $850,000 thanks to an appropriation from the Florida Legislature.

Meanwhile, residents throughout the region continue their struggle to recover from the damage or destruction inflicted on their homes by Hurricane Michael.

UPDATE: NO HUMAN REMAINS found in new Dozier School dig

An RV, tent, tables, vehicles, and equipment set up on the
former Dozier School for Boys property in Marianna today.

UPDATE (7/19/2019) - No human remains were found this week by researchers investigating "anomalies" at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.

Spots that New South Associates, a ground-penetrating radar firm believed might be "clandestine" graves, proved to be nothing of the sort. Professors and students from the University of South Florida (USF) found only roots and other similar debris.

USF will continue its work at the site in the future, using another $850,000 appropriated by the Florida Legislature following the New South claims.

Read our story posted on Tuesday (7/16/2019) here:

Marianna- The University of South Florida (USF) is digging again at the former Dozier School for Boys, funded by $850,000 from the Florida Legislature.

Researchers from New South Associates found "anomalies" that they suggest might or might not be "clandestine" graves in an area near an old fuel depot and livestock barns. The site is on the north side of the now-closed school, which has been renamed Endeavor by the local government.

The "anomalies" are in a small area that was heavily wooded until recently. The area was searched with ground-penetrating radar because of "oral tradition," according to researchers, "that there was either another burial ground or individuals had been are unmarked graves on the school's campus." [I]

Researchers from USF - including professor Erin Kimmerle - originally came to Marianna one decade ago with similar beliefs, but never found any graves outside the fence that once the school's known cemetery.

Despite false reporting by local, state, national, and international media outlets, the university's team looked at dozens of areas on campus during its previous investigation. None of those spots turned out to be hidden cemeteries or clandestine burial sites.

Kimmerle has cautioned the media this time that the "anomalies" might be trash pits, root balls, or even livestock burial sites.

New South Associates, the firm that conducted the ground-penetrating radar survey admitted as much in its report. "It is possible that some or all of these possible grave anomalies represent false positives," the researchers briefly stated, before proceeding with language referencing an"oral history of graves beyond the cemetery." [II]

The $850,000 given to USF will soon determine whether these "anomalies" are graves.

If "clandestine graves" of murder victims are found, may justice be done if anyone connected to them is still alive so long after the fact. If the "anomalies" turn out to be stump holes or garbage pits, then hopefully there will be enough money left over to refill them.

I do have one suggestion. Perhaps the professors, students, and state officials will take a small amount of their time while here to visit and help those who are living beneath the blue tarps of Hurricane Michael. They are suffering in tents, irreparable homes, FEMA trailers, or are being forced from the only houses they have ever known.

There is a shortage of money to help hundreds of hurricane victims, and maybe you can do a little for them while you are here. No matter what you do or do not believe about Dozier School, these elderly people and children of the storm were not the cause of it.




REFERENCES:

[I] Maeve Herrick and Sarah Lowery, Final Report, "Ground-Penetrating Radar Survey for Possible Unmarked Graves at the A.G. Dozier School for Boys North Campus," New South Associates Technical Report No. 2898, January 28, 2019: 1.

[II] Ibid.: 29.

Economic chaos strikes Jackson County. What should we do?

Dale Cox is a retired business leader and journalist
who lives in the "suburbs" of Two Egg, Florida. He has
received national awards for literature and investigative
journalism and has managed multi-million dollar
media outlets and news operations in locations
across the United States.

The following is an open letter to the people and leaders of our community.

Jackson County residents are awakening to a financial crisis that is striking our community from the top to bottom.

The move to close Fire Rescue stations on some days due to insufficient staffing numbers brought the situation home to many, but the county's budget situation is neither sudden nor unexpected. In fact, it has been building for years and numerous local citizens and business people have raised concerns about it only to be promised callbacks that never came or reassurances that the matter was being studied.

In one case a local businessman was even told by an intermediary that he should get behind a specific county commissioner politically if he wanted to be heard.

So what happened? Where did the money go? What can we do about it?

Here are some answers that you have not read in the Jackson County Floridan or Jackson County Times. In their defense, the former often blames lack of staffing for its inability to cover key stories in the community while the latter sometimes says that it only covers "good news."

What is the problem?

The answer, in short, is that we are in the depths of an economic recession that goes far beyond what the rest of the nation suffered in 2008-2009.

Full-time employment in the county is down dramatically since around 2006 due to NAFTA which was a factor in the closings of the local Russell Corporation plants and facilities as well as other industrial operations; the closure of Dozier School for Boys due to the controversy and publicity that surrounded the facility; the loss or downsizing of businesses that supplied these facilities and, last but not least, a dramatic decline in the number of locally owned small businesses.

The net result of the above is that we have lost thousands of full-time jobs with benefits while at the same time local public assistance rolls have skyrocketed.

Financially, many more people in our community are hurting than our leaders seem to realize.

Consider these two statistics:

• Median income in Jackson County has declined from $36,442 in 2009 to $35,470 in 2016. This is a drop of $972 over seven years. As economic development experts will tell you, that is a shocking decline.
• The number of businesses in Jackson County has dropped from 863 in 2007 before the national recession began to 768 in 2017. In other words, we have lost 10% of our business community since 2007.

As Jackson County is learning the hard way, unemployment numbers do not always tell the true story of what is happening to a community's economy. Unemployment numbers, for example, do not count people who have been unemployed for so long that they no longer receive unemployment compensation. Nor do they count the people once employed here who have been forced to move away in search of work.

Young people are leaving for better opportunities in other places.

You often hear people say that their son or daughter, niece or nephew had to leave Jackson County to find a good job. This is more true today than ever.

Here are the facts:

• Jackson County has 1,906 fewer people in the primary working age demographic (18-65) than it did just 8 years ago. 
• Local officials often blame this on population aging - or as one county leader actually put it - "old people dying off." Census data, however, suggests that this is not the case. The county's population of residents over the age of 65 - many of whom still work to make ends meet - has indeed grown by 1,253 people since 2010. Unfortunately, we have lost 2,715 people in the 18-65 and 17 and under age groups. 
• Jackson County has lost 617 households since 2009. If you think you are seeing more "for sale" signs along our roads and streets, you are.
• The drain in our labor force is a very real problem when it comes to attracting new industry to the community. If we can't demonstrate that we have a strong, prepared labor force, we can't attract industry. No factory wants to open somewhere only to find that it can't hire enough people to run its lines.

Sales Tax collections are down.

The loss of 95 businesses, the decline in population and the loss of full-time jobs are all impacting the retail business in Jackson County. Here are the facts:

• Sales tax collections in the main category are down dramatically over the first 8 months of 2017-2018 when compared to the same line item for the same months in the year before the recession (2006-2007).
• The drop is bigger than you might think. This year, collections in this category are down by $244,823 from their level in the first 8 months of 2006-2007.

Money that one decade ago was helping to fund local government is simply no longer there in the amount that it was back then.

Gasoline Tax collections are down.

Gasoline taxes fund road work and improvements in Jackson County. These monies too, however, are on the decline. 

• Using 1-cent local option gas tax collections to measure this decline, the amount brought in during the first 7 months of the 2017-2018 fiscal year is down by $8,394 since 2006/2007.
• The real number has dropped from $391,034 during the first 7 months of 2006/2007 to $382,640 during the first 7 months of this fiscal year.
• All other gas tax collections that benefit the county are also down. 

As families cut back on expenses or leave the area, their need to buy gasoline here decreases. When fuel purchases go down, money coming into county coffers also goes down. 

Tourism is way down.

Jackson County had a small but thriving tourism industry in 2006/2007. It has dropped by around 10% since that time.

• Tourism tax (i.e. "bed tax") collections in Jackson County were $124,158 for the first four months of 2017-2018 (the most recent numbers available). This is a drop of $12,032 in actual dollars from 2006-2007 when collections totaled $136,190.
• Just as sales tax collections reflect retail sales in a community, tourism tax collections reflect hotel and campground stays. Fewer people are staying here overnight than were doing so one decade ago.
• Attendance at Blue Springs is down dramatically since the county commission doubled entrance fees. Numbers for the 2017 summer season show a decline of nearly 15,000 visitors since 2014, when fees were increased. Money collected at the gate is down since that year. Concession sales are down since that year. Boat rental fees are down. Pavilion rental fees are down. Total revenue from the park is down by around $18,000 from 3 years ago. If that trend continues this summer, the park will make less money than it did before fees were doubled while serving nearly 20,000 fewer local residents and visitors.

It should be mentioned that efforts designed to help attract more visitors to Jackson County have often been blunted or ignored by county administration. Consider the following:

• The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity funded and approved the results of a $20,000 study on ways to improve tourism traffic along U.S. 90 in Jackson County. The plan was prepared by this writer and approved not only by the state, but also by the Tourist Development Council and the Board of County Commissioners. Since that time, several years ago, nothing has been done implement any of the recommendations. One county official even informed a group in Sneads last year that he "hadn't had time to read it" and wasn't sure what he had done with his copy. 
• Local citizens raised and gave to the county more than $5,000 in funding for boardwalks on the Bellamy Bridge trail, an amount matched by the Tourist Development Council. County officials gave assurances that the money was sufficient for the purpose. Despite annual promises to build the footbridges - which will allow access to the popular tourism attraction during most times of high water - they still have not been built. The county now says that it has spent the money donated for the purpose and despite repeated requests has failed to answer specific questions about unauthorized expenditures from the fund.
• Requests that the Tourist Development Council lead a group to organize an annual reenactment of the Battle of Marianna were rejected. A reenactment of the battle staged for its 150th anniversary in 2014 attracted thousands of people. 
• One of the landings on the Merritt's Mill Pond canoe trail has been closed by property owners and has not been replaced. 
• The Upper Chipola River paddling trail, approved by the state after the county promised to maintain it, is barely maintained.
• The county's decade old effort to create an approved plan for development of tourism resources along Lake Seminole from Neals Landing on Highway 2 to Sneads is still not complete.
• The fall in tourism tax revenue is also reflected by the decline of gas tax collections. With our population and median income falling, our failure to return to pre-recession/pre-Dozier controversy levels of tourism has is hurting us in areas far beyond hotel stays.

"Other places have the same problems."

This is a common excuse heard in Jackson County, but is it true? Consider these facts:

• Holmes County to our west and Gadsden County to our east have increased their sales tax revenues during the same time that Jackson County has seen its revenues fall. In fact, those two counties along have increased sales tax collections by $879,000 during the period described above while Jackson County has suffered a decline of $244,000.
• Washington County and Holmes County, on US 90 and I-10 west of Jackson County, have increased their 1-cent local option gas tax collections while Jackson County has experienced a drop. Washington County's collections are up by $8,540 and Holmes County's by $2,076 while Jackson is down by more than $8,000.
• Tourism is increasing in Washington and Holmes Counties to our west and Gadsden County to our east, while falling in Jackson County. Washington County has increased its tourism tax collections over the period described above by $4,896. Holmes County is up by a remarkable $14,794. Gadsden County is up by $25,104. This reflects an increase of more than $40,000 in tourism tax collections by adjoining rural counties while Jackson County's dropped by more than $12,000.

What is the answer?

This is the question that many of us have been pondering for years. I have discussed the very same trends outlined above with county administrators, county commissioners, tourism leaders, other business people and at the Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Jackson County class for years. Others have done the same. Our inability to get anyone to pay attention has been so frustrating that I have sometimes wanted to bang my head on my desk.

The recent news about Jackson County Fire Rescue was just such a moment. Those who pay attention to such things have known for years that this problem was coming. The problem of our trained employees leaving for other places so they can better support their families is not new, and yet years have passed with no major effort to provide better pay so they can stay here. 

Nothing written here should be taken as a criticism of any person or group of people. My goal is to put the facts and my thoughts on them out there for my friends and neighbors to consider. I am an eternal optimist and I believe that we can reverse these alarming trends - and should have already reversed them - but time is growing short. I am not running for public office and have no plans to do so. I hope that this will be seen as what it is, an open letter to the people and leaders of Jackson County with thoughts and ideas from someone who just wants to help.

Here are some recommendations that I have after studying the numbers. Your ideas may be better than mine. It is time for us to start thinking and listening and - above all else - taking action.

• Clerk of Courts Clayton O. Rooks should lead a full audit of county funding to tell us how much is coming in and where it is going. This would help our leaders see places from which money can be moved or cut to assure that our most important county services - Fire Rescue, Law Enforcement, etc. - are not only funded but improved. Reducing these services is not an option. This would also help us identify any financial improprieties.
• County commissioners should consider an immediate moratorium on non-essential travel outside Jackson County by their employees. This money is needed to keep Fire Rescue running.
• Work with Chipola College, Baptist College of Florida, Troy University, FSU, FAMU, UF and other institutions to provide real training so county employees can improve themselves. We can always get better and improving the skills of the people who work for us is a good way to help them get better and more efficient at their jobs.
• Do not, under any circumstance, increase another tax or fee until our economic situation is turned around. Real people are suffering here. Median income is down. Our working age people are fleeing and taking their children with them. Use the money that we have to make things better. It can be done. Private businesses do it all day, everyday. 
• Don't assume that every thought, criticism or idea is political. Most people here just want to see things get better. 
• Work together. The county should work together with Sneads, Marianna, Graceville and other municipalities to find areas of agreement that all can support (and vice versa). Communities in specific parts of the county should work together. Malone, Campbellton and Graceville, for example, have Highway 2 in common. Perhaps they could work together to improve that corridor of the county? The same is true for the Historic Highway 90 Corridor that passes through Sneads, Grand Ridge, Marianna and Cottondale and the US 231 corridor that connects Campbellton, Jacob City, Cottondale, Alford and the Compass Lake area.
• Clean up! Make our interstate exits the cleanest and prettiest in Florida. You never know who is going to come off that highway to look around while out scouting locations for a new business or industry.
• Lower the entrance fees at Blue Springs back to $2 per person so local families - especially those with reduced incomes as a result of this situation - can afford to go.
• Work to make it easy to do business in Jackson County. Reduce fees for startups. 
• Find a way to fix our awful cell and internet service. Let's face the fact: If we want to have a 21st century economy, we have to provide the infrastructure to attract 21st century businesses. Large swaths of Jackson County have no cell phone service and substandard (or no) internet service. Hold the feet of our existing providers to the fire and seek out other companies willing to solve the problem at THEIR expense in exchange for a chance to make money here.
• Invest in our young people. Seek out high school students here in Jackson County who want to major in business, tourism, engineering, law enforcement, fire rescue services, parks and recreation and more. Invest in them by helping with their college expenses in exchange for a commitment that they will return and work here for a set length of time. Provide them with internships and mentoring. If we can afford to help only one, that is one more than we can count on now.
• Listen to local business owners. They can tell you their stumbling blocks to growing and hiring more people.
• Seek out success stories in other places, not to duplicate but to learn how they created success. We have our own special place and want to keep it that way. We can always learn from others, though, about how they made their communities better places.
• County and city administrators and elected officials should return calls and answer emails from constituents.
• Finish projects that are on the drawing board. Get the Historic Highway 90 Corridor plan going. Washington and Holmes Counties are already ahead of us. We want to be a part of the success that they are already realizing.
• Dream. Look for ways to do something good instead of searching out stumbling blocks.
• Stop blaming others. Let's work together. We know that we need to. It means that some of our ideas will be pursued and some won't. That's fine. Movement is better than no movement.
• Take advantage of our human resources. We have many people in Jackson County who have achieved remarkable things in their lives. Listen to the advice and suggestions that they can offer.
• Improve our own corners. In other words, make our own neighborhoods better through elbow grease and cooperation. Not everything takes money to do. If we all improve our own neighborhoods, the whole county will improve.
• Get involved. This is a message to citizens especially. Attend meetings. Offer advice. Run for office. I admire anyone willing to put their name out there. I appreciate the service of all of our current elected officials, just as I appreciated the service of those who served before them and will appreciate the service of our next round of leaders. It is the American way.
• Care. We all have to care for each other and our communities. Churches, we need you now more than ever. Community organizations, we need you too. Individuals, you as well. Do everything you can to make things better.

I hope that at least someone out there will take the time to read through this long editorial and that it benefits you. When one of us succeeds, we all succeed.

This was written as a "stream of thought" so please excuse me if I made any errors or typos.

Thank you.

Dale Cox

May 6, 2018

Cabinet hears Dozier Report, apologizes for "unspeakable horrors"

A group of Jackson County's Citizens of the Year warn the
media in 2014 that it was being one-sided in its coverage and
that no evidence of murders of students by staff would be
found at the Dozier School for Boys "Boot Hill" cemetery.
Photo courtesy of the Jackson County Times.

In a meeting that began late and was filled with jokes, the Florida Cabinet today heard the University of South Florida's project at Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

Please click here to read a summary of that report or to read the entire document.

Cabinet members and Governor Rick Scott apologized to former Dozier students for the "unspeakable horrors" inflicted on them by the Jackson County residents who worked at Dozier School for Boys. The Cabinet members also praised Dr. Erin Kimmerle of the University of South Florida (USF) and the former students of the school.

Kimmerle presented her final report to the Cabinet. She called it a "historic project" and said the results achieved were "remarkable."

She said that the objective was to locate the burials and to identify the individuals buried in the graves so their remains could be returned to their families. She also said a main objective was to study the 1,400 acre campus to find other graves that might be located there.

Kimmerle told the Cabinet members that her team pursued all leads on the history of the Campus, a deliberately incorrect statement as she and her team refused to examine thousands of pages of documents offered to them by this writer.

She said that prior to the beginning of the exhumations, she and her team did ground truthing to determine which features were graves and which were fence posts, etc.  At the time, however, USF denied that it had dug into any of the graves and said it was only doing "stratigraphic" analysis.

Kimmerle also mentioned that her team found and removed thousands of artifacts. She did not mention that other artifacts were left behind in the tracks of her team's vehicles.

Among the coffins found, according to Dr. Kimmerle, were seven infant coffins that contained the remains of students and employees who died in the 1914 fire at one of the school's dormitory.

She mentioned that "a number of the boys" had burial shrouds, a standard mortuary practice of the early 20th century.

The professor, however, left out key information when she told Cabinet members that a lead pellet consistent with a lead shot was found in one of the graves. She mentioned the pellet, but did not tell the Cabinet that FDLE has examined the artifact and determined it was likely from a muzzle-loading black powder weapon. Guns of that type were antiques by the time the Florida Reform School (later Dozier School) was even built.

She said her team used "fire hoses" to push water through screens while digging at the site of the burned dormitory. Kimmerle indicated that small fragments of bone were found at the burned dormitory site, all believed to be associated with the individuals who died in that fire more than 110 years ago.

Kimmerle also said that USF has positively identified only 7 of the individuals that her team exhumed from the cemetery. Four have been reburied. The other 47 individuals exhumed remain in boxes at the University of South Florida.

Although the university earlier claimed to identify the remains of one of the employees who died in the 1914 fire, Kimmerle today said that they cannot positively identify his remains and that he will likely be buried with the "unknowns."

She made no references to murders in her discussion. Later in answer to a question from the Cabinet members, the professor said that, "We feel like our field work is done. "We feel like we have exhausted everything we can do in looking for additional burials."

Kimmerle was followed by Dr. Christian Wells, a professor of archaeology at USF. He indicated that the university investigated a number of other locations pointed out by former students as "burial" sites. "We surveyed 35 different regions," he said. None of those areas, he reported, revealed any evidence of human remains. In other words, claims that "hundreds" of graves and a "second cemetery" would be found on the campus were completely false.

Wells also indicated that contamination was found on areas of the campus. He encouraged the Governor and Cabinet to follow up on the issue.

Antoinette Jackson, another USF professor, then spoke about "the living." She said that "segregation" resonates today at the campus, which is now abandoned. She noted that some communities disagreed with the project and that the university needed to incorporate them into their narratives, something they have yet to do.

Jackson mentioned the need for additional "financial support." She focused on education, although many of the university's public forums and discussions about Dozier have focused on "restorative justice."

She mentioned that the team will be traveling to Japan - presumably at taxpayer expense - to tell the Dozier story.

Jackson concluded by encouraging those with "stories" to come forward. While the project was underway, however, USF absolutely refused to view thousands of pages of documentation in the possession of this writer.

None of the professors ever mentioned the word "murder" in relation to the graves. Kimmerle also finally admitted that all of the burials were found in a 50 by 150 foot area on Boot Hill. A few pieces of bone were also found in the ruins of the burned dormitory but did not contain enough material for DNA analysis.

NO other graves were found on campus. There was no second cemetery nor were any hidden graves found.

Jerry Cooper, a former student, addressed the Cabinet and urged that the bodies "not be returned to that area" saying the reasons why were "apparent." He said, "I don't know what happened at Marianna."

Charles Fudge, another former student, then spoke and said he was "Troy Tidwell's office boy" and swore there is a second cemetery with at least 30 graves on campus. He asked that the White House Boys be allowed to go look for it. The area he claimed contains the cemetery was among those investigated by USF and nothing was found.

Other former students said they wanted the dead interred "somewhere other than Jackson County." "Please don't leave those children there," the widow of a student begged, claiming that there are more graves still to be located at the campus.

Robert Straley, a former student, said that he has suffered an unfortunate accident recently that left him with his sixth concussion. He pointed out that many in Marianna are being forced to live with the blame for something they did not do. He called for a monument to be built and spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation.  He said the "whip has no place in our society." Corporal punishment at Dozier School ended more than 40 years ago.

Andrew Puel said he had heard "very credible testimony" that boys had been murdered at the school. USF, however, found no evidence of murders. Puel said he had "sworn statements" from former juveniles that they had seen killings, including a shooting, at the school.

Puel went on to say he wasn't telling the stories to be "sensational." He requested access for researchers to the ledgers that remain sealed due to juvenile privacy laws. FDLE, however, does have access to these ledgers as part of its current investigation.

Jerry Cooper then reappeared before the Cabinet and said that many former students had cancelled plans to attend "at the last minute." Others were present and he introduced them.

Dale Landry from the NAACP then appeared before the Cabinet. He called for a place that they can "sanctify" to hold the remains until they can be identified. He called for turning the old chapel on campus into a mausoleum until the remains can be identified, even if it takes decades. He also called for turning the "White House" into a permanent memorial to the "horrors" that took place at the school. Landry also asked for the state to fund reburial of identified remains.

Jim Dean, City Manager of Marianna, then spoke. He said he appeared with a group of civic and business leaders including County Commissioner Chuck Lockey and others. He offered the community's support to bring closure to the process.

Elmore Bryant, former Mayor of Marianna, spoke and asked for the land to be given back to Marianna. He said the leaders of Marianna were "men of character." He said that "We will make you proud of what we do with that land. We've been banged, but there are some good things that people don't talk about." He noted that the people of Marianna "respected me as the first black mayor of Marianna."

"When you come to Marianna, there are many good sides," Bryant continued. He invited the governor to come and talk.

Attorney General Pam Bondi then said to the White House Boys, "We know that you have suffered terrible, unspeakable atrocities." Bondi apparently didn't know the name of Jackson County, which she called "Marianna County, a beautiful county." She called Bondi a "Hero."

Earlier in the session, Bondi yelled out "Yayyyyyyyy!!" when told that USF students were in the room and praised Kimmerle for her "ground-breaking" work.

The university spent more than $600,000 in state and federal taxpayer funding on its Dozier project, even after FDLE had determined that there was no evidence of criminal activity by employees involving the cemetery. Meanwhile, USF President Dr. Judy Genshaft told Cabinet members that her institution has eliminated more than 50 other educational programs, including industrial training.

Please click here to read a summary of the key points in the USF report or to read the full report itself.

To learn the true history of the Dozier School cemetery, please consider my book Death at Dozier School: The Attempted Assassination of an American City (available in both paperback and Kindle formats).

Cabinet meeting continues: Atwater fondly remembers grandmother's switch.

Jeff Atwater, Florida's Chief Financial Officer,
fondly remembered his grandmother's switch
during today's Cabinet meeting.

Jeff Atwater, who serves as Florida's Chief Financial Officer, fondly remembered his grandmother's switch during today's meeting of the State Cabinet.

It was an odd moment in a meeting that will soon include a presentation from the University of South Florida (USF) on its project at Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. Among the allegations made against the school are charges by former students that they were "beaten" in a structure called the White House.

In a different discussion, Atwater mentioned that his grandmother kept a "Kentucky" switch on her front porch to assure good behavior and good grades.

The Cabinet meeting is still underway at this time (11:47 a.m. Central) and is several agenda items away from USF's presention.

-- Earlier posts on today's Cabinet meeting--

Attorney General Pamela Jo "Pam" Bondi yelled out "Yayyyy!" for students of the University of South Florida (USF) as the Florida Cabinet convened in Tallahassee this morning.

Representatives from the university are expected to present their final report on archaeological/anthropological work at the Dozier School for Boys cemetery later this morning.

Please click here to read a summary of that report or to read the full 168-page document.

Former County Judge Woodrow "Woody" Hatcher is in Tallahassee to respond to USF's presentation, but has already been told that he will only be allowed to speak for 2 minutes. That is less time than Bondi was given to show off a 40-pound dog available for adoption. It is also less time than the number of minutes late that the meeting was called to order.

USF President Judy Genshaft and Florida's other university presidents have been address the Cabinet about Governor Rick Scott's "Ready, Set, Work" challenge. When she mentioned that some USF students were present, the attorney general broke into a loud cheer of "Yayyyy!" and then mentioned Dr. Erin Kimmerle and what Bondi called her "ground-breaking" work. Kimmerle has directed the USF project at Dozier School for Boys.

Genshaft answered a direct question from Governor Scott about what study programs her university might have closed. Apparently, even as USF has spent more than $600,000 in state and federal taxpayer funds on the Dozier project, it has closed more than 50 of its study programs. Among these was a program that prepared students for jobs in industry.

The discussion with the various university presidents is still underway after more than 2 hours.

I'll post another update at 11:00 a.m. Central/12 Noon Eastern or shortly after unless something significant takes place before then.

Until then, please click here to read yesterday's story on USF's final report or to read the report itself.

No evidence of murders by staff members at Dozier School: USF final report is released

Dozier School Cemetery prior to its destruction
by the University of South Florida.

The University of South Florida (USF) has submitted its final report on the "Boot Hill" Cemetery at Dozier School for Boys in Marianna to the Florida Cabinet.

No physical evidence was found to support claims that employees of the former state facility killed any of the students buried in the little cemetery.

No evidence of a mysterious "second cemetery" - a theory widely promoted by the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald and other major news outlets - was found.

No evidence of "hidden burials" was found in any of the dozens of locations pointed out by former students of the school, many of whom call themselves the "White House Boys."

The only "projectile" found in association with any of the graves was a small bb-size piece of lead. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department previously said there was no evidence the individual in this grave was shot and suggested that the item could have been in his pocket. Analysis confirmed this assessment. The item could not be positively identified as a projectile at all, but was consistent in size with a buckshot from a black powder muzzle-loading firearm. These types of weapons were antiques by the time the Florida Reform School (later Dozier School for Boys) was even built.

The only verifiable murders that took place at the school were those of Robert Stephens, Earl Wilson and Eddie Black. All three were murdered by other students who were arrested, convicted and sentenced to prison for the murders.

USF said it was not able to view documentation about the 1966 drowning of Alphonse Glover in the school swimming pool. This statement is inaccurate as the coroner's report on Glover's death was among the documents in my possession that I offered to let researchers examine. They refused to look.

So far, USF has positively identified only seven of the bodies that it dug up from the school cemetery. The total cost of the project was nearly $700,000. The names of the others are mostly known and are consistent with the report completed by FDLE prior to the beginning of the USF project. DNA analysis is still pending and may determine the identifies of seven of the other bodies.

The report indicates that USF found three more graves than it can account for by name. The school, however, missed four deaths known to be associated with Dozier School. Three of these (2 students and one employee) took place prior to 1910. The fourth, of a male employee, took place during the influenza outbreak of 1918. Since one of these individuals is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Marianna, the other three could and probably do account for the three additional graves found by the university at the school cemetery. This information was offered to USF researchers but they refused to review it.

The school has no money to rebury the 51 bodies that it exhumed.

So in the end it comes down to this simple fact: The Dozier School Cemetery ("Boot Hill") is gone. No evidence of murders by staff was found. There was no mysterious second cemetery.

The USF report concludes with social justice language about "restorative justice," etc., and brags that the project generated news stories reaching an estimated 1.18 billion people around the world.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) will have the final say on the cemetery, likely sometime in February. So far, there has been no indication that the state agency will draw any different conclusions about the nature of the graves.

If you would like to read the real story of the Dozier School Cemetery now that the vast majority of the media coverage has been discredited, please consider my book: Death at Dozier School: The Attempted Assassination of an American City (available in Paperback and Kindle formats).

Click here to read the USF report for yourself.

Alarming facts about media coverage of Dozier School controversy

I am pleased to announce the release at Amazon.com of my new book, Death at Dozier School: The Attempted Assassination of an American City.

It can be purchased now at Amazon by clicking here:  Death at Dozier School. The book is also available in Marianna, FL at The Vintage Depot on South Caledonia Street, although they are now sold out until after Christmas.

This is a book about the Dozier School Cemetery, its destruction by the University of South Florida and the inaccurate media coverage that has surrounded the issue. Profits from the book are being donated to worthwhile causes, including the group funding effort for a friend who is battling cancer. 

Read more about why the book was written in this excerpt from the introduction:

THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT A CEMETERY.  I clarify this now because the former Dozier School for Boys in Florida is surrounded by a whirlwind of allegations, claims, opinions, and in some cases, outright falsehoods. Many of these have been exacerbated by media coverage generated and often coordinated by employees of the University of South Florida (USF), an institution of higher learning in Tampa. The university has used more than half a million dollars in taxpayer funding to search for and exhume graves on the campus of the former institution for juvenile offenders. To quote one of the graduate students involved in the project, it was done in the name of “social justice.”

Unfortunately, the Dozier School Cemetery is no better understood by the public at large today than it was before two years of research by USF and an accompanying frenzy of media coverage. The university has grown increasingly secretive about is work on the campus and on at least one occasion even went so far as to deny that it had released new information even as it provided a major report of findings to the State of Florida. Researchers once conducted media tours on the Dozier School campus and even allowed CNN unprecedented live access as the first graves were exhumed. Today they carefully hold their press conferences hundreds of miles away from the site and release only a trickle of information to a media that remains fixated on the fading narrative that the cemetery was a place where bodies were dumped following hundreds of “murders” and “abuse-related deaths” on the campus.

Why the dramatic change? This book will provide you with an opportunity to answer that question for yourself.

So then, this is a book about a cemetery. It is a history of the Dozier School or “Boot Hill” cemetery in Marianna, Florida. The goal is to make public the facts about the cemetery from its first interments more than 100 years ago to the present controversy that led to its destruction. This is not a book about the allegations of abuse that have been made against the school and its employees by groups of former students except where those allegations involve the cemetery or other rumored gravesites on campus. Much has been written about the “White House” – a structure on campus where corporal punishment was administered to students that has become a focal point of abuse allegations – but the building was not used for punishment purposes during most of the cemetery’s active history. Only one burial is known to have taken place in the Dozier School Cemetery after the former ice cream factory now called the “White House” was converted for use as a storage and punishment facility. For reasons that will be explained in the book, the individual buried in that grave was not connected to the “White House” allegations.

On the pages that follow you will find a documented history of the cemetery and its use to bury unfortunate students and employees of the school for roughly fifty years. The story it presents is tragic. In some cases it is heart-breaking. Yet there are also moments of inspiration and heroism associated with some of the graves. Those stories are related as well, in hopes that the reader will gain a better appreciation for the noble actions of some residents of the school, students and employees alike. 

To continue reading:  Death at Dozier School

Thousands of graves found on State Property in Mississippi

Those of you who never looked at the actual records and were shocked that 55 old graves were found in the Dozier School Cemetery will likely be stunned to read that more than 1,000 have been found on state property in Mississippi...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/11/century-old-gravesite-find-affects-mississippi-school-expansion/

USF confirms: No Mass Grave at Dozier School Cemetery

Memorial area at Dozier School Cemetery

BREAKING NEWS:  Tampa and Hillsborough County authorities beat, tortured and killed prisoners during same era as Dozier School allegations. Click here to read about the Tampa Atrocities


In a press conference this morning in Tampa, employees of the University of South Florida (USF) confirmed that the number of graves found at the Dozier School Cemetery matched exactly the number provided by me and others in the community.

The media all day has been claiming that researchers found "24 more graves than should be there."  That is categorically false. They found exactly the number of graves that documentation indicates should be there.

The university, which has spent more than $600,000 in taxpayer funds to dig up the historic cemetery at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, FL, confirmed this morning that it had found 55 graves in the cemetery.

I tried to provide the university with evidence of 55 graves at the cemetery, but its employees refused to meet with me.

For more than 18 months, I have indicated that I believed there were "approximately 53 bodies there" (quote from the Tampa Bay Times, 4/13/2013). On September 22 of last year, I provided the university's legal office with documentation of 2 additional deaths at the school from the years prior to 1906, bringing the total to 55. University researchers never responded.

Artifact left behind in tracks of USF vehicle.

In October of last year, at the request of individuals from the local historic preservation trust, I loaded my documentation up and carried it to Marianna so the team from USF could go through it. It included clear evidence of 55 known graves in the cemetery. Even though USF had requested that the local group provide it access to any information available on the cemetery, its researchers refused to meet with me or examine the documentation I was making available to them.

It raised a question that remains unanswered today. What kind of scientist or professional researcher, being paid with taxpayer money to find the truth about the cemetery, would not examine a box containing thousands of pages of documentation?  You can answer that question for yourself.

Today's announcement by USF confirms an article I posted here on December 29, 2013: No Mass Grave at Dozier School Cemetery. There was no mass grave at the Dozier School Cemetery. In fact, claims by one former student that more than 150 graves would be found there, the university's announcement now confirms, have been proved to be completely false.

Memorial at Dozier before its destruction by project.

USF today did not comment on the causes of death for the individuals it dug up, more than 80% of them without the permission of their families and next of kin, but we already know that answer too: they died of sickness, in a tragic fire, in a couple of accidents - or were murdered by other students.

I said in early 2013 that if no bodies of students murdered by employees - as some have claimed - were found at the school, then employees of USF would owe the people of Marianna and Jackson County an apology. I predict, however, that no apology from them will ever come.

They say they will continue to search and dig in what is now becoming a clearly desperate effort to find more graves. Let them dig, but in my opinion no more public money should be provided to them once they have finished spending the more than $600,000 they have already been given.

I hope they can find the families of those known to be buried in the cemetery. It would be a shame if  80% of the bodies they dug up without first taking the time to do so are just thrown back in a hole with nothing but a number.  How is that an improvement?  Regardless, hopefully they can find the families that do not know they need closure so they can "give them closure" as they have promised.

1947 map showing original cemetery fence.

The media continues to try to spin the story, but to its credit USF timed the press conference well. By tomorrow, most likely, the news about Dozier will be lost in coverage of tonight's State of the Union speech and the big winter storm.

The media also continues to show its inability to understand that the little area at the school with metal crosses and a cable around them was a memorial, not the actual cemetery. The actual cemetery - once surrounded by a wire fence, portions of which were found in spoil piles left behind by USF - enclosed a somewhat larger area of around 50 by 100 feet. All of the graves found were inside the line of the original cemetery fence, not "outside the cemetery" as some media outlets have already claimed today.

Apparently they either can't understand that simple fact or they are lying to save their reputations.

 As far as Marianna and Jackson County are concerned, our community has been vindicated. The media will never say that and USF will never say that, but we know it and we can hold our heads a bit higher today.

I wish only peace and happiness to all involved in this fiasco.

Dozier graves press conference set for tomorrow at USF in Tampa

The University of South Florida is hosting a press conference tomorrow on its exhumation of the graves of former students and employees from the known cemetery on the campus of the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

The following list is the one I assembled about known and potential burials in the cemetery. USF refused my offer to share with them the information I assembled on these individuals, a curious decision for scientists and researchers.

I will comment further after tomorrow's press conference, but if you are the next of kin of someone on this list and you have not heard from the university, you should make contact with them as they likely have dug up the remains of your relative.

Even though the graves were located in Marianna, USF is holding its press conference in Tampa.

Unless the university can locate the family members of the bodies it has exhumed - something I feel they should have done before digging them up - then they will have no way of identifying the remains and they will just be put back in the ground. That would be a shame after all the statements that this project was being done to "bring closure to families" (80% of which did not give their permission for the project).

Note:  Names with an * may or may not be buried at Dozier.  Names without one are known to be buried there. My list, which has been available online since last year, includes 64 names. I believe that 55 are buried in the cemetery, the others elsewhere.  USF expected to find 50 graves, based on use of ground-penetrating radar.

1. Unknown, Student (died prior to 1906 of heart condition)*
2. Unknown, Student (died prior to 1906 of exposure following escape)*
3. Unknown, Student (died in 1911 of unknown causes).*
4. Bennett Evans, Employee (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
5. Charles Evans, Employee (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
6. Joe Wethersbee, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
7. Walter Fisher, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
8. Clarence Parrott, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
9. Louis Fernandez, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
10. Harry Wells, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
11. Clifford Jefford, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
12. Scott Martin, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
13. Granville Rogers, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
14. Willie Fisher, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
15. Sim Williams, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
16. Tillman Mohind, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
17. James Joshua, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
18. Thomas Aikins, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
19. Unknown, Female Employee (died of influenza in 1918).
20. Lee Gaalsby, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
21. George Grissam, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
22. Wilbur Smith, Student (died of influenza in 1918).
23. Willie Adkins, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
24. Lloyd Dutton, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
25. Ralph Whiddon, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
26. Hilton Finley, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
27. Puner Warner, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
28. Joe Anderson, Student (died of unknown causes in 1919).
29. Leonard Simmons, Student (died May 9, 1919 of unknown causes).
30. Nathaniel Sawyer, Student (died December 12, 1919 of unknown causes).
31. Sam Morgan, Student (died in 1921 of unknown causes).
32. John H. Williams, Student (died in 1911, accidental death).
33. Arthur Williams, Student (died February 26, 1921 of unknown causes).
34. Schley Hunter, Student (died April 15, 1922 of pneumonia).
35. Calvin Williams, Student (died December 31, 1922, of unknown causes).
36. George Chancey, Student (died in 1923 of malaria).
37. Clifford Miller, Student (died in 1924 of unknown causes).
38. Charlie Overstreet, Student (died August 19, 1924, during a tonsillectomy).
39. Edward Fonders, Student (died May 18, 1925, of an accidental drowning).
40. Walter Askew, Student (died December 18, 1925, of unknown causes).
41. Nollie Davis, Student (died February 8, 1926, of pneumonia).
42. Robert Rhoden, Student (died May 8, 1929, of pneumonia).
43. Samuel Bethel, Student (died October 15, 1929), of tuberculosis.
44. James Brinson, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
45. Willie Heading, Student (died in 1932 of pnuemonia/influenza).*
46. Sam Nipper, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
47. Jesse Denson, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
48. Lee Underwood, Student (died in 1932 of Influenza).*
49. Fred Sams, Student (died in 1932 of influenza).*
50. Dary Pender, Student (died in 1932 of influenza)*
51. Archie Shaw, Student (died in 1932 of influenza).*
52. Lee Smith, Student (died January 5, 1932 in accident with mule).
53. Joe Stephens, Student (died May 9, 1932 of influenza).
54. Thomas Varnadoe, Student (died October 26, 1934 of pneumonia).
55. Joshua Backey, Student (died 1935 of blood poisoning).*
56. Richard Nelson, Student (died February 23, 1935, of pneumonia).
57. Robert Cato, Student (died February 25, 1935, of pneumonia).
58. Grady Huff, Student (died March 4, 1935, of acute nephritis).
59. James (Joseph) Hammond, Student (died May 2, 1936 of tuberculosis).*
60. Robert Seinous (Stephens), Student (died in 1937 after being stabbed by another student).*
61. George Owen Smith, Student (Escapee, body found decomposed under house in Marianna on January 24, 1941).
62. Earl Wilson, Student (Murdered on August 31, 1944, in severe beating given by 4 students.*
63. Billey Jackson, Student (Died October 7, 1952 of pyelonphritis)
64. Alphonse Glover, Student (died August 13, 1966, drowned in swimming pool).*

The following individuals are known to have been buried elsewhere or did not exist:

1. S. Barnett  (allegedly died in 1914 dormitory fire, name was a media mistake that later was corrected).
2. Louis Haffin (allegedly died in 1914 dormitory fire, name was a media mistake that later was corrected).
3. Waldo Drew (initially thought to have died in 1914 dormitory fire, but later was found to have escaped.
4. Earl E. Morris, Student (initially thought to have died in 1914 dormitory fire, but later was found to have escaped)
5. Raymond Phillips, Student (escaped, actually shot and killed by deputy sheriff in Alachua County).
6. Guy Hudson, Student, drowned while swimming with other boys in 1921, body returned home to Milton, Fla., for burial
7. Oscar Elvis Murphy, killed in 1932 after being run over by a car in Hardee County, Florida.
8. Lonnie Frank Harrell, died of tuberculosis in 1932, buried in Tampa.
9. Eddie Albert Black, murdered by another student in 1949, buried in Escambia County, Florida.
10. Clarence Cunningham, died in Tallahassee in 1954 due to "Mestastasis to Spinal Cord."
11. George Fordom, Jr., died in Tallahassee in 1957 due to "sarcoma of lung."
12. Edgar Thomas Elton, died in 1961 due to "acute dilation of the heart." Buried in Lake County, Florida.
13. James Lee Fredere, died 1965 in an automobile accident in Volusia County. Buried in North Carolina.
14. Martin E. Williams, drowned in the Chipola River in 1973 after falling from a canoe during a field trip, buried in Hillsborough County, Florida.