Amos Hammond
Amos Hammond was 18 when he died in 1921 at the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children in Cheltenham, Maryland, a state-run facility for Black boys. His death certificate lists acute peritonitis, an infection that can be life-threatening. He was buried in the facility's graveyard, where only a cinderblock marked his grave. His niece, Phyllis Hammond, said the family learned of the burial in April and has questions about how the young men there died. A state commission is investigating whether boys at the facility were abused, neglected, or medically neglected.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness. The death certificate lists acute peritonitis as the cause, and his niece, Commission member Phyllis Hammond, says the family has questions about how the young men at the House of Reformation died.
Reported by: death certificate; Atlanta Black Star, which obtained the death certificate (reporters).
News reports (3)
- ‘Still grieving': Inquiry begins of ‘hundreds' of graves at former juvenile detention site
- How Maryland is Reckoning With Forgotten Black Boys Who Died in State Care More Than a Century Ago
- ‘It’s Heart-Wrenching’: Hundreds of Black Children Buried in Unmarked Graves at Maryland Juvenile Detention Center, New Research Exposes a Dark Past