Haunted Boys, Secret Cemetery | Notorious Florida Reform School

Started in 1900, a reform school established in northern Florida received at-risk youth during its 111-year history, however, throughout the years it developed a reputation for savagery and abuse that haunted its existence even after its doors had closed.

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Dozier School Memorial (at The notorious White House) unveiled January, 2023

The Dozier Reform School, also known as the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, was an institution operated by the state of Florida in Marianna from January 1, 1900, to June 30, 2011. It was notorious for its brutal conditions, including reports of beatings, rapes, and forced labor. The school was initially called the Florida State Reform School and later renamed the Florida School for Boys.

The school was closed in 2011 due to repeated scandals and reports of severe brutality and slave labor. The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division completed an investigation in 2011.

After its closure, forensic anthropologists, led by Dr. Erin Kimmerle, investigated the site and unearthed the remains of 55 children in 2012. Some of the bodies were found under roads or overgrown trees, well away from the white, metal crosses marking the 31 officially recorded graves.

Records indicate that there were nearly 100 deaths, and some of the boys’ bodies were shipped back home, but that wasn’t necessarily accurate. Kimmerle noted that records show one boy was buried in Philadelphia, but when researchers checked the grave there, it was empty.

The Okeechobee Reform School, opened in 1955 as a satellite of the Florida School for Boys system, to address overcrowding at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

Combined, men who attended Dozier and Okeechobee as boys have killed at least 114 people.

In 2014, the first remains found in the cemetery were identified. His name was George Owen Smith, and in December 1940, his mother, Frances Smith, wrote the superintendent of Dozier about the welfare of George. The 14-year-old had been sent there three months before, after he was caught riding around with a friend in a stolen car.

Superintendent Millard Davidson told his mother that he didn't know where George was. A month later, the mystery of what happened to her son was solved. The family came to the school and was taken to an unmarked grave. They were told he had escaped and was found dead under a house, apparently from pneumonia. His mother never accepted the story they were told in 1941.

Examination of his grave found he was buried in a shallow grave, only 2 feet beneath the surface. He was lying on his side with his hands over his head. He was unclothed and only wrapped in a shroud. The researchers were unable to determine how he died. Identification was made via DNA taken from George's sister, Ovell Krell, who was 86 years old. He was reburied next to his parents.

The week after Owen was identified, his brother Carlton Smith, 70, died after a long battle with illness.
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The USF report (2016) had, in part, a general finding that read: "As a result of this investigation, a record of nearly 100 deaths was found in historical documents, including boys aged 6-18 years and two adult staff members. These deaths occurred from 1900 to 1973. However, state records regarding cause of death and school ledgers are only public records for the years before 1960. Therefore, the scope of this investigation was 1900-1960. For this period, historical records indicate that 45 individuals were buried on the school grounds between the years 1914 and 1952, 31 bodies were shipped to other locations for burial, and 22 cases do not have recorded burial locations. There are also numerous references to unnamed boys who died with no other information available. Based on our research, we believe many (but not all) of these boys were buried at Boot Hill."

Following identification efforts, the remains were returned to family members or reburied in Tallahassee, rather than remaining at the Marianna site.

In 2019, during a ground pollution cleanup, anomalies were found near where the school's farm area used to be. Further investigation found these were only old tree roots.

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