Clemson documents additional campus cemetery unmarked graves

Ground-penetrating radar detected an additional 63 unmarked graves at Clemson University’s Woodland Cemetery.  The survey on about four and a half acres of previously un-mapped ground has raised to 667 the total number of gravesites.  Many of the unmarked graves are thought to be those of enslaved people who worked at the plantation and later as sharecroppers and black laborers.  They include convicted persons who were involved in the construction of Clemson College from 1890 to 1915. Dr. Rhondda Thomas of the Clemson  Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson is working with the local African-American community to identify family members who may have ancestors buried in the unmarked graves.  According to the university, the board of trustees is committed to making a complete and accurate accounting of the university’s part in Woodland Cemetery, and creating a preservation plan to protect, honor and respect all who are buried there.