The State of Florida's own finding: segregated burial, no records, lost when land was sold (Tallahassee, Dec. 17, 2021)

SUMMARYThe State of Florida's own finding: segregated burial, no records, lost when land was sold (Tallahassee, Dec. 17, 2021) [Connections: Tampa Bay, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDThe Task Force on Abandoned African-American Cemeteries (created by Ch. 2021-60, Laws of Florida, HB 37; members included Hillsborough NAACP president Yvette Lewis and USF's Antoinette Jackson) quotes the law's finding that after slavery there were "restrictions on burying the dead, which resulted in segregated cemeteries and burial grounds" that "were not subject to regulations and recordkeeping necessary to protect the dignity of the deceased," and are often found only "when land is being redeveloped or has been sold." It names Zion (1901) and Ridgewood (pauper cemetery under King High) and notes a 1998 survey estimating 40–50 percent of 3,580 surveyed cemeteries were abandoned or neglected

PATTERNThe state confirms the mechanism: segregation created unrecorded burial grounds, which made them easy to sell and build on

LENS (WW9)Florida's legislature put it in law: the record-keeping that would have protected us was never applied to us

OPENThe rest of the report (only the first 100,000 characters were read) for other Tampa Bay sites

SOURCETask Force Final Report (Florida Dept. of State, PDF).