BGuthrie Photos: NY -- NYC -- African Burial Ground National Monument -- Outside Memorial

NY -- NYC -- African Burial Ground National Monument -- Outside Memorial:

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[1] AFRBUM_161004_01_STITCH.JPG

[2] AFRBUM_161004_02.JPG	[3] AFRBUM_161004_05.JPG	[4] AFRBUM_161004_06.JPG
[5] AFRBUM_161004_09.JPG	[6] AFRBUM_161004_11.JPG	[7] AFRBUM_161004_13.JPG
[8] AFRBUM_161004_15.JPG	[9] AFRBUM_161004_18.JPG	[10] AFRBUM_161004_22.JPG
[11] AFRBUM_161004_25.JPG	[12] AFRBUM_161004_28.JPG	[13] AFRBUM_161004_31.JPG
[14] AFRBUM_161004_33.JPG	[15] AFRBUM_161004_40.JPG	[16] AFRBUM_161004_46.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. AFRBUM_161004_09.JPG: A Place of Remembrance African Burial Ground National Monument From the 1690s until 1794, an estimated 15,000 enslaved and free Africans were laid to rest in the African Burial Ground. In 1991, during construction of the Ted Weiss Federal Building, 419 human skeletal remains were exhumed. The rediscovery of the cemetery sparked vigorous efforts to preserve this hallowed ground. In 1993 a small portion of the original 6.6-acre cemetery became the first below-ground New York City landmark and a national historic landmark. African Burial Ground National Monument was proclaimed on February 27, 2006. Widely regarded as one of America's most significant archeological finds of the 20th century, it is also a place of remembrance and reflection. Circle of the Diaspora: The African Diaspora is the forced removal of Africans from their homeland to different parts of the world. It is also Africans' unwavering spirit and ability to adapt. This circular wall, ramp, and interior court display cultural and spiritual images from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and other areas throughout the Diaspora. Ancestral Chamber: The 24-foot-high Ancestral Chamber represents the soaring African spirit and the distance below the ground from which the ancestral remains were exhumed. It is made of Verde Fontaine green granite from Africa. The heart like Sankofa symbol from West Africa means "to learn from the past to prepare for the future." The exterior recalls a ship's hold and provides a place for individual contemplation and prayer. Ancestral Reinterment Ground: On October 4, 2003, the exhumed ancestral remains were reburied on this site. The bones and accompanying artifacts were placed in hand-carved wooden coffins made in Ghana and lined with Kente cloth. The coffins were placed in seven crypts as close as possible to the original burial positions with heads facing west. Seven burial mounds mark the locations of the reinterments. If you wish, you may place flowers on top of the burial mounds.
2. AFRBUM_161004_11.JPG: Circle of the Diaspora: The African Diaspora is the forced removal of Africans from their homeland to different parts of the world. It is also Africans' unwavering spirit and ability to adapt. This circular wall, ramp, and interior court display cultural and spiritual images from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and other areas throughout the Diaspora. Ancestral Chamber: The 24-foot-high Ancestral Chamber represents the soaring African spirit and the distance below the ground from which the ancestral remains were exhumed. It is made of Verde Fontaine green granite from Africa. The heart like Sankofa symbol from West Africa means "to learn from the past to prepare for the future." The exterior recalls a ship's hold and provides a place for individual contemplation and prayer.
3. AFRBUM_161004_13.JPG: For all those who were lost For all those who were stolen For all those who were left behind For all those who were not forgotten On the marker is the Adinkra symbol, "Sankofa" -- a symbol for the importance of learning from the past
4. AFRBUM_161004_33.JPG: Sacred Tradition, Sacred Ground The rediscovery of the burial ground revealed that Africans and their descendants buried loved ones with dignity and respect in the 17th and 18th centuries. More than 90 percent of the 419 human skeletal remains were wrapped in shrouds (cloths), and most of the bodies were buried in full-sized coffins. Africans continued other traditional practices such as placing pennies over the eyes to keep them closed. Small artifacts like beads, cowry shells, and cuff links sometimes accompanied the burials. Community activists, politicians, and many other fought vehemently to preserve the burial ground and to honor this history and culture. Their efforts led to the designation of 0.34 acre of the African Burial Ground as a national monument. Despite a 1731 law limiting the number of enslaved Africans who could assemble for a funeral to no more than 12, Africans and their descendants continued to venerate loved ones. Their burial ground was outside the city wall, or palisade, (Chambers Street today) built by enslaved Africans in 1746.
5. AFRBUM_161004_40.JPG: Africans in Early New York Africans were brought to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam from different regions with diverse cultures, religions, and languages. In 1664 the British captured New Amsterdam and renamed it New York. Before the American Revolution, New York had more enslaved Africans -- its most valuable commodity -- than any other colony in the North. There were also free Africans, some descended from those freed by the Dutch West India Company. Men cleared farmland, filled swamps, and built structures and roads like Broadway and The Wall (today's Wall Street). Women sewed, cooked, harvested, and cared for owners' children as well as their own. From an early age, children carried water and firewood. The work was hard and death rates for Africans were disproportionately high. African American workers position hollowed-out pin log pines in a trench along Broad Street. The 25-mile pipeline formed the city's first municipal water system in the early 1800s. Laborers tore up the cobblestone streets, dug trenches, laid and joined the pipe sections, and filled in the trenches. Pay was one dollar a day; enslaved workers' wages went to their owners.
6. AFRBUM_161004_46.JPG: Changing Landscape Obscures the Past The African Burial Ground was labeled "Negros Buriel Ground" on the 1755 map at right. Colonial New York laws banned African funerals in officially consecrated graveyards, prohibited gatherings or large numbers of enslaved Africans, and decreed that funerals had to be held during daylight. Nonetheless, Africans and their descendants held burial ceremonies in a cemetery outside the city wall, near a ravine. As New York City expanded northeast, the burial ground was closed in 1794 and eventually divided into lots for sale. The land was filled in and buildings were constructed on top. For almost two centuries, New York City's growth obscured the graves, and the African Burial Ground was nearly forgotten.
Wikipedia Description: African Burial Ground National Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

African Burial Ground National Monument is a monument at Duane Street and African Burial Ground Way (Elk Street) in the Civic Center section of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its main building is the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway. The site contains the remains of more than 419 Africans buried during the late 17th and 18th centuries in a portion of what was the largest colonial-era cemetery for people of African descent, some free, most enslaved. Historians estimate there may have been 15,000–20,000 burials in what was called the "Negroes Burial Ground" in the 1700s. The site's excavation and study was called "the most important historic urban archeological project in the United States." The Burial Ground site is New York's earliest known African-American "cemetery"; studies show an estimated 15,000 African American people were buried here.

The discovery highlighted the forgotten history of African slaves in colonial and federal New York City, who were integral to its development. By the American Revolutionary War, they constituted nearly a quarter of the population in the city. New York had the second-largest number of slaves in the nation after Charleston, South Carolina. Scholars and African-American civic activists joined to publicize the importance of the site and lobby for its preservation. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 and a National Monument in 2006.

In 2003 Congress appropriated funds for a memorial at the site and directed redesign of the federal courthouse to allow for this. A design competition attracted more than 60 proposals for a design. The memorial was dedicated in 2007 to commemorate the role of Africans and African Americans in colonial and federal New York City, and in United States history. Several pieces of public art were also commissioned for the site. A visitor center opened in 2010 to provide interpretation of the site and African-American history in New York.
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