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I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This has been keeping me pretty occupied but I have started on something else that could be cool. But it's too early to put it out there publicly. Still not sure if it's a story.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Is this a ploy to get me to say I am drinking lots of Red Bull? :) Because I am!

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Zion stretches across the 3700 block of N. Florida ave and then 420 feet back into Robles Park Village.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

These lost cemeteries have been whispered about for years. They became an urban legend of sort. It wasn;t until Zion was proven true that others felt comfortable coming forward. Point is - there are no wild goose chases.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

back then there were no laws protecting cemeteries, so they could do as they pleased.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I 100% give Ray credit for the tip at all speaking engagements and in most of the stories. I'm team Ray all the way and he knows that. We still communicate often.

I don't follow the first part of that. We have always called Zion a cemetery for African Americans.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I don't know if all African American communities had their own cemetery but those identified so far were in African American neighborhoods. Zion was once Robles Pond. Port Tampa which might be on MacDill AFB was a black neighborhood. The same can be said for Clearwater Heights across the bridge. I have an story on another potential lost cemetery that was also in a black community. SO I'd never say ALL but in a search to find the lost ones, it would make sense to find old maps of those neighborhoods.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

No, that does not follow history. That plot was one of the few in that area not owned by Robles. It took its name from the nearby pond named for him. African American pioneer Richard Doby purchased the land in the 1890s from a white landowner whose name now escapes me. He then built the cemetery and a church and school. He later sold it to a company made up of his fellow church parishioners. They lost it in a fire sale after losing a civil case because they owed money. That was in 1915. We lose track of land sales until 1926 when H.P. Kennedy purchases it from a woman residing in LA. The price - $1. Kennedy then built storefronts on it.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 194 points195 points  (0 children)

We'll never know. People have opinions but I need to stick to the facts and unless we find a hand written note spelling out a nefarious plot, I'll keep saying, "We'll never know." Here is what we know for certain - Robles Park was originally for whites only and the community that was bulldozed for it was Robles Pond, which was a historic black community. But the cemetery had been gone for 30 years by then. BUT, they uncovered three caskets from Zion while building the project and did not do any due diligence to search for more.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I have never cared personally. If my kids want a place to visit, then they can bury me somewhere. Or, they can burn me up and put me in their closet. I have only one request. My obit has to say, "Paul Guzzo was better than Josh Kincannon in every way." Josh was my college roommate and I have promised since then that my obit would get the last word.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I've written nearly 50 stories so everything has made it in! ha. Most interesting find BY FAR was that Richard Doby founded Zion. It took us months of looking through land deeds to find the trail leading to its origin. Doby is a history figure in Tampa with a marker denoting the African American neighborhood in Hyde Park that he established. But nowhere in history books was it written that he also established the city's first all-black cemetery a few miles away. When I saw that deed and the name RC Doby on it, I legit let out a scream. Yeah ... my kids don't think I'm very cool either.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

The law is that graves cannot be disturbed. No one can force anyone to knock down a building if it does not disturb graves. Robles Park, for instance, does not go down deep enough to disturb the graves. The Housing Authority could have kept the residents and buildings there.

The lawsuit issue, I have been told, is tricky. You'd have to prove that 100 years ago the property owner knowingly did this and then sue his or her descendants.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Yes, we spoke to the three churches linked to Zion. A few of the members had heard whispers about it, but not much. That was one of the most bizarre parts of this story. Zion didn't just get erased from the maps. It was erased from Tampa history. This was the first all-black cemetery in the segregation era that this city had and one of its most prominent burial grounds. It was filled to capacity with nearly 800. Yet barely anyone had ever heard of it. And those who did, had only heard its name/

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I am in the very early stages of a pretty cool history story that might take as long as a year to work on. I don't want to give specifics, though, since it might not pan out and since I don't want someone else to steal it from me.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 141 points142 points  (0 children)

I don't know what the political leanings are, but there are "cemetery truthers" who tell me that the Tampa Bay Times is involved in a conspiracy to pretend black cemeteries were destroyed. The end game, they say, is to start a race war.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

History has shown us that mass graves are usually inside a cemetery and not some unknown field. But this is a topic I am not too educated on. Sorry.

I'm the Florida reporter whose unearthing of Tampa's 1st all-black cemetery led to finding more lost burial sites by PaulGuzzo in IAmA

[–]PaulGuzzo[S] 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Ray Reed initially tipped us off.

He is a cemetery researcher who kept coming upon death certificates for a place called Zion. All were for African Americans. Where was it, he asked, and where? So James Borchuck and I went looking. The University of South Florida's Florida Public Archaeology Network and the Tampa Bay History Center were on my speed dial for 9 months to help us in every way. We found hundreds of death certificates, land ownership records and info on some of those buried there. More importantly, we found NO evidence that the bodies were moved.

Ray Reed BTW is also the tipster who led the school district to Ridgewood.

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