Scientists release initial massacre site results

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Study of a Thibodaux lot that may hold remains of victims from an 1887 attack on striking black sugar cane workers, their families and supporters, should continue, scientists say in a new report on their attempts to locate remains.

Davette Gadison, a Tulane University doctoral candidate who works as a forensic anthropologist, presented findings of a study begun in May to a gathering of interested community leaders, descendants of Thibodaux Massacre victims and others. The meeting was held at the American Legion’s Raymond Stafford Post 513, on whose property local oral histories maintain bodies of victims were dumped into a mass grave.

An area of interest was discovered by use of ground-penetrating radar supplied by Tulane back in May. Dr. Mark Rees, director of University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Public Archaeology Lab, did hand coring of the site during the study. Gadison and Rees worked on the report over the summer.


Historians estimate that between 30 and 60 people were killed Nov. 23, 1887 in a day long spree of violence by armed white mobs. New interest in the case emerged in 2016 when Timess News Editor John DeSantis released his book “The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike,” published by the History Press of Charleston, SC.

He and others interested in the history formed the non-profit Louisiana 1887 Memorial Committee to determine if the oral histories are true and to arrange for proper burial of remains if any are located.

The “area of interest” is what has been described by Gadison as an “anomaly,” meaning it could indicate a burial site, although that is not certain.


The report prepared by the scientists states that further investigation should involve not only archeology but also further historical and ethnographic research.

“A multi-institutional program, involving students, scholars and investigators from Louisiana universities and high schools would enhance the educational aspects of this research and provide expanded learning opportunities,” the report says. “It would also increase community engagement and public outreach involving a long-silenced historical event with contemporary social relevance. Comprehensive archival and ethnographic research should precede any additional remote sensing or fieldwork. Such archival and ethnographic research could provide additional historical context and more detailed land use information that would greatly facilitate the fieldwork.”

Recommendations for additional investigation of the Raymond Stafford Post property include further geophysical remote sensing, expanding the survey area to the north and if possible, to the west and south, behind the post building.


Test excavations of areas of interest are recommended, the report says. Although manual coring was performed in May, the report does not recommend further exploration of that type.

“Exploratory test trenches might be placed directly over subsurface anomalies, while systematic test trenches might be excavated along transects oriented from north to south and east to west across the field,” the report says. “Due to the possibility of encountering human remains, excavations should be preceded by consultations with descendants and community members, as well as an application for an Unmarked Burials Permit, in accordance with the Louisiana Unmarked Human Burial Sites Preservation Act.”

The challenges of successfully finding and identifying human remains in this case are immense, scientists said.


“Besides the paucity of information on the precise location, the historical land use of the property as a city dump poses even greater difficulties to detection and excavation.” the report reads. “Subsequent disturbances may have obliterated evidence of a mass burial.”

Natural processes in the environment including the precise location of the water table — which has not been determined — as well as other factors could have resulted in degredation of bone.

Nonetheless, Gadison told those gathered last week that these challenges do not preclude uncovering of remains if they are there.


“That the location of a dump coincides with a place believed to contain a mass burial from the systematic killing of black sugarcane workers is probably not coincidental,” the report concludes. “Whether intentional or unplanned, the concealment of graves is characteristic of attempts to cover up mass murders and crimes against humanity. While this is not evidence of a mass burial, it is consistent with the silencing of a violent and loathsome event in Louisiana history. Through community engagement in the assessment of this property for the potential presence of a mass burial, this study has succeeded in raising public awareness of the immediate and long-term consequences of the 1887 Thibodaux massacre. Community participation, consultations and public accountability will be essential to the continued investigation and potential resolution of this historical atrocity and crime against humanity.”

Thibodaux MassacreJAMES LOISELLE | THE TIMES