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We carry their bones : The search for justice at the Dozier School for Boys / Erin Kimmerle.

Kimmerle, Erin H., (author.).

Summary:

"With We Carry Their Bones, Erin Kimmerle continues to unearth the true story of the Dozier School, a tale more frightening than any fiction. In a corrupt world, her unflinching revelations are as close as we'll come to justice." –Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer-Prize Winning author of The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad. Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School—the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Nickel Boys—and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families. The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school’s management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions. In the wake of the school’s shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school’s graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school’s poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school’s property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle’s work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering—one she continues to investigate to this day. We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It’s also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families—an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780063030244
  • Physical Description: 215 pages ; 25 cm

Content descriptions

General Note:
Includes an index
Formatted Contents Note:
Author's note -- Chapter 1: Opening the Earth -- Chapter 2: New light -- Chapter 3: Graveyard -- Chapter 4: The Battle of Boot Hill -- Chatper 5: "Satan has his seat" -- Chapter 6: A meeting with the Chief -- Chapter 7:"Hell on Earth" -- Chapter 8: "We can't forget what happened in Jackson County" -- Chapter 9: "Oftentimes, history doesn't include the good parts" -- Chapter 10: "Thank you all for your good work" -- Chapter 11: Reconstruction -- Chapter 12: Identification -- Chapter 13: "It's not even past" -- Chapter 14: "Where is he?" -- Chapter 15: "The unimaginable happened at Dozier" -- Chapter 16: "You have the truth on your side" -- Chapter 17: What remains -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Index
Subject:
Secrecy.
Investigations.
Children and death.
Twentieth century.
Racism.
Race discrimination.
Prejudices.
Discrimination in education.
Slavery.
DNA > Analysis.
School buildings > Southern States > History > 20th century.
School children.
School buildings.
History.
Abused children.
Cruelty.
Anthropology.
African American interest.
African Americans.
African American children.
Indentured servants.
Secrecy.
Racism.
Southern States.
Florida.

Available copies

  • 48 of 50 copies available at NC Cardinal.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 50 total copies.
Sort by distance from:
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marion Library 365.4209 KIM (Text) 37810435794226 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Albemarle Main Library 365.42 Kim (Text) 31010000788788 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Albert Carlton - Cashiers Community Library 365.42 K (Text) 39493110057850 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Ashe County Public Library 365.42 KIM (Text) 50503300471267 Adult Nonfiction Available -
BHM Headquarters Library 365 (Text) 38344101708731 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Black Mountain Library 365.42 KIM (Text) 0020513330405 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Bordeaux Library 365.4209 KIM (Text) 31781067512986 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Canton Library 365.42 Kimmerle (Text) 33115007694757 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Columbus Library 365.42 KIM (Text) 31250200083534 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Dorothy Wightman Library ANF 365.420 KIM (Text) 30372101995279 Adult Nonfiction Available -

Accessibility Features

Summary: "With We Carry Their Bones, Erin Kimmerle continues to unearth the true story of the Dozier School, a tale more frightening than any fiction. In a corrupt world, her unflinching revelations are as close as we'll come to justice." –Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer-Prize Winning author of The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad. Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School—the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Nickel Boys—and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families. The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school’s management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions. In the wake of the school’s shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school’s graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school’s poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school’s property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle’s work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering—one she continues to investigate to this day. We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It’s also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families—an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America.