African Burial Ground National Monument ⓘ

Rediscovery and excavation of the Burial Ground motivated scholars, academicians, researchers, cultural resource managers, politicians, religious leaders, community activists, school children, and the general public. The multifaceted relationship between concerned actors and the General Services Administration underscored the global and universal entanglement of established historic scholarship, urban archaeology, and physical anthropology of African forced migration.

Vigils were held and ceremonies took place to honor the ancestors. Community activism directed and guided the memorialization and scientific research standards characteristically rooted within African cultural anthropology. Community activism ensured a global recognition of the spiritual aspects of the Burial Ground. Spirituality would not be lost through scientific research. Eventually, a research and memorialization agreement was established between the descendant community and GSA. An exterior memorial was constructed in 2007 to commemorate and memorialize the contributions of enslaved Africans globally. In 2010, a visitor center with museum exhibits and a 20-minute park film opened to the public, to help teach the story of the African Burial Ground. Due to the efforts of community involvement and activism, the African Burial Ground became a National Monument in 2006 by a presidential proclamation. The Antiquities Act of 1906 enabled President George W. Bush on February 27, 2006 through Presidential Proclamation , to name the African Burial Ground a National Monument as the first National Monument dedicated to Africans of early New York and Americans of African descent. Among other National Monuments in New York City, it joined the Statue of Liberty , Ellis Island , and Castle Clinton National Monument - all administered by the National Park Service .

On November 4, 1993 all excavated human remains were transferred to the W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory of Howard University. A commemorative candlelight vigil, seminar, ancestral tribute and reception marked the departure from New York to Washington, D.C. In September, 2003 to October 4, 2003, the “Cradle Moving” event commenced marking the return of the ancestral remains from Washington, D.C. to the Burial Ground for reinternment. The Rites of Ancestral Return commemorative ceremony, which began with an Evening Departure Ceremony at Howard University, documented and celebrated the contribution of African Americans as the ancestral remains from the African Burial Ground were returned from Washington, D.C., to New York City. The remains were given a permanent resting-place at the African Burial Ground Memorial Site on October 4, 2003. Prior to final reinterment, each of the 419 human skeletal remains were carefully laid in their own hand-carved coffin. Celebration and ceremonies surrounded the return from Washington D.C. back to New York City in the Rites of Ancestral Return. Upon arrival at the burial ground in New York City, 60 coffins were stacked in a larger crypt, and the crypt was lowered respectfully into the ground. Seven crypts in total were lowered back into the ground, each one marked with re-burial mound. Today you may visit and pay respects to the re-interred ancestors at our exterior memorial . Flowers (no more than two flowers per person) may be left on the site, and only at the reinternment area within the outdoor grounds.The pouring of "libations" of any kind within the memorial grounds requires a permit in advance.

Restricted from Christian churchyards within the city, Africans developed a burial ground consisting of a small plot of land located outside the city’s northern palisade. As the enslaved population grew, so did the Burial Ground, eventually covering five to six acres, or about five present-day city blocks. Even here, harsh legal restrictions applied. No more than twelve persons were permitted in funeral procession or at graveside services, and interment was not allowed at night, the customary time for many African burial rituals. Enslaved Africans were required to have a written pass in order to travel more than a mile away from home. While excavating the 290 Broadway block, archaeologists found many artifacts, both in association with the burial ground and others that were from the block being used after the Burial Ground was in use. Archaeological excavations showed the mortuary practices of enslaved Africans in colonial New York. Each excavated burial revealed individual burials, most in wooden coffins, arms folded or placed at the sides and oriented with heads to the west. Bodies were buried in shrouds, fastened with brass straight pins, and were sometimes buried with items such as coins, shells, and beads. Over time, the Burial Ground became densely crowded with burials stacked here and four deep in some places. Below is a sampling of some of the artifacts found in association with the burials and burial ground. If you would like to learn more, please scroll down, where you will find links to all the archeological reports produced for the African Burial Ground Project.

Shroud pins were recovered from 159 different burials, and were the most common artifact recovered. Most pins were mineralized and fragmented, although one intact pin measured 2.5cm. the presence of pins implies the presence of shrouds, although not much cloth survived.

Excavation of the site of 290 Broadway took place in compliance with Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The bulk of the African Burial Ground/290 Broadway site excavation was undertaken by Historic Conservation Inc. Later, John Milner Associates took over excavation, producing this 4-volume set of reports presenting their descriptions and interpretations of that excavated portion of 290 Broadway not directly related to the excavated human remains. Volume I: The Secular Use of Lower Manhattan's African Burial Ground . Want to learn more about the archeological investigations that reveal the use of the space after it had been used as a burial ground? This report will help you understand the history of the site. Volume II: Archaeological and Historical Data Analyses. Want a description of what was found by archaeologists during their excavations? This report will help you learn about the history of the block, and explain the archeological features found in the block. Volume III: Artifact Catalog : A list of all items found in archeological excavations at 290 Broadway Volume IV: Conservation of Materials From the African Burial Ground and the Non-Mortuary Contexts : Want to learn how archeologists preserve the items they find during their dig? Read this report! You can read and/or download these reports from the General Services Administration website: Introduction to African Burial Ground Final Reports | GSA

Volume 2: The Archaeology of the New York African Burial Ground - Part 2: Descriptions of Burials Volume 2: The Archaeology of the New York African Burial Ground - Part 3: Appendices Volume 3: Historical Perspectives of the African Burial Ground: New York Blacks and the Diaspora Volume 4: The Skeletal Biology, Archaeology, and History of the New York African Burial Ground: A Synthesis of Volumes 1, 2, and 3

Volume 5: The New York African Burial Ground: Unearthing the African Presence in Colonial New York You can also read and/or download these reports from the General Services Administration website: Introduction to African Burial Ground Final Reports: GSA .

How did New York City become the sprawling global financial metropolis we know of today? New York City's beginnings start in the 1600s, when the Dutch West India Company, landed on "Manahatta" (Lenape for "land of many hills") and created a colony, Dutch New Amsterdam, to profit from the beaver fur trade and commerce. Later, in 1664, this colony would be taken by the British and renamed New York, after the Duke of York. Rediscovery changed the theoretical, historical, and financial concepts of African’s accurate contributions and inclusive narratives of colonial New York’s sustainability. Enslaved Africans provided essential labor for the growth and development New Amsterdam’s city infrastructure: Broadway, once an indigenous trail, was cleared and widened. Houses, municipal buildings, and fortifications were constructed. Current day Wall Street was a stockade built from the East River to the Hudson River with work from enslaved labor. Enslaved Africans cut timber, worked on farms and protected the colony. Current Stone Street situated in Lower Manhattan was the first street in the new colony constructed of paving stones by the work of enslaved Africans. Additionally, rediscovery helped the nation understand the beginnings of the African American presence in New York City. Rediscovery communicated both enslaved and free Africans' contributions to New Amsterdam's and New York's social, financial and physical construct. Enslavement differed under the two colonial periods: Whereas there was hopeful availability for the enslaved to attain "half-freedom" during Dutch New Amsterdam period, enslavement under British rule became a more restrictive legal system of stripping away any hope for freedom by enacting the Duke of York Laws. Not until 1827 would legal emancipation be enacted in New York.