AARRIS Architects African_Burial

African Burial Ground Memorial

Dedicated 2007

290 Broadway

New York, New York 10007

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PROJECT HISTORY

Toward the end of the 17th century New York’s African descendant population was forbidden to bury their dead within the boundaries of the city. As a result a 51/2 acre plot north of Wall Street began to be used by the African population as a cemetery. The site shown on maps as the “Negroes Burying Ground” is believed to be the final resting place for approximately 20,000 enslaved and free Africans. The Burial Ground continued to be active up until the end of the 18th century. During the 19th century development pressures began to overtake Lower Manhattan and the Burial Ground was covered over and virtually forgotten.

It was in May 1991 while the US General Services Administration was preparing to build a federal office tower at Broadway between Duane and Reade Streets that the first human remains from the 18th century burial ground were accidentally uncovered. Construction was subsequently halted and the resulting archaeological excavation unearthed more than 400 skeletal remains of men women and children along with hundreds of burial artifacts.

The burial ground is widely considered to be one of America’s most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century. It is the country’s oldest known and largest urban African cemetery. It is also the largest colonial era archaeological find in America. In 1993 the burial ground was designated a National Historic Landmark and subsequently under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, a 15,000 square foot portion of this site including the memorial was proclaimed a National Monument, on February 27, 2006.

The discovery of the burial ground called into question conventional history that slavery in the United States was primarily a “Southern Institution.” The presence of the burial ground brings light to the fact that New York City was not only as a major slave port in the 1700’s but had the second largest enslaved population in colonial America during the 18th century. During that time the African descendants comprised between 14 and 21 percent of the city’s population. More importantly, the burial ground’s discovery began to highlight specifically the role that enslaved laborers, free farmers and freed individuals of African descent played in the building and prosperity of New York City.

The burial ground memorial design was selected by national competition in April 29, 2005. The selected design was chosen from a pool of 61 entrants and is the result of extensive interagency collaboration and public participation.

The Burial Ground was design by Rodney leon in partnership with Nicole Hollant-Denis president of AARRIS Architects, Architect of record.