Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site

Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site
Location West Palm Beach, Florida
Coordinates 26°44′11″N 80°03′43″W / 26.73639°N 80.06194°W / 26.73639; -80.06194Coordinates: 26°44′11″N 80°03′43″W / 26.73639°N 80.06194°W / 26.73639; -80.06194
NRHP Reference # 02001012
Added to NRHP September 12, 2002

The Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site (also known as Paupers Cemetery) is a historic site in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is located near the junction of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue, between I-95 and US 1. On September 12, 2002, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

History

Establishment of the cemetery and 1928 hurricane

In 1913, the city of West Palm Beach set aside land for cemeteries, with 3 acres (1.2 ha) each for a Palm Beach County pauper's cemetery, a city pauper's cemetery, a pest house, and a pauper's house. The city pauper cemetery, the location of the mass burial site, was located at the southwest corner of Tamarind Avenue and 25th Street, which moved northwest to southeast at the time.[1] However, the county would establish a pauper's cemetery in 1917 near modern-day intersection of 45th Street and Australian Avenue. A portion of the property was sold to a slaughterhouse in 1917.[2]

The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane caused at least 2,500 deaths, mostly around Lake Okeechobee. Many were migrant black farmer workers. Due to racial segregation at the time, the coffins provided were used for the white victims, most of whom received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in West Palm Beach. The bodies of the black people who were killed and some of those whose race could not be identified were disposed of by other means. Some were burned in funeral pyres, while many were placed into mass graves,[3] including about 1,600 in Port Mayaca, 674 at the pauper's cemetery, at least 22 in Miami Locks (now known as Lake Harbor), 28 in Ortona, and 22 in Sebring. There were also unconfirmed reports of bodies buried at Loxahatchee. After the burials were complete, then-Mayor of West Palm Beach Vincent Oaksmith proclaimed an hour of mourning on October 1 for those who died during the storm. A funeral service was hosted by several local clergymen and attended by about 3,000 people, including educator Mary McLeod Bethune. A memorial was placed at Woodlawn Cemetery in memory of the victims of the storm, but no such marker was placed at the pauper's cemetery.[1]

After the hurricane

Those buried were largely forgotten, despite reports of human remains resurfacing over the years, including during the extension of 25th street. The city of West Palm Beach sold a section of the burial grounds to a sewage disposable plant in 1957. The property changed ownership again in the 1980s when the city exchanged the land for property on 23rd street, just to the south of the grounds and where a church was located. Following less deed restrictions in 1985,[1] the church sold the land to Palm Beach Exterminating owner Bernard Kolkana, who was planning the construction of a warehouse on the property. Unaware of the mass burial, Kolkana purchased the former pauper's cemetery for $175,000 in 1987, a year before his son Jim bought the land for $230,000.[2]

The historical marker added in 2003

The public remained mostly unaware of mass burials on the site until the 1990s. The Sankofa Society conducted a blessing ceremony in 1991, well-publicized by the local media. Kolkana refused to sell or donate the land back to the city of West Palm Beach, but halted any plans for construction on the property.[2] In 1992, city work crews located human remains on the property using a backhoe.[1] Resident Robert Hazard established the Storm of '28 Memorial Park Coalition in 1999 as a non-profit organization used to reacquire the land and solicit donations for a memorial complex that included an educational center and a museum about African American pioneers and migrant farm workers, at a cost of approximately $6.1 million. Organizations such as the Sankofa Society proposed a less sophisticated plan of erecting an information wall and a large marble headstone, at a far less expensive cost of about $43,000.[2]

In 2000, a Miami-based technology company was hired by the city of West Palm Beach for the purpose of conducting a ground-penetrating radar survey and covering a 200 ft (61 m) by 200 ft (61 m) area. The team performed the assessment with a subsurface interface radar, which is used to determine the extensive and locations of objects embedded in surfaces such as concrete or soil by electromagnetic signals. The report of the survey indicated that a 70 ft (21 m) by 30 ft (9.1 m) trench was dug for disposal of the bodies, but the extension of 25th street "unearthed random bodies from the old pauper's cemetery, and it ran right through the north end of the mass grave trench." Additionally, according to the survey, the bodies were buried in two layers.[1]

Re-acquisition by the City of West Palm Beach

City commissioner Alfred Zucaro urged then-West Palm Beach mayor Joel Daves in September 2000 to reacquire the land using eminent domain. This would allow the city to receive the land for its appraised value of only $1,000 without consent from Kolkana. On September 11, four of the five city commissioners – Jim Exline, Ike Robinson, Bill Moss, and Zucaro – voted for approval of eminent domain after failures to negotiate with Kolkana and accusations of racism, while the fifth commissioner, Mary Brandenburg, was absent.[2] The city commissioners reversed their positions on December 11, 2000, after negotiating with Kolkana to purchase the land for $180,000.[4] Thereafter, plans for construction of a memorial began.[5] The site was designated a U.S. National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 2002.[6] During the 75th anniversary of the storm's landfall in September 2003, a historical marker was finally added by the City of West Palm Beach.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. 2002. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Marian Dozier (September 15, 2000). "For Victims Of 1928 Hurricane". Sun-Sentinel. pp. 1 and 2. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ Nicole Sterghos Brochu (2003). "Florida's Forgotten Storm: the Hurricane of 1928". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ "West Palm Beach". The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida). December 12, 2000. p. 2C – via NewsBank.
  5. 1 2 "The Hurricane of 1928". Historical Society of Palm Beach County. 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site". Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. Retrieved April 19, 2016.

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