当维罗妮卡·斯皮尔斯读到那封信时，她开始浑身发抖。“怎么了？”她的丈夫问道。她回忆道，当时自己根本找不到合适的词语来回答。
When Veronica Spears read the letter, she began to shake. "What's wrong?" her husband asked. At the time, she said, she couldn't find the words to respond.
后来她在接受NPR采访时说：“信里说他们发现我的祖父有个兄弟，曾被送进教养院，12岁时就去世了。我们以前对此一无所知。”斯皮尔斯的家族是乔治城大学青少年司法中心研究人员所追踪的16个家庭之一，这些家庭的孩子都曾被送往马里兰州切尔滕纳姆的“有色人种儿童教养院”。自2月起，该中心便启动了“被遗忘的孩子”计划，致力于查明全美40所教养院及青少年拘留中心中去世的儿童身份及其尚在世的亲属。
"The letter said they found out that my grandfather had a brother that was in a reformation institution," she later told NPR in an interview. "And he passed away at the age of 12. We never knew." Spears' family is one of 16 that researchers with Georgetown University's Center for Youth Justice have linked to children who died at the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children in Cheltenham, Md. The center has been working since February to identify children who died at 40 reform schools and youth detention centers across the country, as well as any surviving family members, as part of its Forgotten Children Initiative.
截至目前，研究人员已在29个州找到了1000多名儿童的墓地。其中最大的墓地就在原教养院附近，如今那里已改建为切尔滕纳姆青少年拘留中心。在该设施对面的一片树林中，人们发现了230多名黑人男孩的墓穴。
To date, the researchers have identified the graves of over 1,000 children across 29 states. The largest burial site is located near the House of Reformation, now the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center. More than 230 Black boys were found buried in the woods across the street from the facility.
这些小墓碑极易被忽视，尤其是在秋天，它们仿佛被落叶完全掩埋。一些来自附近工地的垃圾也混杂在落叶之中。
The small headstones are easy to miss, especially in the fall, when they seem to sink into the fallen leaves. A few pieces of trash from a nearby worksite mix with the leaves.
9月下旬的一个清晨，斯皮尔斯的表兄查克·科普兰穿过高大的树木与带刺的灌木丛。作为一名住在两小时车程外的牧师，他俯下身仔细辨认其中一块墓碑上的文字。
Chuck Copeland, Spears' cousin, hiked through tall trees and thorny brush one morning in late September. A pastor who lives about two hours away, he leaned in to read one of the headstones.
“他不算什么。在他们眼里，他毫无价值，”他咧嘴一笑，神情扭曲。接着他念道，“13岁，来自巴尔的摩，马克·戴维斯，1885年。”
"He didn't count for nothing. He meant nothing to them," he said, grimacing. Then he read, "Thirteen years old from Baltimore, Mark Davis, 1885."
据乔治城大学研究人员称，马克·戴维斯去世的“改造院”成立于1870年，是美国南部首个针对黑人儿童的少年拘留设施。它的建立初衷是将黑人青少年从成人监狱中分离出来。研究人员发现，年仅5岁的儿童因刑事犯罪，以及贫穷、无家可归或成为孤儿等非刑事原因而被监禁。
Established in 1870, the House of Reformation, where Mark Davis died, was the first juvenile detention facility for Black children in the American South, according to the Georgetown researchers. It was created to get Black youth out of adult prisons. Children as young as 5 years old were incarcerated for criminal offenses, as well as a number of non-criminal reasons, including being poor, homeless or orphaned, researchers found.
据马里兰州少年服务部的一份报告称，在那里，男孩们被迫在得不到食物的情况下劳动，并由白人狱警用“镶铜钉皮带”管教。20世纪20年代，男孩们被租赁给邻近农场，机构拿走他们大部分甚至全部的报酬。据报告称，他们还被迫在感化院的扫帚工厂劳动，巴尔的摩市工会调查人员在1926年将那里的条件描述为“火灾隐患极大的场所”。
While there, the boys were forced to work without food and disciplined by white guards with a "brass-studded belt," according to a report from the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. In the 1920s, the boys were leased to neighboring farms, with the institution taking most, if not all, of their pay. They were also forced to work in the reformatory's broom factory in conditions described by Baltimore City labor union investigators in 1926 as a "firetrap," according to the report.
乔治城大学研究人员尚未查明斯皮尔斯的大舅亚瑟·汉密尔顿为何被关押在该机构，也未在墓地发现他的遗骸。家人被告知他于1917年死于肺结核。
The Georgetown researchers have not discovered why Spears' great-uncle, Arthur Hamilton, was incarcerated in the institution, and they have not found his remains at the burial ground. The family was told he died of tuberculosis in 1917.
2024年，当马里兰州重新发现这处墓地时，马克·辛德勒是马里兰州少年服务部的一名高级官员。后来他去乔治城大学工作，继续研究全国类似的遗址。他的团队迄今已发现与40家机构相关的墓葬，从俄勒冈州塞勒姆到缅因州奥古斯塔。其中一些墓葬紧邻仍在运营的少年拘留中心。
Marc Schindler was a senior official at the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services when the state rediscovered the burial ground in 2024. When he went to work for Georgetown University, he continued researching similar sites across the country. His team has so far found graves tied to 40 institutions, from Salem, Ore., to Augusta, Maine. Some of the graves are next to juvenile detention centers still in operation.
辛德勒说：“我希望全国各州都有人站出来，我们能看到对这一毫无疑问属于国家悲剧的妥善回应。”
"I'm hopeful that in states around the country, people will step forward and we can see an appropriate response to what I think is unquestionably a national tragedy," Schindler said.
随着各州逐渐了解这些埋葬地，美国一些州的立法者已开始考虑赔偿方案。在佛罗里达州，立法者为曾就读于2011年关闭的一所臭名昭著的改造学校的幸存者设立了2000万美元的基金。在阿肯色州，官员们建立了一座纪念碑，以纪念1959年在一所矫正机构火灾中丧生的21名黑人男孩。
As states learn about these burial sites, some state lawmakers around the country have begun looking at options for restitution. In Florida, lawmakers established a $20 million fund for survivors who attended an infamous reform school that closed in 2011. In Arkansas, officials created a memorial to honor 21 Black boys who died in a fire at a correctional facility in 1959.
今年，马里兰州立法者成立了一个委员会，负责调查并确认所有埋葬在切尔特纳姆的儿童的姓名。该委员会隶属于州总检察长办公室，成员包括这些儿童的家属，他们将参与讨论该遗址的未来以及州政府应如何为过去在改造机构中对这些儿童的待遇做出弥补。
This year, Maryland lawmakers created a commission to research and identify all the children buried in Cheltenham. The commission, housed in the state attorney general's office, includes family members of the children, who will weigh in on the future of the site and how the state should make amends for how it treated the children at the reform institution.
“了解这段历史至关重要，但理解这段历史与我们当前做法之间的联系，或许更为重要，”州参议员威尔·史密斯（Will Smith）在接受美国国家公共电台（NPR）采访时说。他正是该委员会设立法案的提案人。
"Understanding this history is tremendously important, but understanding how this history connects to our current practices is almost probably more important," state Senator Will Smith, who sponsored the bill creating the commission, told NPR.
史密斯指出，马里兰州的一些法律导致每年都有数百名儿童被当作成年人起诉。他表示，要正视该州的过去，就必须改变这类法律。今年，州议会朝着这一目标迈出了重要一步。在倡导组织持续十多年的压力下，立法者通过了史密斯提出的法案，将部分罪行（如持有枪支）从自动将青少年移送至成人法庭受审的指控清单中移除。这项变更已于本月生效。
Smith pointed to Maryland laws that result in hundreds of children being charged as adults every year. He said accounting for the state's past involves changing those kinds of laws. And this year, the state legislature took a step toward that goal. After more than a decade of pressure from advocacy groups, lawmakers passed Smith's bill removing some offenses, such as firearm possession, from the list of charges that automatically send young people to be tried in adult court. That change took effect this month.
史密斯认为，州议会黑人议员团前往切尔特纳姆墓地参观的经历，说服了立法者支持这一变革。
Smith credits a trip the legislature's Black caucus took to the gravesite in Cheltenham with convincing lawmakers to support the change.
今年9月，斯皮尔斯（Spears）和科普兰（Copeland）在参观墓地时，最终走到了一块再没有墓碑的地方。那里只剩下成排的灰色混凝土砌块——超过200块，上面既没有名字，也没有日期。研究人员认为，亚瑟·汉密尔顿（Arthur Hamilton）就埋葬在这片树林中的某个位置。斯皮尔斯表示，她也相信这一点。
When Spears and Copeland visited the gravesite that day in September, they eventually reached a place where there were no more headstones. What's left are rows of gray cinder blocks — over 200, with no names or dates. Researchers believe Arthur Hamilton is buried somewhere in this part of the woods. Spears said she believes it, too. "I don't have any proof, no," she said, placing her hand over her chest. "I felt it in my chest. I felt a heaviness.
“我没有任何证据，”她说着，把手放在胸前，“但我从心里感受到了。我感觉到一种沉重。那一刻我就知道，他在向我们所有人呼喊——他们所有人都在呼喊——让我们知道，我们还在，而且曾经遭受过虐待。”她抿起嘴唇，低头看着地面。过了一会儿，斯皮尔斯、科普兰和其他家人围坐在混凝土砌块中间。所有人都沉默着，直到身为牧师的科普兰开始讲话。他哀叹自己所学到的历史，那些他没有学到的历史，以及他所感受到的背叛。
I knew then he was crying out to all of us — they all were — to let us know we're here and we were mistreated." She pursed her lips and looked at the ground. After a while, Spears, Copeland and other family members gathered in a circle among the cinder blocks. They were all silent until Copeland, the pastor, began speaking. He lamented the history he was taught. The history he was not taught. The betrayal he feels.
“我在学校学到的第一件需要背诵的东西，就是《效忠誓言》，”他说。接着他举起双手，指向周围的坟墓。“自由与正义，属于所有人。”当双手重重垂到身体两侧时，他摇了摇头。又是一阵沉默之后，科普兰带领家人一起祈祷。
"The first thing I learned in school to memorize was the Pledge of Allegiance," he said. Then he raised his hands, gesturing toward the graves around him. "Liberty and justice for all." He shook his head as his hands landed with a thud at his sides. After another moment of silence, Copeland led the family in a prayer.
“感谢你们给予我们这个机会，让我们能够纪念我们的叔叔亚瑟·汉密尔顿，”他说。科普兰表示，他希望孩子们知道，他们再也不会被遗忘了。
"Thank you for this opportunity to remember our uncle Arthur Hamilton," he said. Copeland said he wants the children to know they aren't forgotten anymore.