African Burial Ground

As Edward Rothstein, correspondent for NY Times put it, “Cemeteries are at least as much for the living as the dead. They are the locus of tribute and memory; they affirm connections to a place and its past.”

In 1991 a chance incident, a pure accident revealed a site that was later given the title of the most important historic urban archeological project in the United States. During the pre-construction stage of a Federal building in Lower Manhattan, the remains of 419 men, women and children were found 24 feet below ground. After further study it was discovered that this site was, in fact, an African burial ground.

For about a century, from roughly the 1690s until 1794, Africans, both free as well as enslaved ones were buried in a burial ground spanning over 6 acres. The 1755 map of New York refers to it as the “Negro Burial Ground.” Very soon, the ground faded into nothingness, lost to the city and its people due to development and landfill. And there it remained for a while shrouded in obscurity until recently.

Even though Africans made up over 20% of the population in New York, there is very little historical data on their life here. Given that, this burial ground is a pretty unique find. Besides, there isn’t another urban pre-Revolutionary African cemetery in the United States; this further adds to the historical importance of this site.

Understanding the full implications of this discovery, this burial ground found a place in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The remains were returned to their resting places a fenced memorial plot was built. It was filled with flowers and grass and has a gravel path leading up to it. In 2006, the burial ground was declared a national monument and it was overseen by the National Park Service. A year later, Rodney Leon’s memorial sculpture was unveiled and today it has a $4.4 million visitor center that welcomes people to the burial ground.

In case you wish to visit the Visitor Center, it is open from 9am to 5pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays, except for Federal holidays. The memorial opens everyday at 9 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. During the winters the memorial closes at 4 p.m. The African Burial Ground National Monument does not charge an admission fee.

The African Burial Ground National Monument is located at the corners of Duane and Elk Streets in lower Manhattan. The African Burial Ground Visitor Center is located in the adjacent Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway.

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