A haunting reminder
In May 1991, three hundred years of silence were broken with the discovery of the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. Widely recognized as one of the most important archaeological finds in twentieth century America, it redefined the history of New York and presented a historical heritage that had been shamefully overlooked for centuries. Two decades were devoted to the documentation and interpretation of the site, and when it was finally all in order, monuments were raised in memory of the people who had been buried there with nothing more than rags to protect them. More than 400 skeletons of men, women and children, all slaves, were found, highlighting the shameful treatment of Africans not only in the city of New York, but all across the American nation.
