OldVol
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I've seen this mentioned on here a few times so I thought I'd give a little added history that few are aware of.
We all know the famous line by Kathy Bates in the Blind Side regarding bodies buried under the stadium. That was a reference to the fact that during that time the boxes of bones from the Body Farm that had been decayed and cleaned were stored in cardboard boxes in offices in Neyland. That is no longer the case. In 2017 all of the bones were removed from Neyland and moved to the new Strong Hall. In fact, several times a year they are called on to remove a box of bones so famiies can come visit the remains of their loved ones who generously donated their bodies to science.
That is not where the story originated.
In 1919 construction for what is now Ayres Hall was begun. Shortly after construction began, Brown Ayres, the university president died. His successor began a campaign to have the new administrative building to be named after Ayres.
Before that construction began, because the original building was much smaller, approximately 6 feet had to be removed from the top of The HIll. Roughly 150,000 cubic feet had to be reomved and displaced. Its landing place was the area where Shields Watkins Field and the bleachers along side was also under construction. During the excavation process, on the NW section of the HIll, 6 sets of human remains were found. The bodies were generally considered to be that of 6 Union soldiers who died during the battle of Knoxville. With forensic archeology not being what it is today, little more was done. The assumption was made, however, that there may have been bones of other bodies caught up in the excavations and dumped on the field without anyone knowing it. Without doubt there were fragments of bones and pieces that were not thoroughly searched seeing it was 1919. Some of that would doubtless remain to this day.
Thus began the story that there were bodies buried under Neyland. That assumption, at least to some small degree, is no doubt entirely accurate.
There you have it. The rest of the story.
We all know the famous line by Kathy Bates in the Blind Side regarding bodies buried under the stadium. That was a reference to the fact that during that time the boxes of bones from the Body Farm that had been decayed and cleaned were stored in cardboard boxes in offices in Neyland. That is no longer the case. In 2017 all of the bones were removed from Neyland and moved to the new Strong Hall. In fact, several times a year they are called on to remove a box of bones so famiies can come visit the remains of their loved ones who generously donated their bodies to science.
That is not where the story originated.
In 1919 construction for what is now Ayres Hall was begun. Shortly after construction began, Brown Ayres, the university president died. His successor began a campaign to have the new administrative building to be named after Ayres.
Before that construction began, because the original building was much smaller, approximately 6 feet had to be removed from the top of The HIll. Roughly 150,000 cubic feet had to be reomved and displaced. Its landing place was the area where Shields Watkins Field and the bleachers along side was also under construction. During the excavation process, on the NW section of the HIll, 6 sets of human remains were found. The bodies were generally considered to be that of 6 Union soldiers who died during the battle of Knoxville. With forensic archeology not being what it is today, little more was done. The assumption was made, however, that there may have been bones of other bodies caught up in the excavations and dumped on the field without anyone knowing it. Without doubt there were fragments of bones and pieces that were not thoroughly searched seeing it was 1919. Some of that would doubtless remain to this day.
Thus began the story that there were bodies buried under Neyland. That assumption, at least to some small degree, is no doubt entirely accurate.
There you have it. The rest of the story.
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