TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County NAACP president wants the city of Tampa and the Italian Club to launch an archaeological search for hundreds of African American graves believed to be missing from the Italian Club Cemetery as it’s known today, or the College Hill Cemetery as it was known more than a century ago.
"When is the city going to right this wrong part of history that they put in the books?" said Yvette Lewis, president of the Hillsborough NAACP.
Lewis wants a ground-penetrating radar survey of a field next to the Italian Club Cemetery in the College Hill section of East Tampa. Archaeologists say part of the area was once the College Hill Cemetery -- a segregated burial ground where African Americans were laid to rest in the early 20th century.
Archaeologists believe hundreds of African American graves could still be here.
“It looks like there's potentially 1,200 graves,” said Jeff Moates, an archaeologist with the Florida Public Archaeology Network at the University of South Florida.
A new investigation from the Tampa Bay Times brought the story to light. Moates helped with research and reviewed a previous GPR survey from the early 2000s that he was not affiliated with. He says crews ran the machine opposite of what would give the best results.
“In all of our cemeteries, we bury people east to west, so that their feet are facing towards the east so that they can see the rising sun. And so, when you employ ground-penetrating radar, you want to kind of go across the shorter axis,” Moates said. He said the previous survey went along the long axis.
"It's not just a little thing that's off. I think, should there be ground-penetrating radar survey again in that place, I think you would run it the opposite way and see what the results are,” he said.
Moates shared plat maps showing where the cemetery would be today. Lewis says it disappeared through land transactions targeting African Americans.
"They placed fines and fees on the properties, knowing that the owners was not able to pay them. So, they seized the property…” Lewis said.
Regarding the discovery, city spokesperson Janelle McGregor said in a statement:
“We are troubled to learn of the historical inequities Black land owners in our community faced during this oppressive era. We must acknowledge and own these injustices to prevent them from occurring in the future. We will continue to listen to the needs of our Black community while actively working to close wage and labor force gaps, ensure access to affordable housing and invest in reliable transportation options. Together we will create a safe, resilient and equitable community by confronting our past and working toward transforming Tampa’s tomorrow.”
No one at the Italian Club was yet available to comment on the graves, but Lewis said she hopes leaders of the present will step up to find the missing souls of the past.
“For the people to rest and the community to heal… there definitely needs to be a conversation with the city of Tampa…” she said.
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