While politicians and community activists are battling with Fort Bend ISD over the future of the abandoned cemetery called Sugar Land 95, the scientific community is engaged in genuine efforts to identify the skeletal remains found at the site, where the James Reese Technical and Career Center now stands.All the controversy notwithstanding, the school district is preparing to do what is inevitable and imperative, namely, return the remains to their original resting place.Archaeologists believe the individuals buried at the property are linked to the property's historical use as a sugar plantation utilizing leased convict labor and the establishment of a convict camp beginning in the 1870's. Use of the burial site likely continued through 1911 as the State of Texas operated the Imperial Prison Camp Number 1 on the property.On Thursday, November 21, Fort Bend ISD hosted a Community Symposium: Learn about the discovery and history of the Sugar Land 95. Reign Clark, Archeological Project Manager, Dr. Catrina Banks Whitley, Project Bioarcheologist, Samantha Archer, the lead researcher with the Ancient DNA testing lab at the University of Connecticut, and Dr. Helen Graham with the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society were among the presenters.The archeological and genealogy experts explained in great detail the process of digging the graves, retrieving the remains with utmost precision and caution, documenting the data, pouring over hundreds of Texas prison records, extracting samples for DNA testing, the expected ancient DNA testing process and isotope testing and the anticipated outcome.The whole exercise sounded highly intensive, elaborate and mindboggling in technical terms.Each exhumation took approximately 36-48 person hours per grave, followed by 4-8 hours for cleaning and an additional 12-15 hours for analysis of each individual.Historical, archeological and genealogical research are needed to completely restore the story of the people buried in the grave.To start with some preliminary archeological observations:The cemetery has a thoroughly delineated boundary line; No records of any kind pertaining to the cemetery were found. Very few personal items were found with the coffins.For each body, 13 pages of data generated and 700 observations made, accompanied by several photographs of each body in an attempt to reconstruct their life history.Outline of each grave shaft has been photographed. The type of coffins were like tombstone and some rectangular.Seven remains show signs of decomposition by a few days to a week. Other event may have impacted the cemetery disturbing the remains in the coffins. The seven bodies decomposed outside before being placed in the coffin.There were no professional gravediggers as some graves were deep, some shallow, and some too large for the coffins.There was also an empty coffin and those who buried knew the coffin was empty. Why did they do it?It is anybody’s imagination. Maybe one of the prisoners escaped and to account for the missing person, the empty coffin was buried to count for the missing body.Cause of death includes gunshot wounds, infections, dental decay and disease, cancer, trauma, malnutrition and possible heatstroke. Some had buck shots still left in the body.Two remains are believed to be that of females. They have to be confirmed by DNA tests.The height of the bodies buried ranged from 5 feet 4 to 6 feet 1.The skeletons showed stress markers suggesting that many of them were trolley boys, who worked in coal mines.Isotope analysis and DNA test will help narrow down the place the person must have lived. DNA tests alone can help give a name to the skeletal remains as it is done in solving cold cases.In the case of one Sugar Land 95 body, 208 different sources were referred to locate a possible descendent and the final DNA test will help confirm the descendants.In prison records of those times, the people’s color was noted and one person’s nativity was marked as unknown, while one was described as Mexican, there were other black, brown and copper brown in color.Samantha Archer, the lead researcher with the Ancient DNA testing lab at the University of Connecticut, gave an exhaustive briefing on the status of DNA testing techniques and demonstrated that the university’s latest lab is probably the latest and best equipped laboratory in the country.The research is guided by Dr. Deborah Bolnick, an anthropological geneticist and biological anthropologist who explores how sociopolitical forces, historical events, and social inequalities shape human genomic and epigenomic diversity, as well as human biology more broadly. In her research, Bolnick analyzes DNA from ancient and contemporary peoples, in conjunction with other lines of evidence, to help reconstruct population histories in the Americas.This is the Ancient DNA Lab’s first major project and the researchers hope to determine where the buried people lived, match their sex, identify their lifestyle and so on.The results will depend on the condition of the sample. It should not have been contaminated. The DNA extraction is the first step and that is a highly technical process. Then the DNA sequence will be determined and compared with the available human genome database.The Texas Attorney General issued an opinion in June of 2019 confirming that the Texas Historical Commission (THC) had the authority to authorize Fort Bend ISD to extract biological samples for isotope analysis and DNA sequencing. Following this opinion, the tooth and bone samples necessary for future DNA and isotope testing were extracted and entrusted to the University of Texas’ Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL) in Austin for curation.In the fall of 2019, the Texas Historical Commission approved a research proposal for the extraction and analysis of ancient DNA at the University of Connecticut. Pursuant to that permit, TARL forwarded samples to the University of Connecticut for genetic analysis.Researchers have secured funding for the first batch of DNA extractions.Additional funding will be needed to fund the remaining DNA extractions, analysis, comparisons to existing databases, public outreach, and genealogical studies.Should members of the public wish to contribute, tax-deductible donations can be sent to:UConn FoundationAttn: Data Services2390 Alumni Drive, Unit 3206Storrs, CT 06269-3206All donations should be made payable to the UConn Foundation, Inc. with a check memo: “Sugar Land DNA/Dr. Deborah Bolnick Fund #21529 Anthropology”Online donations can be made via: https://uconn.networkforgood.com/causes/1565-clas-department-of-anthropology-anthropology-department-fundIn Honor of: “Sugar Land DNA/Dr. Deborah Bolnick”To discuss options for making a gift of more than $5,000, contact Rachel Marshall, Director of Development, (860) 486-2983, rmarshall@foundation.uconn.eduThe Sugar Land 95 refers to the 95 unnamed African-American people buried in unmarked graves in the city of Sugar Land. The bodies were buried on property sold to the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). The graves were discovered during the construction of the district's James Reese Technical and Career Center in 2018.