Dozier School For Boys Mass Graves Investigated, Rape Survivor Speaks Out

The Dozier School for Boys mass graves are being investigated, with Florida politicians pushing for answers. In addition, a Dozier survivor is speaking out for the first time.

As previously reported by The Inquisitor, about 50 unmarked graves were found at the Arthur Dozier School for Boys, with around 80 boys who suffered from abuse being unaccounted for.

The University of South Florida scientists are preparing for a massive exhumation of the nearly 50 unmarked graves in the woods using ground-penetrating radar. They estimate the deaths probably occurred between 1914 and 1952, with most of the boys being African-American. Considering the timeframe, it’s highly unlikely that they buried white and black children together, but, as of yet, the researchers haven’t found a segregated whites-only cemetery.

Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist from the University, says the team had determined that at least 20 boys died within the first three months of having arrived at the Dozier School for Boys. She says, “We really don’t know exactly how many, or who they are” but “many questions persist about who is buried at the school and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.”

Bill Nelson has been a boat captain most of his life. He’s also a survivor of Florida’s dark past. Nelson says, “It’s wrong what they did to us up there.”

Not to be confused with the Dozier School for Boys survivor, Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson says, “The U.S. Department of Justice has a program that could provide up to $3 million for forensic sifting of the burial areas.”

Bill Nelson is speaking out for the first time about the two-and-a-half years he spent at the Dozier School for Boys. He was tortured in what the boys called the White House, a small building at the Dozier School for Boys where the temperature drops inside and paint peels off the walls. Just a skinny 11-year old, he was sent away for a crime he was later exonerated of. The Dozier School for Boys survivor remembers the horror of living there:

“I was raped over there as a kid, and there were several boys raped. Anything we spoke out about, we went to the White House. We walked inside what’s known as the White House. Sometimes at night you could hear the screams, they were being beaten to death.”

What do you think about the mass graves being found at the Dozier School for Boys?