Over 1,000 children are buried at juvenile detention centers nationwide
When Veronica Spears read the letter, she began to shake.
asserted
she → bury → letter
"What's wrong?" her husband asked.
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husband → ask → ?
At the time, she said, she couldn't find the words to respond.
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she → say → words
"The letter said they found out that my grandfather had a brother that was in a reformation institution," she later told NPR in an interview.
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she → say → interview
"And he passed away at the age of 12.
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he → pass → 12
We never knew."
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We → know → ?
Spears' family is one of 16 that researchers with Georgetown University's Center for Youth Justice have linked to children who died at the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children in Cheltenham, Md.
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who → link → Cheltenham
The center has been working since February to identify children who died at 40 reform schools and youth detention centers across the country, as well as any surviving family members, as part of its Forgotten Children Initiative.
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who → work → Initiative
To date, the researchers have identified the graves of over 1,000 children across 29 states.
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researchers → identify → states
The largest burial site is located near the House of Reformation, now the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center.
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site → locate → Reformation
More than 230 Black boys were found buried in the woods across the street from the facility.
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boys → find → facility
The small headstones are easy to miss, especially in the fall, when they seem to sink into the fallen leaves.
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they → miss → leaves
A few pieces of trash from a nearby worksite mix with the leaves.
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pieces → mix → leaves
Chuck Copeland, Spears' cousin, hiked through tall trees and thorny brush one morning in late September.
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Copeland → hike → September
A pastor who lives about two hours away, he leaned in to read one of the headstones.
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he → live → headstones
"He didn't count for nothing.
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He → count → nothing
He meant nothing to them," he said, grimacing.
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he → mean → them
Then he read, "Thirteen years old from Baltimore, Mark Davis, 1885."
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he → read → Baltimore
Established in 1870, the House of Reformation, where Mark Davis died, was the first juvenile detention facility for Black children in the American South, according to the Georgetown researchers.
uncertain
Davis → establish → researchers
It was created to get Black youth out of adult prisons.
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It → create → prisons
Children as young as 5 years old were incarcerated for criminal offenses, as well as a number of non-criminal reasons, including being poor, homeless or orphaned, researchers found.
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researchers → incarcerate → reasons
While there, the boys were forced to work without food and disciplined by white guards with a "brass-studded belt," according to a report from the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.
uncertain
boys → force → Services
In the 1920s, the boys were leased to neighboring farms, with the institution taking most, if not all, of their pay.
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institution → lease → pay
They were also forced to work in the reformatory's broom factory in conditions described by Baltimore City labor union investigators in 1926 as a "firetrap," according to the report.
uncertain
They → force → report
The Georgetown researchers have not discovered why Spears' great-uncle, Arthur Hamilton, was incarcerated in the institution, and they have not found his remains at the burial ground.
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they → discover → ground
The family was told he died of tuberculosis in 1917.
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he → tell → 1917
Marc Schindler was a senior official at the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services when the state rediscovered the burial ground in 2024.
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state → rediscover → 2024
When he went to work for Georgetown University, he continued researching similar sites across the country.
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he → go → country
His team has so far found graves tied to 40 institutions, from Salem, Ore., to Augusta, Maine.
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team → find → Augusta
"I'm hopeful that in states around the country, people will step forward and we can see an appropriate response to what I think is unquestionably a national tragedy," Schindler said.
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Schindler → step → response
As states learn about these burial sites, some state lawmakers around the country have begun looking at options for restitution.
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lawmakers → learn → restitution
In Florida, lawmakers established a $20 million fund for survivors who attended an infamous reform school that closed in 2011.
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that → establish → 2011
In Arkansas, officials created a memorial to honor 21 Black boys who died in a fire at a correctional facility in 1959.
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who → create → 1959
This year, Maryland lawmakers created a commission to research and identify all the children buried in Cheltenham.
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lawmakers → create → Cheltenham
The commission, housed in the state attorney general's office, includes family members of the children, who will weigh in on the future of the site and how the state should make amends for how it treated the children at the reform institution.
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it → house → institution
"Understanding this history is tremendously important, but understanding how this history connects to our current practices is almost probably more important," state Senator Will Smith, who sponsored the bill creating the commission, told NPR.
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who → understand → NPR
Smith pointed to Maryland laws that result in hundreds of children being charged as adults every year.
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hundreds → point → adults
He said accounting for the state's past involves changing those kinds of laws.
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accounting → say → laws
And this year, the state legislature took a step toward that goal.
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legislature → take → goal
After more than a decade of pressure from advocacy groups, lawmakers passed Smith's bill removing some offenses, such as firearm possession, from the list of charges that automatically send young people to be tried in adult court.
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that → pass → court
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
