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Crews find more than 600 unmarked graves on Clemson University's campus

Crews find more than 600 unmarked graves on Clemson University's campus
Posted at 5:40 PM, Oct 30, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-30 19:03:07-04

Researchers are working to find out who is buried in the 604 unmarked graves that were found on Clemson University's campus.

In a press release, university officials said crews were surveying the Woodland Cemetery, located near Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, when the unmarked graves were found.

Using ground-penetrating radar, crews initially found 200 unmarked graves, but as the project went on, crews found 404 more graves.

"The number of graves coupled with the locations suggests the possibility that some may pre-date the period when the land was part of Calhoun's Fort Hill Plantation from 1830 to 1865," university officials stated in the press release. "Many of the graves are thought to be those of enslaved people who worked at the plantation and later as sharecroppers and Black laborers, including convicted individuals involved in the construction of Clemson College from 1890 to 1915."

According to Greenville News, University Historian Paul Anderson and a research assistant will comb through census data and archives to find out who is buried there and when they were placed there.

Former Clemson trustee Jim Bostic told the Greenville News that a large memorial would be put in place to honor those in the unmarked graves.