New talks to start on Fort Bend remains
Discussions could lead to memorial, cemetery on site
Upcoming discussions between Fort Bend ISD and county officials could lead to a memorial and cemetery for 95 people, believed to have been convict laborers, on the site where their remains were discovered last year during a school construction project.
Officials and activists expressed hope that the negotiations, authorized Monday night by Fort Bend ISD trustees and on Feb. 12 by county commissioners, could lead to an agreement for the school district to convey to Fort Bend County the land where the abandoned cemetery was discovered. The county would build and maintain a permanent resting place for the people who were buried there.
“They’ll work through all of those things,” said Veronica Sopher, spokeswoman for Fort Bend ISD. “Our hope is that we’re going to be able to come to an agreement with the county that preserves and memorializes the Sugar Land 95.”
The discovery of the remains during construction of a new technical center drew national attention. The remains were exhumed and examined by archaeological experts. As the process unfolded, the school district said it lacked the legal authority and expertise to oversee the burial site.
Fort Bend ISD ultimately pursued a plan to bury the remains at the Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery. Members of a task force appointed by the city of Sugar Land to study the issue protested, saying the remains should be kept at the original site.
The district’s proposal remains pending before a state district judge. Discussions with the county, however, could result in a different plan to bury and memorialize them on a piece of the land where the remains were discovered, according to a timeline on the school district’s website.
The district says delays and archaeological work have added to construction costs, but the James Reese Career and Technical center is still scheduled to open in the fall.
Before taking the formal step to authorize the negotiations on Monday, trustees deliberated during a closed session that lasted about an hour.
During the public part of the meeting, U.S. Rep. Al Green and other community members implored Fort Bend school officials to come to an agreement that will respectfully honor the 95 African-Americans whose remains were found at the site.
Elected officials stood around Green as he took the microphone during public comment, looking stoic as his voice echoed throughout the room.
"This is an opportunity for us to show the world that we will respect the remains of people regardless as to who they are, regardless as to what their station in life was, regardless as to where they are found," Green said. "We are going to respect them. We are going to treat them with dignity and respect. This is what a great country does. Ours is a great country."
The elected officials present at the school board meeting, including County Judge KP George, District Attorney Brian Middleton, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Ken DeMerchant, and others signed a letter earlier this month urging school officials to keep the remains at the site and to halt construction.
Community activists for months have called for the remains to stay on the site where they were discovered last year, and for development of a memorial. The remains are believed to be those of former prisoners in the convict leasing system, through which inmates were contracted out to perform cheap labor across the state.
"There's no price you can put on a historical find that is as important as this," said Swatara Olushola, an activist who served on the city's cemetery task force. "There's no price you can put on my history. There's no price that you can put on our connection to our ancestors. They are speaking to us. They did not ask to be uncovered on that ground."
During public comment before trustees went in closed session to deliberate, Cynthia Ginyard, Fort Bend Democratic Party Chair, said she applauded school officials for moving in the right direction but acknowledged there were still decisions to be made.
"We realize that getting to this point was not easy," said Ginyard. "Tough decisions are not always easy. They're not always comfortable. So, I want to pat you on the back for that. However, you are probably more aware than I am that there are still a ways to go."
As he closed his remarks, Green mentioned the meeting he had with elected officials that led to the letter being sent to school district officials.
"But, it's not enough to have a historic meeting," said Green. "We have to a historic result. This is our opportunity. Each one of us, at some point on the infinite continuum that we call time, we will all have to account for our time. On that day, the question won't be, how many rich people did you feed, how many full bellies did you take care? The question is going to be what did you do for the least, the last and the lost?"