New Commission to Investigate Death and Abuse of 230 Black Children at Segregated Maryland Reformatory
by Jo Ellen Knott
For over half a century, the state of Maryland buried the tragic reality of its racially segregated juvenile justice system beneath overgrown brush and nameless cinder blocks in Prince George’s County.
Between 1870 and 1939, at least 230 Black boys and teenagers died while confined at the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children, a reformatory known for its documented abuse, severe neglect and rampant illness. Rather than receiving dignified burials or public accountability, the children were buried in forgotten mass graves across from the facility.
Black children at Maryland’s House of Reformation died primarily from rampant diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia. Their deaths were further caused by extreme physical abuse that included severe beatings, floggings and clubbing. The children were furthermore subjected to brutal forced agricultural labor under a convict-leasing system that led to fatal exhaustion and gross institutional neglect.
A century later, living relatives of the deceased children are uniting to demand justice and answers. Family members, including Phyllis Hammond, whose 18-year-old uncle Amos died at the facility in 1921, have taken official seats on the newly established State Commission on the House of Reformation. The investigative body, backed by $1.2 million in state and grant funding, is tasked with uncovering the burial site’s history, conducting forensic excavations and determining whether to exhume and identify the remains. Its first public meeting was on August 4 after its official statutory effective date of July 1, 2026.
Advocates and families emphasize that historical atrocities in state custody directly inform modern systemic issues. With forensic experts drawing comparisons to Florida’s notorious Dozier School for Boys, living relatives are demanding an unflinching investigation that treats the abandoned cemetery as a historic crime scene. For the families, the commission represents a long-overdue effort to expose state-sanctioned violence against incarcerated youth and honor the children whose lives were cut short behind bars.
Source: The Washington Post
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