Sugar Land task force will study post-Civil War remains
Against the backdrop of a growing community focus, Sugar Land has established a task force to make recommendations on the interment and reburial of the remains believed to be post-Civil War convict laborers — all African-Americans — unearthed at a school construction site in Fort Bend, according to city officials.
The issue has been brought to light by Reginald Moore, a community activist who has pushed public officials to properly recognize the 95 human remains by building a museum.
“The cemetery was found because of Reginald Moore’s advocacy and dedication to the history of convict lease labor in the area,” said Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard in the news release announcing the creation of the task force. “I can’t stress enough the importance of our task force. It is important that it comprises diverse community stakeholders, and I believe we’ve accomplished this purpose.”
The issue of convict labor and the human remains from the convict-leasing system increasingly has gained nationwide attention from stories in the Houston Chronicle and elsewhere. Fort Bend ISD first announced the discovery of the remains in April. In July, archaeologists confirmed the remains found so far were likely part of the convictleasing system, in which Texas state prisoners were contracted out to do cheap labor. The city task force’s goal is to ensure the remains “are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a man-
ner that honors their historical significance,” according to a news release from the city of Sugar Land issued this week.
“No one knows more about the convict-leasing program than Mr. Moore,” acknowledged First Assistant City Manager Steve Griffith by phone on Tuesday. “If we’re going to create that educational opportunity, then we have got to build a broad base of support for that and we’ve got to educate on that, including people in our own communities who may have heard about this but don’t really understand the plight of these individuals that were an important part of our history. That’s the purpose of the task force.”
Activist reluctant
Despite the city’s invitation, Moore said he is hesitant to sit on the task force after years of what he described as a difficult relationship with city officials. Moore said he isn’t planning to attend the first meeting for the task force, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Wednesday at Sugar Land City Hall. The group will continue to meet over the next six months, and all meetings are open to the public.
“All the work I’ve done is going to be insignificant,” Moore said Tuesday. “They’re going to dilute everything I’ve done. They aren’t ever going to recognize the past. I won’t have anything to do with the museum. I won’t have anything to do with the memorial. Now they’re bringing this group here that doesn’t have any understanding of the history that we’ve been doing.”
The city has asked a wide range of entities to join its task force. They include Fort Bend ISD, the Houston Area Urban League, the Fort Bend Historical Commission, the Texas Historical Commission, the NAACP, Rice University history professor Caleb McDaniel, author Douglas Blackmon, who wrote a book about the convict-leasing system, members of the Sugar Land community and others, according to the release.
Moore, a retired longshoreman, acknowledged he would be more open to joining the task force if he had been involved in helping to choose the committee members. He said he feels pushed out by city officials.
Griffith said the city reached out to the Texas Historical Commission earlier this summer, and it recommended how to move forward concerning the burial of the remains. The commission advised the city to create a task force, similar to what the city of Waco did when an unmarked historical cemetery was discovered on a construction site.
Doug Adolph, a Sugar Land spokesman, said the city has been receptive to feedback from Moore about ways to educate the community on the convictleasing system and is open to the idea of building a museum, but needs funding. City officials said the task force is expected to help come up with ways to tell the history of the remains and the convictleasing system.
“Reginald has advocated for a museum for many years,” Adolph said. “We’ve been receptive to the idea. We’ve always told him that if he was able to identify a funding source then we’d certainly be able to agreeable to pursuing that. He’s never been able to do that. Hopefully the task force has more success.”
Griffith said the city of Sugar Land has also spoken with Moore about offering temporary space at the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.
Griffith said building a new free-standing museum could take many years. However, Moore has been adamant about creating a separate museum because he feels that’s the only way to properly tell the documented brutal history of the convict leasing system.
‘Control the narrative’
Sugar Land also is working on an agreement with Fort Bend ISD to rebury all the remains at Old Imperial Farm Cemetery, which sits less than a mile away from the construction site, the release said. Moore actively researched the history of Old Imperial Farm cemetery, which lead him to discover that it likely holds bodies of those who were part of the convictleasing system. The cemetery’s close proximity to the school district’s construction site last year caused him to alert school officials about conducting an archaeological survey.
Lynette Reddix, president of the Missouri City chapter of the NAACP, said their group wanted to be included on the task force because they felt African-American voices needed to be a part of the narrative.
“If we’re at the table, then we control the narratives,” said Reddix. “When you’re not there, then you lose your power. We shouldn’t lose a seat at the table.”