Historical Perspectives of the African Burial Ground New York Blacks and the Diaspora

Authors

Edna G. Medford

Files

Document Type

Book

Department/Program

Africana Studies

Department

Anthropology

Publication Date

2009

Publisher

Howard University Press: in association with the General Services Administration

City

Washington, D.C.

Volume

3

Series

The New York African Burial Ground: Unearthing the African Presence in Colonial New York

Abstract

The unearthing of the colonial cemetery known historically as the “Negroes Burying Ground” in Lower Manhattan in 1991 has given both scholars and the general public the opportunity to study and comprehend the broad dimensions of the African American experience. The African Burial Ground and the human remains contained within it provide a unique vantage point from which to view New York City’s Africans and their descendants over two centuries. As the final resting place for thousands of enslaved and free black people who lived and labored in the city from roughly 1627 until the end of the eighteenth century, the cemetery offers insight into physical stressors, ethnic identity, cultural continuities, and assimilation. Each burial in and of itself tells an individual story. When considered collectively, however, in combination with archival evidence, these burials enable us to reconstruct a forgotten community and reveal the centrality of a marginalized people.

ISBN

9780882582573

Publication Statement

This is volume 3 of the series "The New York African Burial Ground: Unearthing the African Presence in Colonial New York."

Recommended Citation

Medford, Edna G.. "Historical Perspectives of the African Burial Ground New York Blacks and the Diaspora" (2009). Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press: in association with the General Services Administration.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/asbook/48