Book summary “We Carry Their Bones”: summary

Introduction

You often confront histories where institutional violence and systemic racism remain buried beneath official silence. When state authorities hide abuses and leave families without answers, uncovering the truth demands a blend of science, persistence, and courage.

Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle combines archaeology, history, and DNA analysis to uncover hidden graves, expose systemic atrocities, and identify victims of the infamous Dozier School for Boys.

You will see how historical research intersects with modern science to investigate institutional crimes. The book traces the origins of the reform school, details the excavation methodology, examines political obstruction, explains genetic identification, and explores the legacy of state accountability.

You might wonder:

• How do researchers locate unmarked graves on institutional grounds?
• What methods extract DNA from severely degraded remains?
• How do communities react when buried secrets finally emerge?

1. Origins and Abuses of the Dozier School

Institutional History

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys operated for over a century under various names. It opened on January 1, 1900, and finally closed in 2011.

Jackson County won the reform school bid by offering 1,400 acres of land and $400 in funding. The institution was initially intended to house youths convicted of crimes. Laws were later amended to include non-criminal offenses like truancy and incorregibility. It became the largest reform school in the country.

The school changed its name multiple times following scandals:

• Florida State Reform School
• Florida Industrial School for Boys
• Florida School for Boys
• Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys

The facility was segregated into two completely separate campuses until 1968. Department No. 1 divided white children from colored children, a term used for anyone deemed non-white.

Historically, Florida exploited convicts and wards through forced labor systems as a direct economic substitute for slavery. Following the Civil War, the lack of a state income tax led Florida to lease out convicts and reform school inmates for tasks like building railroads, cutting lumber, and harvesting turpentine under brutal, lethal conditions.

The White House Boys

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys operated for over a century, evolving from a reform school into a segregated institution plagued by severe physical abuse, forced labor, and hidden fatalities.

By the mid-1950s, the overcrowded school housed a peak number of nine hundred boys. Surviving former inmates, known as the White House Boys, exposed the systemic physical and sexual abuse meted out by administrators inside the school's notorious disciplinary building.

Men in their sixties and seventies who survived the reform school recalled brutal beatings with leather straps administered by staff members like Arthur G. Dozier in a specific building called the White House. A studied group of 250 boys received a total number of 691 whippings. Despite state-led investigations finding insufficient evidence of criminal acts to prosecute, the survivors' accounts of violence and vanishing peers fueled public demand for truth and restorative justice.

Robert Straley experienced violent blackouts and recurring nightmares triggered by news coverage of Martin Lee Anderson's death at a juvenile boot camp, pushing him to confront his past. He had weighed 105 pounds when he was locked up at Dozier as a boy.

In October 2008, five aging survivors gathered at Dozier to confront their trauma, forming the White House Boys and partnering with journalists to expose a century of abuse. Dick Colon, Robert Straley, Michael O’McCarthy, Bill Haynes, and Roger Kiser met online through shared trauma and a website run by Kiser. They enlisted Miami Herald reporter Carol Marbin Miller to investigate the facility.

Systemic racism and segregation during the Jim Crow era heavily influenced who lived, died, and received documentation at the reform school, with African American boys disproportionately affected. Vital records such as birth and death certificates were less commonly given to people of color, and the lack of formal documentation obscured the fates of many non-white children. Nearly 70 percent of the boys buried at the school were African American. A significant portion of deaths occurred shortly after the boys were admitted or while attempting to escape.

The school's historical records often glossed over escapes and deaths. They listed causes ranging from exposure to vague descriptions like hit by car during the 1930s when few county residents owned vehicles. Historical records showed that 23 percent of boys died within the first three months of being remanded to the school, while 8 percent of boys died following attempted escapes.

2. Forensic Methodology and Fieldwork

Uncovering clandestine graves requires a rigorous scientific methodology combining historical research, geophysical surveying, archaeological excavation, and laboratory bone analysis.

You can locate anomalies beneath the soil by combining archival records, student ledgers, and advanced geophysical tools. To confirm the radar findings without full immediate excavation, you use shallow test trenches to analyze soil stratification and determine if the earth has been previously disturbed.

• Conduct historical research using school ledgers, death certificates, and biennial reports.
• Deploy ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to identify subsurface anomalies indicating possible graves.
• Excavate shallow test trenches measuring twenty inches wide by twenty inches deep by three yards long to inspect soil mixture and stratification.
• Perform horizontal clearing by mechanical excavation to the primary burial area to identify individual graves accurately.
• Execute skeletal autopsies for forensic pathological and anthropological analysis to determine health, activities, cause of death, and identity.

The team dug a test trench measuring twenty inches wide, twenty inches deep, and three yards long, revealing a mixture of coffee-colored topsoil and hard red clay that confirmed historical burials. Students and researchers dug a trench five and a half meters long and a half meter wide to peek into the earth and confirm burial locations at the Dozier School.

Ground-Penetrating Radar and Trenching

Locating historical unmarked graves requires specific legal permits and geophysical survey techniques rather than standard criminal investigation methods. Kimmerle applied for a $5,000 university grant and coordinated with archaeologist Richard Estabrook, who used a ground-penetrating radar tool named Matilda.

• Obtain permission from the landowner
• Secure a 1A-32 archaeology permit
• Use ground-penetrating radar to detect soil disruptions and anomalies

Ground-truthing validates remote sensing data without disturbing human remains by digging shallow exploratory trenches. Researchers use ground-penetrating radar to record subsurface anomalies and disturbance shafts, then dig shallow, narrow trenches across anomalies to examine soil stratigraphy and color mixing without intruding into actual burials.

• Map the site and create large grids to run remote sensing
• Use ground-penetrating radar to record subsurface images and detect disturbances
• Dig a shallow trench about a foot deep as a standard archaeological procedure
• Use hand tools to smooth the walls of the narrow trench
• Observe different colors and mixing in the soil stratigraphy to confirm a burial

Excavation and Laboratory Analysis

Archaeological excavation of unmarked graves requires precise geometric placement of square units to avoid damaging skeletal remains beneath the sidewalls. Researchers apply the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the hypotenuse and ensure equal diagonal lengths for a one-meter square unit placed directly over a buried grave, organizing them into two-by-two meter grids.

• Calculate the hypotenuse and adjust two sides until each diagonal of the square is equal in length using the Pythagorean theorem.
• Place the unit stake precisely on the southwest corner of the square over the grave.
• Dig square holes with flat shovels and create two-by-two units side by side making a grid.
• Excavate skeletal remains using dental picks and toothbrushes over several days.

On Labor Day weekend in 2013, Erin Kimmerle and Christian started excavating two square units on the north end of Boot Hill near the oak tree to avoid uprooting metal crosses from the 1990s. Excavating an entire feature using specialized heavy equipment exposes multiple burial patterns and soil stains efficiently across a large site.

• Bring in a gradall excavator to extend its arm past potential burials.
• Pull soil back toward the machine using a flat blade without running wheels over the scraped surface.
• Scrape away topsoil a few inches at a time while watching closely with a skilled eye.
• Outline revealed burials with orange spray paint and excavate the soil within the original pit using trowels, spoons, and dental picks.

Greg Berg served as crew chief, managing the backhoe operator and using orange spray paint to outline burials after the topsoil was removed across the southeast side of Boot Hill. High-pressure wet screening systems allow rapid sifting of large volumes of soil to recover micro-artifacts and tiny human bone fragments from historical buildings.

• Place deep trenches approximately three meters apart across the project area using a backhoe.
• Harness two high-pressure fire hoses to feed water to oversize mesh wet screens.
• Sift sediments through two layers of quarter-inch and one-eighth-inch mesh.
• Sort recovered artifacts by raw material type and process bone fragments using magnified visualization and digital radiography.

Greg Berg designed water screening stations in an open field near the Dozier administration building, allowing the team to sift 220,000 pounds of soil over a week. Laboratory analysis of excavated juvenile remains involves meticulous cleaning, radiography, 3D laser scanning, and separating commingled bones by age and anatomy.

• Lay bones out on tables covered in brown paper, wash, and clean them.
• Radiograph, measure, 3D-laser-scan, and photograph each bone and tooth.
• Glue fractured pieces of bone back together and scan to create a 3D model.
• Sort bones by duplicity, age at death, and anatomical order on tables, using markers to draw separating lines.

A hard block of soil from a fire victim's grave sat on the lab table in the USF basement, where researchers used dental picks to separate burned bone fragments and melted glass. Lab crews wash bones, analyze tooth development, bone fusion centers, and skeletal dimensions to estimate age, sex, and stature, while wrapping fragile blocks of soil in tinfoil for transport.

3. Local Resistance and Political Obstacles

Local officials and residents actively obstructed the investigation to protect community reputations, while state bureaucrats deployed legal roadblocks against the university team.

Community Backlash

You encounter fierce local hostility from residents who blame outsiders for damaging the town. Townsfolk accuse researchers of ruining tourism, decimating the economy, and seeking fame.

Locals claim the wards had it better at Dozier than at home because they received food and clothes. A state representative from Jackson County writes demanding letters to the university president and the Florida governor to halt the research. Locals claim the team caused the school closure and the loss of two hundred jobs despite a Department of Justice investigation confirming deplorable conditions.

Major Donnie Branch of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and a local courthouse archivist both deny that the sheriff's office ever investigated deaths at the school, dismissing the victims as mere inmates. Local preservationists and bloggers report the researchers to the police chief for alleged felony grave disturbance.

Bureaucratic Roadblocks

Local opponents attempt to obstruct the academic investigation by filing criminal complaints and leveraging local political pressure. You face legal hurdles designed to halt excavations before burials can be verified.

Glen Varnadoe, whose uncle Thomas allegedly died under mysterious circumstances at the school in 1934, hires a lawyer to file an injunction against the state. This legal action successfully blocks the Department of Environmental Protection and local economic development officials from selling the 220-acre portion of the prime $10 million real estate.

Local blogger Dale Cox writes to Chief Baggett arguing that USF's archaeological digging constitutes a third-degree felony under state statute. Secretary of State Ken Detzner denies USF's permit application to excavate Boot Hill, claiming the Bureau of Archaeological Research only has statutory authority for historical objects rather than human remains unless a site is actively threatened by destruction. Columnist Fred Grimm criticizes the decision as an inexplicable political dodge designed to protect local interests and avoid potential lawsuits, while archaeologist William Lees publishes a blog post defending the denial based on modern archaeological ethics.

4. DNA Analysis and Identifications

Advanced DNA extraction techniques and genealogical family trees successfully identified long-lost victims, restoring dignity and transforming historical trauma into family repatriations.

Genetic Testing

Genetic testing of badly burned bone samples requires specialized chemical decontamination and decalcification to extract nuclear and mitochondrial DNA for family matching. Bone fragments and teeth were shipped inside a cardboard box marked fragile to the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, where scientists processed them for DNA extraction.

You must follow precise steps to process difficult bone samples:

• Sand bones to remove dirt and cut them into two pieces for testing and archiving.
• Decontaminate bone pieces with bleach, water, and ethanol.
• Grind bones to a fine powder to ready them for DNA extraction.
• Add a decalcifying solution and detergent to bone powder to open cells and extract nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

Laboratories sand bone surfaces, bleach and ethanol decontaminate them, and grind them into powder to release cells for DNA extraction. They compare profiles against family reference samples or enter them into missing persons databases.

Collecting mitochondrial DNA from elderly surviving relatives of missing reform school inmates was essential for identifying the remains in unmarked graves. Because direct descendants were nonexistent for boys who died young, genealogists constructed family trees to find the closest living maternal relatives. Law enforcement cooperation was secured to open investigative case numbers and collect buccal swabs for comparison against unknown remains.

You should follow these genealogical collection methods:

• Identify possible families by constructing family trees for siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
• Target the closest living family member on the maternal side to ensure a good mitochondrial DNA sample.
• Coordinate with law enforcement agencies to open an investigative file and utilize databases to track down living relatives.
• Collect buccal swabs from family members for DNA comparison.
• Send DNA samples to the University of North Texas Health Science Center for processing and entry into NamUs.

Elderly relatives like Richard Varnadoe, Ovell Krell, and Robert Stephens provided DNA samples during a public event hosted at USF to help identify long-lost relatives like fourteen-year-old Robert Seinous, who died in 1937.

Returning the Victims Home

George Owen Smith was officially identified as the first positive DNA match, bringing his remains back to his sister Ovell Krell and marking a historic turning point for the investigation. Forensic identification recognizes a human being's fundamental right to have their existence acknowledged, transforming historical neglect into dignity.

Ovell Krell received the news in Lakeland from the author and Major Robert Ura that her brother George Owen Smith was finally coming home. He had been buried in Boot Hill at a shallow depth of 2 feet deep.

Thomas Varnadoe's remains were successfully recovered and buried in a family plot eighty years after his death, providing profound closure for his surviving relatives. Gene and Glen Varnadoe, along with their 85-year-old uncle Richard, orchestrated a formal funeral in Plant City, Florida, transforming a historical trauma into an act of reparation. Richard Varnadoe told the gathering at Hopewell Memorial Gardens that he felt like they had plucked his brother out of the depths of hell. Thomas Varnadoe had been incarcerated for 34 days before dying on October 26, 1934.

5. State Accountability and Legacy

The forensic investigation culminated in official state apologies, individual family reburials, and permanent memorials that exposed a century of systemic maltreatment.

In January 2016, the forensic team presented their final report to the Florida cabinet. Cabinet members apologized for past abuses, though reparations were not officially mentioned. Families held diverse memorial ceremonies for the identified remains, such as releasing white balloons, delivering sermons, and returning personal items like a marble found in a victim's pocket.

Earl Wilson's family released a dozen white balloons, and Mattie, Billey Jackson's sister, held a Facebook-livestreamed ceremony where she received the worn marble found in her brother's pants pocket. Richard Varnadoe finally found the resting place of his brother Thomas after eighty-five years of searching.

Legislative Resolutions

State lawmakers allocated substantial funding for reburials and memorials, but the choice of location sparked intense conflict among families, former students, and local officials. While some distant relatives wished for remains to stay in Marianna, the White House Boys, the NAACP, and most families vehemently opposed returning bodies to the site of abuse, prompting a compromise for two separate burial grounds. Florida lawmakers allocated 500,000 dollars initially, with 114 votes in favor in the Florida House and 3 opposing votes. An additional 1,200,000 dollars was set aside the following year for burials and two memorials, advised by the Dozier Memorial & Monument Review Committee and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

Art Kimbrough donated land for forty-seven caskets in an effort to provide a lasting solution for reinterment.

In April 2018, the Florida legislature formally passed a resolution acknowledging the state's responsibility and apologizing for the cruel and unjust treatment at Dozier and Okeechobee schools. Before a gallery of former wards, the legislature formally detailed the history of abuses, lack of legal representation, severe beatings in the White House and Adjustment Unit, and undocumented burials found by the USF forensic investigation. The reform school in Marianna had opened in 1900, and a school in Okeechobee opened in 1955 to address overcrowding. The forensic investigation found fifty-five burial sites, which was twenty-four more than official records stated.

Seventy-year-old Robert Straley remarked that the legislative acknowledgment might be his legacy and the only good thing he ever did not for himself.

Memorialization

In 2019, following a private firm's ground-penetrating radar survey near the old farm, the forensic team investigated twenty-seven reported anomalies across a two-acre property and proved they were not clandestine graves. A cultural resource management firm identified the anomalies near buried diesel tanks and interpreted them as possible burials without ground-truthing. The author's team contracted through the Division of Historical Resources executed mechanical excavations using a gradall machine to investigate every feature down to the bottom.

The team dug around and below all twenty-seven anomalies and found them to be fence post holes, buried water lines, and tree roots, confirming no second burial ground existed.

You can trace the specific field methods used to investigate these anomalies:

• Mark the anomalies identified by the survey firm
• Ground-truth the locations to see if they are actual burials
• Run lidar using drones to create an accurate 3D scan of the earth surface
• Mechanically excavate using a gradall to remove topsoil and search to the bottom of every feature

10 Key Ideas

1. The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys operated for over a century, evolving from a reform school into a segregated institution plagued by severe physical abuse, forced labor, and hidden fatalities.
2. Uncovering clandestine graves requires a rigorous scientific methodology combining historical research, geophysical surveying, archaeological excavation, and laboratory bone analysis.
3. Ground-penetrating radar and shallow test trenches allow researchers to locate historical unmarked graves and validate remote sensing data without disturbing human remains.
4. Systemic racism and segregation during the Jim Crow era heavily influenced who lived, died, and received documentation at the reform school, with African American boys disproportionately affected.
5. Surviving former inmates known as the White House Boys partnered with journalists to expose systemic abuses and fuel public demand for truth and restorative justice.
6. Local officials and residents actively obstructed the investigation to protect community reputations, while state bureaucrats deployed legal roadblocks against the university team.
7. Advanced DNA extraction techniques, genealogical family trees, and mitochondrial matching successfully identified long-lost victims from severely degraded bone samples.
8. The forensic identification of victims like George Owen Smith and Thomas Varnadoe transformed historical trauma into family repatriations and profound closure.
9. The forensic investigation culminated in official state apologies, legislative resolutions acknowledging responsibility, and funded reburials and permanent memorials.
10. Thorough ground-truthing of reported anomalies through mechanical excavation ensures the historical truth regarding burial sites remains accurate and undisputed.