Known as the Sugar Land 95, the group consisted of 95 African Americans—many born into slavery and later incarcerated through Reconstruction-era Black Codes—who were forced into Texas’ convict leasing system, a legal form of slavery where African American people were imprisoned for minor or false infractions and leased to private landowners.
Two-minute impact
On June 19, the 162nd anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, elected officials, educators, and community members gathered to unveil the marker and reflect on lives lost to Texas’ convict leasing system.
The marker, one of 109 in Fort Bend County, represents years of advocacy by community historians like Reginald and Marilyn Moore and a shared commitment to remembrance, truth and justice, said Ana Alicia Acosta, associate director of the Fort Bend History Association.
“This dedication is more than a historical acknowledgement,” she said. “It’s an act of restoration, remembrance and responsibility.”
Between Fort Bend ISD, Friends of Sugar Land 95 and Principal Research Group, officials are requesting funds from the public to fund the $4.5 million memorial site, DNA research and community programming that would grow the impact of the Sugar Land 95 story, Chief Communication Officer Cassidy Olainu-Alade said.
In their own words
Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds recounted how a late-night call from the late historian and former Texas Department of Corrections officer Reginald Moore, who urged him to “get on top of this” after predicting the burial site’s location prior to the FBISD construction, sparked a journey of discovery and historical reckoning.
“He gave me a history lesson that I never learned in school or in college,” Reynolds said. "It was slavery by another name, long after people were free ... it was more brutal under the convict lease system."
Johnny Sue Davis, a descendant of one of the Sugar Land 95 known as “Marker 54,” said the group were victims of a brutal system in place from 1879 to 1909, working and dying on sugarcane plantations under conditions of brutality, neglect and starvation.
“The discovery of the cemetery is instrumental in developing a comprehensive understanding of the convict labor system and its effect on the area,” Davis said.
Additionally, Fort Bend County Judge Tyra McCollum said the county must learn from the “legacy of injustice,” which was convict leasing, and ensure that officials uphold fairness and truth in the current day.
“If we ever fool ourselves into thinking the courthouse doesn’t intersect with every part of life, think again,” she said. “This is the beginning of justice.”
Marking a milestone
In partnership with the Snow Molecular Anthropology Lab, nonprofit Principal Research Group is using ancient DNA analysis to identify the remains and connect them to living descendants. Nearly six years after excavation, PRG researcher Catrina Whitley announced the first confirmed identity: John Chambers.
Born into slavery in Lee County, Chambers was sentenced to seven years of hard labor for the death of a mule in 1881. Whitley said Chambers died in 1886 at age 32 from pneumonia. Despite the harsh conditions, he was buried with care—his hands folded, head resting on cloth, and shoes still on—likely laid to rest by fellow prisoners.
“Every person buried here was a human being who had been met with [the] injustice of the era,” she said. “We'll tirelessly continue to work to find the identities, so their stories can be told."
Looking ahead
Marilyn Moore, president of Friends of the Sugar Land 95, said her work is a tribute to her late husband and a commitment to preserving the “undertold history” of Sugar Land, Fort Bend County and the United States.
“I’m here to work as hard as I can to make sure that vision comes to fruition,” Moore said.
Olainu-Alade said community members could donate to the the fundraising campaign comprised of three key components:
- $30,000 for DNA research to identify individuals and connect them to living descendants
- $4.5 million for an Outdoor Learning Area and Memorial Cemetery too create a permanent space for education and remembrance
- $10,000 annually for programming to support ongoing community education and care of the site
