Saturday, November 2, 2013

African Burial Ground Memorial

While in the middle of construction for the Federal Office in 1991 human remains were discovered. 

Rediscovery

·      419 skeletal remains were found


Source: http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/04_22_97/story01.htm
Notes: Many skeletons (over 400) like this one were discovered in the construction site. 
Source: http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/04_22_97/story01.htm
Notes: This skeleton shows a female/mother. Because of the position of her arm, and the brittle bones around it we can infer that she was holding her newborn baby.





·    Controversy
o   Respect for the remains
o   Were they being well cared for
o   Wanted to halt the excavation
o   Congress acted to temporarily stop construction
o   Building plans were altered to provide space for memorialization     
·      Remains taken to Howard university in DC for study
o   Cobb laboratory= one of the nations leading African American research institutions
·   Studies showed a lot about life & death for Africans in colonial NY
·   Remains placed in coffins
o   Coffins buried near where they were originally found
o   In October 2003 the remains were reburied
·   About 10,000 and 20,000 people buried there
Significance
·    Designated a national historic landmark in 1993 b/c of its potential to provide information about lives of early Africans
o   Showed:
1. Quality of health
2. Region of Africa they came from
o   Altered historical misconceptions about life & culture of Africans
Memorial
·      Very open site in dense urban environment
·      Architect: Rodney Leon


Representation
·      Reconstructing the lives and conditions experienced by common ancestors
o   They built the city
Interesting Facts
·   - Medical students from New York Hospital would steal fresh corpses from burial ground for   -dissection..led to eventual Doctors Riot
·   - Tried to create postage stamp in honor of Burial Ground


Bibliography: 


"African Burial Ground." African Burial Ground. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nyharborparks.org/visit/afbu.html>.

"The African Burial Ground." The African Burial Ground. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101077?utm_source=R2>.

"African Burial Ground." African Burial Ground. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104240>.

Blakely, Micheal L., Ph.D. "The New York African Burial Ground Project:  An Examination of Enslaved Lives,A Construction of Ancestral Ties, by Dr. Robert Blakey - Part 1." The New York African Burial Ground Project:  An Examination of Enslaved Lives,A Construction of Ancestral Ties, by Dr. Robert Blakey - Part 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/0008huarnet/blakey1.htm

 "MAAP | Mapping the African American Past." MAAP. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://maap.columbia.edu/place/10.html>.

"African Burial Ground Memorial, New York, NY." African Burial Ground Memorial, New York, NY. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

"African Burial Ground National Monument Virtual Tour." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Sept. 2009. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Smalls, Romall F. "African Burial Ground Made Historic Site." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Feb. 1993. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Dunlap, David W. "African Burial Ground." N.p., 1993. Web

Lee, Jennifer. "African Burial Ground Memorial to Open on Friday." New York Times. N.p., 1 Oct. 2007. Web. 02 Nov. 2013. 



9 comments:

  1. Since I did the History aspect of the African Burial Grounds, I can understand how the Burial Ground provides information on the health of the Africans during the colonial era. Most Africans were enslaved during that time (and those who were free were most likely slaves at one time) so their bodies were put under the demands of hard labor such as building and construction. This, along with the fact that slaves probably were not fed an adequate diet of nutrition because of their low status and worth, contributed to poor bone health and development.

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    1. True! That's why it was very revolutionary and enlightening for some people when we found these skeletons.Many people were hit with hard evidence of what the slaves were put through. The controversy started with a group of people wanting that to be well represented, and respect for the slaves for what they went through.

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  2. I find it interesting to think about how much history is buried beneath are feet. What is another example of new information that was discovered from the remains of Africans buried in the African Burial Ground? The fact Congress temporarily stopped construction could be thought of as symbol of respect for all of the African Americans that were killed. Their hard work was never recognized while they were alive. Therefore, it is great that they are now being recognized.

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    1. Yes! The federal building was actually stopped and redesigned to make room for a memorial. If we think about how long this burial ground went undiscovered it's quite sad. Unfortunately for the longest time we kept building on-top of it and filling in landfill. We discovered a lot about what the slaves went through, and how harsh their lifestyle was. Many of the remains found were of young people. The artifacts that many of the African Americans were buried with showed us what was important and valued in their culture. Of course the biggest finding was the original discovery that most of these remains were enslaved African Americans brought directly from the African continent. The craniometric measurements of the skulls indicated this. Specific artifacts that we found in common within different burials such as beads in patterns suggest that the Africans belonged to unique tribes. The heart shaped symbol we saw on the memorial called the Sankofa, was also on a lot of coffins, an indication of the coming together of past, present, and future ancestors as well as the living.

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  3. I agree with Natalia. I find it very interesting and nice knowing that although the Africans during this time were not respected or appreciated for their hard work during the times when they were alive, that now they are being respected and recollected amongst the american people, and that now they have a special place where they are remembered and recognized as people who genuinely helped to build our nation.

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    1. Yes they have finally found in death the kind of dignity and respect they could not enjoy while alive.

      And the study of their skeletons has helped us to understand more about their lives, too. So they were forgotten and invisible for years but no longer ...

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    2. As Micheal Blakely said: "It is indeed an honor and privilege for all of those who have worked to restore the dignity of the African Burial Ground."
      The memorial hopefully fufills its purpose of being a site for anyone to remember the struggle the African Americans went through. While still being a site that shows the growth the city as whole has made. This memorial is very comforting for many immigrants (especially Africans) who come to the city.


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  4. I think another significance of this landmark is to pay respect as well as provide knowledge. You mentioned how building plans were altered for this memorial when the workers found human remains. This shows the importance, respect, significance of this area for the coffins. I also found it interesting how the architect, Rodney Leon, thought a lot about the small details, such as the granite from Africa.

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    1. The details didn't stop there! All the skeletons that they dug up were meticulously researched, even the teeth served as evidence! It really was aimed to bring together both respect, knowledge, and unity in the city.

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