Radar finds potential clues to where former vice president’s SC slaves could be buried
Radar helped reveal where slaves who worked on the South Carolina plantation of a former vice president may be buried.
Clemson University on Monday announced more than 200 possible grave sites had been found on its campus, which was built on the Fort Hill Plantation. The land came from John C. Calhoun, who served under U.S. presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
The school has long known that enslaved people were buried at Woodland Cemetery but wasn’t aware of an exact number, a press release from 2016 said.
Now, further examination has revealed clues that could help solve the mystery, the school announced Monday.
“Testing shows disturbed soil roughly five feet beneath the surface indicating possible burial sites,” Clemson said in its latest news release. “Continued investigation of the cemetery could identify additional potential burial sites in the coming weeks and months.”
The school said the newly discovered locations could be the resting places of African American slaves or sharecroppers who worked at Fort Hill. The cemetery might also be home to the graves of black workers, “including convicted individuals involved in the construction of Clemson College from 1890 to 1915,” according to the school.
As research for unmarked graves continues, the university said it expects to be in contact with the local African American community to learn more about who could be buried at Woodland and how they should be recognized.
“Clemson is dedicated to developing and sharing a full and accurate history of this area and to develop a preservation plan to protect it and those who rest here,” Smyth McKissick, board of trustees chairman, said in the news release.
The university in recent years has taken steps to acknowledge its past.
In 2016, the school put up historic markers to inform people about the history of the land the campus sits upon. And earlier this year, the school announced it renamed Calhoun Honors College, which was named after the former vice president, The State previously reported.
Calhoun, who also served in Congress, was pro-slavery and advocated for states’ rights.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Radar finds potential clues to where former vice president’s SC slaves could be buried."
