TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force plans to expand its search for grave sites at a former black cemetery at a Florida base after already discovering 121 potential sites, a base official said.
Lt. Laura Anderson told news outlets this week that a non-intrusive archaeological survey conducted over the past two years at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa identified 58 likely graves and 63 possible graves. The base also deployed search teams to search the area with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
It plans to survey an area north of the main cemetery area this year looking for additional evidence of graves, Anderson said.
“That’s basically so we can make sure we don’t forget anyone,” she told WFTS-TV.
The Tampa Bay History Center alerted MacDill officials to the possible Black burial ground in 2019, and the base hosted a memorial service in 2021, dedicating an on-site memorial to those buried there.
The headstones at the Port Tampa Cemetery were removed during construction of the base in the late 1930s, but the bodies remained there, the Tampa Bay Times reported in 2021. The area must remain clear of vertical structures for aircraft safety, so that didn’t happen. developed.
Officials said they will continue to work with the community to determine how to best document the site and pay respects to the people buried there.
“We obviously know that wrong has been done in the past, but we are working with our community members,” Anderson said. “We want to right the wrong.”
Yvette Lewis, president of the NAACP Hillsborough County chapter, said WFTS-TV base officials “have done the best they can” in addressing community members’ concerns. But she would like to see additional efforts made to memorialize the site and ensure the story is told correctly.
