ANNAPOLIS — Hundreds of Black boys died at a segregated reform school in Cheltenham, many of whom are buried in unmarked graves. Some Maryland legislators want to find out what happened.
Lawmakers will hold a hearing Thursday for a bill that would launch an independent investigation into what happened at the all-Black House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“It’s a mass burial plot, and I won’t call it a cemetery until it’s treated like one,” said Del. Jeffrie E. Long Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George’s, who is sponsoring the bill.
The investigation aims to account for every child buried in the unmarked graves and to “understand the system that allowed such a tragedy to occur,” according to the bill’s text.
The House of Reformation has been in the spotlight in recent months, after the gravesite was rediscovered by state officials. A Capital News Service investigation found that a leading cause of death for boys at the Cheltenham facility and similar facilities in the state was tuberculosis.
Long said there was no reason for the horrendous conditions, which he said were “allowed to happen on the state’s watch for so many years through administration after administration, and nothing was done about it.”
A hearing for a companion bill introduced by Sen. William C. Smith Jr., D-Montgomery, is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.
“Part of the premise of the bill is to make sure that we understand what happened and then understand how we can reconcile and then rectify, or attempt to rectify, the history there,” Smith said.
Both bills call for the use of archeological methods to locate all the unmarked graves and DNA collection to identify potential descendants.
The bills would require investigators to recommend ways the state can remember the youths buried in the gravesites and propose changes to juvenile justice policies, including the handling of deaths in state custody. They would also provide opportunities for descendants of the youths and community members to include their input.
Long and Smith said the investigation would cost $750,000.
Jenna O’Connell, Smith’s legislative director, said the two lawmakers have met to reconcile differences in the bills, such as the investigation’s deadline. The language of the bills should be confirmed during Thursday’s hearing, she said.
Long said the House bill has “tremendous buy-in” from many legislators, including House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk, D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s. The investigation was also listed last week as a priority for the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.
“It’s a priority because we have to bring dignity to these young Black men,” Long said.
The only way to truly know how many youths are buried at the site is to do the investigation, said Marc Schindler, a research professor and senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Youth Justice. He said the number of youths buried at the site is estimated to be 230, but that could be an undercount.
There has been other recent action related to the Cheltenham site. Last month, the Maryland Historical Trust awarded a $200,000 grant to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. The grant will go towards a ground-penetrating radar survey and restoration of the cemetery grounds, Capital News Service reported.
There is also a plan by the state to add a marker acknowledging the deaths of the boys at the site.
“It’s a millimeter towards a mile that we still have to go to ensuring that this project is done thoroughly, that it’s done with an unbiased perspective and way, and that it’s done in consideration with dignity to those dear departed souls,” Long said.
Schindler said that, at a time when there are efforts by the federal government to suppress some history, it is important to tell stories like that of the site at Cheltenham.
“We should understand our past so that we don’t repeat it, so that we can learn from it, so that we can repair the harms that took place,” he said.