African Burial Ground National Monument

African Burial Ground National Monument at Duane Street and African Burial Ground Way (Elk Street) in Lower Manhattan (New York City) preserves a site containing the remains of more than 400 Africans buried during the late 17th and 18th centuries. Historians estimate there may have been 15,000-20,000 burials in what was the largest colonial-era cemetery for enslaved African people. The site's excavation and study was called "the most important historic urban archeological project in the United States." The discovery highlighted the forgotten history of African slaves in colonial and federal New York City, who were integral to its development. By the American Revolutionary War, they constituted nearly a quarter of the population in the...