121 Unmarked Graves Found At Black Cemetery At FL Air Force Base

TAMPA, FL — After 121 potential grave sites were found in a former Black cemetery at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base, the U.S. Air Force plans to expand its search for more graves there.

Over the past two years, 58 probable graves and 63 possible graves were found at the base during a nonintrusive archaeological survey.

Search teams also surveyed the area using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.

"'Probable’ means more likely than not, there are human remains there, whereas ‘possible,’ we can't say for certain with the ground-penetrating radar if there are human remains," Lt. Laura Anderson, MacDill AFB, told Fox 13.

The grave sites were found in an open field — a “clear zone” — near the Tanker Way Gate, reports said. According to aircraft regulations, a “clear zone” must remain free of vertical structures.

Later this year, the base will look for evidence of additional graves in an area to the north of the main cemetery.

“That’s essentially so we can make sure that we’re not forgetting anybody,” Anderson told WFTS-TV.

The Tampa Bay History Center told MacDill officials about the possible Black cemetery in 2019. In 2021, the base hosted a memorial service, dedicating a memorial on site 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.

“We know obviously there was wrong done in the past, but we’re working together with our community members,” Anderson said. “We want to make what was wrong right.”

Yvette Lewis, president of the NAACP Hillsborough County branch, said air force base officials have gone “above and beyond” in resolving the concerns of community members, though she’d like to see more work done to memorialize the site, reports said.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.