This has been brought up on this forum a few times, so I thought I’d offer a little background that not many people know.
Everybody is familiar with Kathy Bates’ well-known quote from The Blind Side about the victims buried beneath the stadium. That was an allusion to the fact that cardboard boxes at Neyland offices at that time held the boxes of cleansed and decomposed bones from the Body Farm. That’s not the situation anymore. All of the bones were transferred from Neyland to the rebuilt Strong Hall in 2017. In fact, they are asked to remove a box of bones many times a year so that families can view the remains of their loved ones
those who kindly gave science their bodies as donations.
That is not the story’s original genesis.
The foundation for what is now Ayres Hall was laid in 1919. The university president, Brown Ayres, passed away soon after construction started. His successor started an effort to rename the new administration building in Ayres’ honor.
Because the previous building was so much smaller, the top of The Hill had to be cleared of around 6 feet before work could start. There was around 150,000 cubic feet that needed to be moved. It landed where Shields Watkins Field was, and the bleachers beside it were still being built. Six sets of human remains were discovered on the NW portion of the Hill during the excavation procedure. The remains were widely believed to be those of the six Union troops who lost their lives in the Knoxville combat. Not much more was accomplished since forensic archeology was not what it is today. However, it was assumed that there could have been additional people’s bones entangled in the excavations and discarded on the area without anybody being aware of it. Given that it was 1919, there were undoubtedly some bones and other items that were not properly examined. Probably some of stuff would still be there now.
The rumor that bodies were buried underneath Neyland started to spread. Without a doubt, the supposition is totally true, at least somewhat.
That’s it for you. the remainder of the narrative.
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