Sugar Land 95: Found and Not Forgotten

February 13, 2023

This is a special post re-published from the February 2023 newsletter. Read the full February 2023 newsletter.

By Chassidy Olainu-Alade, Director of the Sugar Land 95 Memorialization Project for Fort Bend Independent School District (ISD)

February, the month nationally recognized as Black History Month. For most people, Black History Month is a great time to recognize the accomplishments of notable African Americans, to reflect on the struggles and successes of our ancestors, and to celebrate Black culture. In Fort Bend County, Texas the month of February and Black History Month has a more somber tone as February 19th was a pivotal point in county history.

BACKGROUND ON THE HISTORIC DISCOVERY

On February 19, 2018, a contractor at the construction site of Fort Bend Independent School Districts, James Reese Career and Technical Center (Sugar Land, Texas) uncovered the first human remains. Under the guidance of the Texas Historical Commission, an archaeological firm lead in the exhumation, and was granted permission to study the remains for further analysis. Extensive historical research was also conducted to gain a better understanding of the property and what was found.

What was unearthed during the study was shocking. In total, there were 95 African Americans exhumed from this forgotten cemetery. Through archival research, exhumation, and intensive laboratory studies, the cemetery was found to be associated with the 19th century convict leasing system that operated in the state of Texas. It was concluded that the remains were of 94 men and 1 presumed woman, who labored and died on the Sartartia Plantation, land owned and operated by Little A. Ellis between 1879 and 1909.

The remains showed signs of disease, repeated injury, and gunshot wounds likely sustained during escape attempts. They endured the indignity of corporal punishment, hunger, insufficient clothing, exposure, and severe overwork. The study of their remains was an opportunity to reveal the results of another form of slavery that lasted for nearly 50 years past the end of the Civil War.

HISTORY OF CONVICT LEASING IN TEXAS & LABOR CAMPS IN SUGAR LAND, TEXAS

By the time the Civil war ended in 1865, there were approximately 1,000 prisoners housed in the Huntsville, TX prison. To offset the costs of maintaining the prison, lawmakers explored ways to make it more self-sufficient. Private companies were given the right to lease the labor of prisoners to individuals and corporations and in exchange they were to responsible for feeding and clothing the prisoners. Typically, Anglo convicts were sent to the wood-cutting camps of East Texas and Hispanic convicts were sent to work on the railroad. Black convicts were sent to cultivate crops — primarily cotton and sugarcane — often on the same plantations from which they were freed only six years prior.

In January 1878, the State awarded a five-year contract to two partners, Edward H. Cunningham and Littleberry A. Ellis. The men made a fortune in lease payments, much of which they put into the acquisition of more land. Cunningham, a resident of Bexar County, began acquiring land in Fort Bend County, Texas that would eventually total 12,500 acres. Ellis purchased active labor camps and agricultural fields in Fort Bend County. Eventually, Ellis owned 5,300 acres, which he named Sartartia Plantation.

Using the labor of convicts, Cunningham and Ellis were able to create one of the largest sugar plantations in the country following the Civil War. Convict leasing reached its peak during Cunningham and Ellis’ reign over the prison system. Together, by 1880, Ellis’ Sartartia Plantation and Cunningham’s Sugar Land Plantation utilized 365 convicts, while leasing out hundreds more to local plantations in need of low-cost labor.

Although they were only about 30 percent of the Texas population, Black people made up 50 to 60 percent of the prison population during the convict leasing period from 1871 to 1911. The prison camps established by these men did not cease operation when their lease of Huntsville Penitentiary ended in 1883. Prison labor persisted on newly minted state prison farms across Texas.

SUGAR LAND 95 MEMORIALIZATION PROJECT

In 2019, the Sugar Land 95 was reinterred into their original resting places and their graves were marked as “Unknown” temporarily. The cemetery is now named the Bullhead Convict Labor Camp Cemetery and is officially designated as a historic cemetery in Texas by the Texas Historical Commission.

Currently, the work to properly memorialize the Sugar Land 95 is incomplete. There is still much to do to honor their lives and legacies, and to educate our community about the contributions of convict laborers across the nation.

FBISD now has an education exhibit within the James C. Reese Career and Technical Center that serves as a permanent memorial to foster education and community engagement. In 2021, the MASS Design Group was contracted by the district to engage in landscape design visioning, with the intent of creating a proper memorial grounds and outdoor exhibition in honor of the Sugar Land 95

Independent researchers are also conducting ancient DNA studies and genealogical research, with the hopes of reuniting the Sugar Land 95 with their families.

For more information and updates on the Sugar Land 95, please visit www.fortbendisd.com/sugarland95