TAMPA, Fla. — The US Air Force plans to expand its search for graves at an ancient black cemetery at a base in Florida after already discovering 121 potential sites, a base official said.
Lt. Laura Anderson told news stations this week that a non-intrusive archaeological survey conducted over the past two years at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa identified 58 probable graves and 63 possible graves. The base also deployed search teams to search the area with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
He plans to examine an area north of the main cemetery area this year for additional evidence of graves, Anderson said.
“This is essentially to make sure we don’t forget anyone,” he told WFTS-TV.
The Tampa Bay History Center notified MacDill officials about the possible Black cemetery in 2019, and the base hosted a memorial service in 2021, dedicating a monument at the site to those buried there.
Headstones at 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 free of vertical structures for the safety of aircraft, so it has not been developed.
Officials said they will continue to work with the community to determine how to best document the site and respect the people buried there.
“We know that obviously mistakes have been made in the past, but we are working together with members of our community,” Anderson said. “We want to correct what was wrong.”
Yvette Lewis, president of the Hillsborough County branch of the NAACP, said WFTS-TV grassroots officials have gone “above and beyond” to resolve community members’ concerns. But she would like to see additional efforts to commemorate the site and make sure its story is told correctly.