African Burial Ground

In 1991, construction workers discovered that the spot carefully chosen as the setting for a federal office building was actually a burial ground used by Africans and African Americans from 1626 to the late 1700s. After much controversy, the National Park Service took over the site, which now consists of a large granite sculpture, with running water and symbols from various African cultures. Its center has a scalloped design that lists a few known facts of those buried there, all likely enslaved, most killed by malnutrition, violence, or punishment.

Many remains were removed, and many artifacts are now preserved in a nearby museum. What we found most moving were the slight grass-covered mounds, punctuated with dried bunches of flowers, tiny tokens meant to honor all the unnamed, unremembered people who helped create our city.