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Digital Commons @ USF > USF Libraries > USF Digital Collections > Tampa Digital Collections > Tampa Special Collections > Florida Studies > Floridiana > Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys

Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys
 

Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys

An archeological survey and excavation of the “Boot Hill Burial Ground” on the campus of the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida by anthropologists at the University of South Florida has gained national attention. State and Federal leaders have responded to requests from families for knowledge about relatives who are presumed buried at the school and repatriation. Florida Senator Bill Nelson submitted letters to Florida Governor Rick Scott and US Attorney General Eric Holder asking for their assistance and support in investigating alleged crimes at the site. Ultimately, permission was granted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Florida Cabinet for the complete excavation and analysis of all children buried there.

The Florida State Reform School (a.k.a. Florida Industrial School and later Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys) was in use from 1900-2011. From its inception it was suppose to be a refuge for troubled children convicted of crimes. By initial design, children were to receive training and education that would propel them to become productive citizens. This design proved conceptually sound but in practice difficult to maintain. Children were originally committed to the school for criminal offenses, such as theft and murder, but the law was later amended to identify minor offenses including incorrigibility, truancy, or dependency, which propelled the school to become the largest training and reform school in the country at the time. Archival records and documented narratives highlight contradictions to stated goals of reform, from the practice of child labor and corporal punishment to a change in the very name of the institution. However, no understanding of the Florida State Reform School over the course of its history can be understood without consideration of the impact and implications of segregation, particularly those relating to criminal justice. Until 1968 the school was segregated into two completely separate campuses or departments for “white” and “colored” students. Segregation permeated every aspect of life at the school as it did in Florida and throughout the US South until the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

To date, the reported deaths of nearly 100 boys have been documented and an estimated 50 burials have been identified through the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) at the school burial ground called “Boot Hill”. White crosses commemorate 31 burials and were placed in the general area of the cemetery in the 1990s, decades following the actual deaths. Very little documentation about the history of the cemetery or who is buried there, including exact locations of individual burials, is known.

The USF research team began work in 2011 to document the burial ground and identify who may have been buried there and determine the circumstances surrounding deaths that occurred from 1914-1960. This initiative is a multi-disciplinary project that incorporates forensic and cultural anthropology, archaeology, legal medicine, investigations, and library sciences. One outcome of the project will be documentation of the cemetery findings in this permanent USF Digital Library Collection accessible anytime, anywhere by the public.

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  • A. G. Dozier Training School Renovations and Improvements by Ervin & Davis, P.A.

    A. G. Dozier Training School Renovations and Improvements

    Ervin & Davis, P.A.

  • Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Answer by United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Answer

    United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Tallahassee Civil Action No. 963 : Answer

  • 1914 Florida Industrial School Fire - Nationwide Newspaper Articles by Unknown

    1914 Florida Industrial School Fire - Nationwide Newspaper Articles

    Unknown

  • Florida SB 46: Relief of Victims/Florida Reform School for Boys/Deparment of Juvenile Justice by Mike Fasano

    Florida SB 46: Relief of Victims/Florida Reform School for Boys/Deparment of Juvenile Justice

    Mike Fasano

    Florida SB 46

  • Readings of note for Dozier project by Antoinette T. Jackson

    Readings of note for Dozier project

    Antoinette T. Jackson

    These readings can help inform thinking about race, slavery, and segregation in the US South historically and presently and inform thinking about penal systems and disparities in systems of justice in the US. The readings in bold are the most critical.

  • Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery 8JA1860) at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys: Interim report by Erin H. Kimmerle, Richard W. Estabrook, Christian E. Wells, and Antoinette T. Jackson

    Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery 8JA1860) at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys: Interim report

    Erin H. Kimmerle, Richard W. Estabrook, Christian E. Wells, and Antoinette T. Jackson

    This interim report provides a summary of the archaeological and historical investigation into the creation and initial identification of graves at the Boot Hill Cemetery in Marianna, Florida to date. The Florida State Reform School, also known as the "Florida Industrial School for Boys" (FIS) and most recently as the "Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys", first opened on January 1, 1900 on 1400 acres of land. Beginning as early as 1901, reports of children being chained to walls in irons, brutal whippings, and peonage surfaced. During the first 13 years of operation, there were more than six state led investigations. A recent investigation in 2008-09,2009 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) into the deaths that occurred at the school, reported 81 school-related deaths from 1911-1973. As a result of this investigation, a record of 98 deaths was found in historical documents, including boys aged 6-18 years and two adult staff members. These deaths occurred between 1914-1973. However, state records regarding cause of death and school ledgers are only public record for the years prior to 1960. Therefore the scope of this investigation was 1900-1960.

  • Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Motion for Final Judgment by United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Motion for Final Judgment

    United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Tallahassee Civil Action No. 963 : Motion for Final Judgment

  • Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Motion to Dismiss by United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Singleton v. Board of Commissioners : Motion to Dismiss

    United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)

    Tallahassee Civil Action No. 963 : Motion to Dismiss

  • Campus Map : Florida School for Boys at Marianna by Andy Martinez

    Campus Map : Florida School for Boys at Marianna

    Andy Martinez

  • Testimony of Dr. Eugene Byrd before the U.S. Senate's Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Juvenile Deliquency by Eugene Byrd

    Testimony of Dr. Eugene Byrd before the U.S. Senate's Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Juvenile Deliquency

    Eugene Byrd

    Dr. Eugene Byrd, a Miami psychologist who had worked at the Florida School for Boys, was called on March 4, 1958, to give testimony before the U.S. Senate's Committee on the Judiciary.

  • Congressional Record : Daily Digest, Tuesday, March 4, 1958 by United States. Congress. Senate

    Congressional Record : Daily Digest, Tuesday, March 4, 1958

    United States. Congress. Senate

  • Juvenile Delinquency Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate (85th Cong., 2d sess.) by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency

    Juvenile Delinquency Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate (85th Cong., 2d sess.)

    United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency

    Juvenile Delinquency Report

 
 
 

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