"Found and Not Forgotten"

"Found and Not Forgotten". . In October 2017, construction of the James Reese Career and Technical Center began. What set out to be a routine period of construction turned into international news when a forgotten and unmarked cemetery was unearthed on land purchased by Fort Bend ISD to build the school. After months of excavating, archaeologists discovered the remains of 95 individuals, presumably 94 men and 1 woman, commonly referred to as the "Sugar Land 95". It was concluded that these individuals were part of a state-sanctioned convict leasing system, which operated in Texas after the abolition of slavery until the turn of the 20th century. In response to community input, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees re-interred the remains of those found back into their original resting places located on the site of the school facility., Based on extensive analysis and in-depth research, archaeologists determined that the remains were likely those of individuals who labored and died in a state convict labor campthat operated in the area between 1878 and 1911. Laboratory analysis concluded that the remains of those who labored and died in the prison camps operating in the Sugar Land area showed signs of disease, repeated injury, and gunshot wounds likely sustained during escape attempts. These individuals endured the indignity of corporal punishment, hunger, insufficient clothing, exposure, and severe overwork. The study of their remains was an opportunity to reveal the results of a forced labor system that lasted for nearly 50 years following the Civil War., This burial site was abandoned and forgotten for over a century, until its discovery on February 19th, 2018.