More than 50 unmarked graves uncovered at Citadel

Construction on the eastern side of The Citadel’s Johnson Hagood Stadium last month unearthed more than 50 unmarked gravesites containing human remains.

News broke this month that the military college plans to exhume and reinter the bodies on the south side of the stadium per a city ordinance established in 2004. The city built the stadium in 1927 atop Tower Hill Cemetery, where more than 26,000 people were estimated to have been buried since 1841.

“The idea of people tailgating on top of the bodies of enslaved people next to a stadium named for a Confederate general is appalling,” said volunteer researcher Julie Bowling, who lives in the Wagener Terrace neighborhood near The Citadel. “They never moved the bodies. They just erased them. And every few years, more are found.”

The graves were discovered during the installation of a new drainage system beneath a new set of stands. Workers were excavating the site to nearly 9 feet below sea level to install plastic chambers to hold excess water. The remains were found close to the surface, according to officials.

Operations stopped upon their discovery, according to a May 23 newsletter, only  to resume about a week later.

“We understand the deep importance of historic remains to the Charleston community and with the city will engage with the broader community on this topic,” Jonathan Hoffman, The Citadel’s vice president of communications and marketing, said in a June 24 news release. “We will continue to follow archaeological best practices and guidance provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and coordinate with various stakeholders throughout this project and future construction activities.”