New Database Highlights African American Burial Grounds Across New York State

From downstate to upstate, numerous African American burial sites dot New York. Some are in full view, while some are obscured. Yet all are reminders of both the rich history of Americans and the shameful past of segregation.

These sites include prominent ones like the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan. Also in the ranks are ones hidden within larger cemeteries like Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. There are those forgotten for years until supporters stepped forward to preserve them like the Pine Street African Burial Ground in Kingston. Some are even buried literally by development like the African Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery in Staten Island.

A number of individuals buried in these sites were enslaved in a state that didn’t ban the practice for two centuries. The New York legislature ended it on March 31, 1817, by approving July 4, 1827, as the date of final emancipation.

You can read more in an article by Ricardo Kaulessar and published in the MSN web site at: https://bit.ly/3KD9lZJ.