Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 11-1-19

Feature
Community Invited To Share Input On Ridgewood Cemetery
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The Hillsborough County School District learned that there may be African American graves on the cam- pus of a local high school. The District has hired a company to use ground penetrating radar to determine if there are anomalies underground.
The news that Ridgewood Ceme- tery, a place designed to bury paupers, was on the campus of King High School.
Ms. Tamara Shamburger,
Chairperson of the Hillsborough County School District is encouraging the public to share their input on the subject.
“I encourage all community mem- bers wanting to provide input on this
issue to reach out to the School Dis- trict, any Historical Response Com- mittee member, or participate in public comment to be held in the near future on this issue.”
She further said, “At this time, the District is continuing its investigation in locating the lost cemetery. Conflict- ing records reveal several potential lo- cations of the cemetery. The District hopes to have all potential sites exam- ined and final results completed in the upcoming weeks. The public will be notified of the final results,” she said.
Members of the Historical Re- sponse Committee are: Senator Darryl Rouson, Senator Janet Cruz, Rep. Fentrice Driskell, Rep. Dianne Hart, Rep. Wengay Newton, Commissioner Les Miller, City Councilman Orlando
Gudes, Sean Shaw, former State Rep., Robin Lockett, Regional Di- rector, Organize Florida, Fred Hearns, Historian, Yvette Lewis, President, Hillsborough County Branch NAACP, and Rev. Bartholomew Banks, St. John Pro- gressive M. B. Church.
Other members are Rev. Greg Gay, Mt. Olive AME Church, Rev. Larry Roundtree, New Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Jeff Moates, Regional Director, Florida Public Archaeology Network, USF, Bob Morrison, Morrison & Associ- ates, Dennis Holt, Supervisor, Sec- ondary Social Studies, Hillsborough Schools, Jeff Eakins, Superintend- ent, Tamara Shamburger, School Board Chair, and Chris Farkas, Deputy Superintendent, Operations.
TAMARA SHAMBURGER ... Hillsborough County School Board Chairperson
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