We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys

Forensic anthropologist Kimmerle (anthropology, Univ. of South Florida), takes listeners on a journey into a dark past, recounting the efforts of her team to unearth the truth about the Dozier School for Boys. Kimmerle recounts her own background with mass grave excavation across the globe as a precursor to explaining how she and her team spent 2012–16 using modern technology and good old-fashioned research to investigate and uncover the remains of more than 50 children. These boys, mostly poor and Black, were buried in unmarked graves after being made inmates at a reform school that operated in the Florida panhandle for more than a century. Janina Edwards imbues her narration with sympathy and tenderness for the deceased boys and their families seeking answers, while not neglecting the anger many of the traumatized survivors and living relatives hold about being left in the dark for decades. Edwards’s brisk tone for Kimmerle’s description of her scientific process keeps the narrative moving forward, while her spot-on Florida accents evoke recognition for anyone familiar with the area.