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

By Alleyia Bailey, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Carrel Cowan-Ricks began her journey in Historical Archaeology in 1980 when she enrolled at Wayne State University to study Anthropology. By 1990 Cowan-Ricks entered the Anthropology Ph.D. program at Wayne State with a desire to study African American cemeteries and burial customs. At this time, Cowan-Ricks was one of three African American women with a graduate degree in archaeology in the United States and very likely the world.

Clemson University hired Cowan- Ricks in 1991 to locate unmarked African American Burials in Woodland Cemetery. These burials include the enslaved peoples of the Fort Hill Plantation; sharecroppers, domestic workers, and tenant farmers who worked at Fort Hill during Reconstruction; and convicted laborers who constructed the early buildings on Clemson’s campus. To aid her in the search for unmarked burials, Cowan-Ricks recruited volunteers from the history, education, engineering, and architecture departments, along with African American high school and middle school students, and local community members.

During the fall of 1991, Cowan- Ricks and her team surveyed the entire west slope of Woodland Cemetery to locate evidence of burials. Her plan did not involve disinterring any possible graves but finding evidence of burial shafts. Cowan-Ricks noted that the purpose of the Cemetery Hill Archaeological Project was to memorialize, honor, and protect the enslaved and convict burials on Cemetery Hill. During these excavations, the team uncovered a number of artifacts, including indigenous projectile points and shell casings fired at military funerals.

During the 1991-1993 excavations Cowan-Ricks concluded the burial ground was much larger than anyone ever thought and that she would need to dig deeper to locate the graves; thus, she would need more time to locate the burials. However, in 1993, Cowan-Ricks was fired from Clemson University due to budget cuts. She would likely have found the graves if she had been granted more time. Between July 2020 and January 2022, more than 500 unmarked burials believed to be those of African Americans were located in the cemetery using ground penetrating radar.

In addition to locating the unmarked burials, Cowan-Ricks also aimed to reconstruct the population of the enslaved peoples during the Fort Hill period. She noted that census data at that time severely under counted the amount of enslaved individuals on the Fort Hill property and wanted an accurate representation of the population. Cowan-Ricks also researched the traditions and customs of the enslaved people of Fort Hill and gave a presentation entitled “African American Plantation Culture” that detailed the daily lives of enslaved people. She noted African American cultivation practices, pottery making and styles, ritual and worship, and day-to-day tasks they would have performed.

Cowan-Ricks continued to show her passion for archaeology after her time at Clemson University. She served on the Detroit Museum’s Black Historical sites committee and at the Society for Historical Archaeology. During her time at the Detroit Museum, she organized a symposium entitled “Is Historical Archaeology White? Prospects for Minority Contribution.” She continued to push the status quo of what traditional archaeology looked like in the United States at that time and advocated for more African American and women voices in the field. Cowan-Ricks also contributed to many archaeological projects, including the Center for Field Research in Watertown, Massachusetts. During this time, Cowan-Ricks’ battle with Lupus was growing stronger, and on January 11, 1997, she lost this battle with the disease.

Cowan-Ricks was a groundbreaking archaeologist who was rewriting what archaeology looked like during this time. Cowan-Ricks also represented a number of people while practicing in the field; she has given strength to aspiring archaeologists who are African American, women, and those who are battling a chronic condition.

One of her life missions was to add more African American and women voices into the archaeological narrative. With her work, we have the knowledge about Woodland Cemetery that we do today. Cowan-Ricks continues to inspire each and every one of us to protect the sacred space that is Cemetery Hill.

Currently, Dr. David Markus and I have been working on cataloging the artifacts recovered from the 1991-1993 excavations that Cowan-Ricks led. The artifacts had been uncleaned and not cataloged, only being stored in plastic bags that were not useful in protecting the artifacts. This process has included cleaning all of the artifacts and completing an inventory. Dr. Markus and I have also assigned the artifacts with field specimen numbers that will aid in finding a specific artifact. We have also upgraded all the artifact bags and assigned the artifacts with specific tags. Our hope for this project is to fully process the artifacts to better understand what was found during the excavations on Cemetery Hill.

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

Architect Visits to Clemson University in January 2023

In January 2023, Clemson University’s office of Campus Planning will continue to host architects who will share their vision for memorial development as we prepare to enter into the memorial design phase for the cemetery project later this year.

Mario Gooden will be at Clemson University on January 5, 2023, to discuss his architectural work related to the Woodland Cemetery memorialization efforts. A Clemson Design graduate from the class of 1987, Gooden is the Interim Director of the MArch Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), which researches and explores the geospatial aspect of continental Africa and its associated diaspora. Gooden’s previous works include Battiste Residence Hall at South Carolina State University, the Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building and US Courthouse in Grand Rapids, MI, and Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco, CA.

Also, Michael Murphy, Int FRIBA, will visit Clemson University on January 26, 2023, to discuss his architectural work on public memory and memorials. Murphy is a Founding Principal of MASS Design Group, which uses architecture and design to spark social change and justice. Their past works include the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, the Gun Violence Memorial Project at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, and “The Embrace” with Hank Willis Thomas in Boston, MA. Murphy has taught at the University of Michigan, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Columbia’s GSAPP.

Both of their campus visits will include tours of Historic Properties tours, Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground, a Call My Name campus tour, a visit to the Clemson Area African American Museum, and a presentation of their work for the cemetery team and Campus Planning staff.

PBS’s “Carolina Stories: The Education of Harvey Gantt:” Commemorative Documentary Screening & Historical Documents Analysis

January 31, 2023, 6PM, McKissick Theatre, Hendrix Student Center, Clemson University

Please join the Woodland Cemetery and Historic African American Burial Ground Preservation Project team on January 31, 2023, at 6PM as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of Harvey Gantt winning a class-action lawsuit to desegregate Clemson University as its first Black student in 1963. The cemetery team will be hosting a viewing of PBS’s “Carolina Stories: The Education of Harvey Gantt” documentary made for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Integration with Dignity.” Narrated by actress Phylicia Rashad with featured photographs by Cecil Williams, it tells the story of Gantt’s journey into Clemson from repeated applications for admission to his college graduation in 1965. Following the film, guests are welcome to examine the historical documents from Harvey Gantt’s papers from Clemson Libraries’ Special Collection and Archives. In doing so, they can compare the tangible facts within Clemson’s archives with the celebratory film made almost a decade ago. The event is free and open to the public and will be held within McKissick Theater inside the Hendrix Student Center on the campus of Clemson University.

Schedule a Free Virtual Tour of Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground for Spring 2023

Because the Pathways Project will temporarily close down Woodland Cemetery at Clemson University in January 2023, the cemetery team would like to bring our free cemetery walking tour to you all virtually during the Spring 2023 semester. The Woodland Cemetery Preservation Project and Historic African American Burial Ground team will present one-hour virtual tours to classes, local organizations, and campus and community groups. With the help of our Creative Inquiry team, we have developed this experiential storytelling tool to share the history of the cemetery, including the recently recovered unmarked burials of hundreds of marginalized people. If you would like us to present, please contact us via our main email address afamburials@clemson.edu or email the Community Engagement Assistant mdrayto@clemson.edu.

Download the full January 2023 Newsletter | January 2023 Newsletter