In June of 2002, staff and volunteers from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum partnered with archaeologists from the University of Denver to conduct ground-penetrating radar surveys at Higgs Beach, Key West, to locate graves from the 1860 African Cemetery. This video is a compilation of footage from that effort.

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The African Cemetery is where refugees rescued from the slave ships Wildfire, William, and Bogota were buried. Historical evidence was clear that the long-lost cemetery was somewhere on Higgs Beach, but it wasn’t until this archaeological survey was conducted that the exact location was revealed.  Today, a memorial to those buried below the sand stands at the site.