New York’s hidden history: recovering a slave Burial Ground
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In New York City, city archaeologist Sherrill Wilson and her team were studying the African Burial Ground, a cemetery holding the remains of thousands of free and enslaved Africans, when the September 11th attacks destroyed their workspace.
The burial ground was discovered in 1991 during construction near City Hall, revealing a history of harsh conditions endured by enslaved people who built the city.
Dutch colonists had initially granted a small swampy area of Manhattan to freed Africans for burials in the early 1600s, and over the next century and a half, approximately 15,000 people were buried there. Researchers examining the remains found evidence of strenuous labor and poor health, including skull fractures from heavy loads and a life expectancy between 24 and 26 years. For ten years, Wilson’s team analyzed artifacts and remains, storing them in the basement of Six World Trade Center.
When the North Tower collapsed on September 11, 2001, the building, and the collection, were threatened. Fortunately, municipal workers recovered nearly the entire collection from the wreckage. Today, a granite monument with seven mounds marks the site in Lower Manhattan, and the remains were reinterred there in 2003.
National Geographic Explorer Carter Clinton is currently analyzing soil samples to learn more about the lives of those buried there, hoping to uncover details about their diet, environment, and health, and to raise awareness of this often-overlooked history.
