WEBVTT - Introducing: Under the Yazoo Clay

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<v Speaker 1>M show what he else about. All dig below the

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<v Speaker 1>surface in central Mississippi, and odds are good you'll find

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<v Speaker 1>a burnt orange color looking back up at you. It's

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<v Speaker 1>called Yazoo clay, and there's one thing. It's known for

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<v Speaker 1>wreaking havoc on anything buried in it. It is the strangest,

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<v Speaker 1>most destructive soil I've ever dug in before. You never

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<v Speaker 1>get what you expect.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Over the years, Yazoo clay has held and destroyed a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of Mississippi's secrets. But in twenty twelve, a construction

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<v Speaker 1>crew uncovered a big one graves, thousands of them on

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<v Speaker 1>the site of the old State Asylum.

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<v Speaker 2>And may have thought they're only found a thousand and

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<v Speaker 2>then once I realized, okay, well you had two thousand.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait a minute, seven thousand.

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<v Speaker 1>And all this begs the question, just how do you

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<v Speaker 1>lose track of seven thousand graves? The Mississippi State Lunatic

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<v Speaker 1>Asylum closed its doors back in nineteen thirty five. It

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<v Speaker 1>didn't take long for the asylum cemetery to fade from memory.

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<v Speaker 2>And all of a sudden I looked down and there

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<v Speaker 2>was a headstone, And all of a sudden, I walked

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<v Speaker 2>a bit further, and I started looking all around and

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<v Speaker 2>there were scores of headstones. I said, this is a

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<v Speaker 2>big cemetery.

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<v Speaker 1>Today, the cemetery, it's just a sprawling green island in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of what's now the biggest medical center in

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<v Speaker 1>the state. But the graves might not be there much longer.

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<v Speaker 2>When I hear them say, you know, we've done all

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<v Speaker 2>we can do for the dead. It's time to do

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<v Speaker 2>something for the living. We need that land. We just

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<v Speaker 2>forgot they were buried out there. They didn't just forget.

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<v Speaker 1>These graves hold real people, and their descendants are looking

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<v Speaker 1>for the real story because it's not just about me.

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<v Speaker 1>It's my family. This was my family's mystery.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what I'm saying.

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<v Speaker 1>What happened to Grandma's in it? This is a story

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<v Speaker 1>about family.

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<v Speaker 2>They put him in an insane soyl Our mom said

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<v Speaker 2>he wasn't crazy, he's just starving.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a story about secrets.

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<v Speaker 2>But if there's gonna be a good story, they've got

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<v Speaker 2>the voices. It gets burried.

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<v Speaker 1>Down so deep that any kind.

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<v Speaker 2>Of scratch of the surface has to be tamped down.

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<v Speaker 1>Quick in a place where even the ground wants you

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<v Speaker 1>to forget. This soil technically shouldn't exist.

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<v Speaker 2>It has character, it.

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<v Speaker 1>Does its own it seems, but this is also a

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<v Speaker 1>story about how we reckon with the past.

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<v Speaker 2>We don't see the shame, but we see the effects

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<v Speaker 2>of the shame. If you have any standing in the

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<v Speaker 2>state of Mississippi, part of your work is writing.

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<v Speaker 1>Wrongs in Mississippi. Keeping secrets is as old as the

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<v Speaker 1>soil itself, So can the truth ever really be uncovered?

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<v Speaker 1>The story is much more complicated and nuanced than that.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Larison Campbell and this is under Yazoo Clay. Listen

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you get your podcasts.