Roger Brown’s Untitled

Of his work, Brown said, “On this ancient cemetery site below the modern skyline of New York City ‘lies’ a contemporary tapestry of human faces”

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Tale of Two Cities: Slavery in New York (1626-1827)

In 1991, on the site of an old parking lot in lower Manhattan close to Broadway and Duane, the foundation of a 34 story skyscraper was about to be constructed. The shovel scoops of the workers found bone fragments. Construction on what was to become the U.S. General Services Commission building halted . As mandated by law, a pre-construction urban group of archeologists was called in to do a site-examination and excavation. These archeologist uncovered what was to be called “Negro Burial Ground” containing the remains of 416 slaves interred for more than two centuries. It was at that moment New Yorkers collided with the archives of the city’s slave history- a brutal and vile history New Yorkers new very little

Michael Blakey and his team of archeologists were brought in from Howard University-- a predominately an African American School in Washington , DC-- to the site and assigned the task of methodically examining the remains. As forensic archeologist using the tools of bone chemistry, bone lesion analysis, bone morphology, DNA fingerprinting and skull reconstruction. What they found was the skeletal remains of thousand enslaved. Below Trinity Church, Sara Roosevelt Park, close to the financial centre at Wall Street, extending past Broadway, southward under New York's City Hall, and reaching almost to the site of the World Trade Centre on Manhattan's southwestern tip, was the area used two hundred years ago to bury New York City slaves. Blakey and his forensic archeological team, using lesion morphology and DNA samples, found a story of enslaved who were

forced to engage in backbreaking and excessive labor. Bone fragments and skeletons mirrored a “work to the death” culture. Most skeletons were of people under the age of 30 who had injuries that reflected harsh labor condition comprising: compressed spinal cords, severs muscle tears, bone tears, osteoporosis, and crippling arthritis. One woman was found with a musket ball lodged in her cranium. Women were found with their hands folded which was a colonial marking that she was with child.

Most New Yorkers and visitors to New York perceive the city to be the epicenter of multi-ethnic, diverse, intellectual, and multi-national fusion; it is the center of commerce , it has the Village, Broadway, 42^nd St, Central Park, and Times Square. The unearthing of 200 year-old New York slave skeletons beneath the streets of lower Manhattan stirred many emotions : surprise, shock, dissonance, and sorrow. Historically, slavery was more often associated with Atlanta, Vicksburg, the tidewater of Virginia, Charleston but not New York City. That changed with the discovery of the “slave burial ground.” The public should now become cognizant that below the modern skyline of lower Manhattan, under the Canal St and into Chinatown and down Mulberry through Little Italy and onto South Street Seaport lies the remains of the bodies who played a significant role in the building of New York City.

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Portrait of Dorothy Creole was one of the first women slaves in New Amsterdam

(circa 1634)

In response to making New York’s slavery past more public, the New York Historical Society is featuring a landmark exhibit Slavery in New York extended to March 26^th. This exhibit opens ones’ eyes to the other New York, the one unearthed in 1991. The exhibit brings alive the dignity of those buried so long. Skeletons have been transformed into integral people by the use of 10 galleries, many interactive demonstrations, historical depictions

Neuville, 1822

and magnificent pictures and illustrations. The honor and dignity of New York slaves is told by describing so emphatically how slavery provided the foundation of New York. It was the slaves who built the security wall from the Hudson to the East river for the colonialist’s security. Ironically the wall became Wall Street. Enslaved were also to make a clearing for agriculture use in New Haalem. Broadway too was constructed by slaves.

Slavery was to continue in New York for two centuries (1626-1827). “New York housed the largest urban slavery population in mainland North America.” (Berlin and Harris, 2005). Early New Yorkers prospered and from the slave trade ; New York became a very significant seaport and harbor for the Atlantic slave trade. As many as 20% of colonial New Yorkers were enslaved Africans. New York gained stature and commerce based on trafficking of human beings—those human being found below the surface New York’s crowded streets.

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Scrubwoman, painting by Baroness Hyde de

The New-York Historical Society’s Slavery in New York will “enlighten and offend” (Berlin and Harris, 2005) but you can not walk away dispassionate. The museum’s slavery exhibit personalizes and interconnects New York’s two cities.

Portrait of Peter Williams, circa 1810 and one of the earliest painting of a black American.

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As an codicil, there is just a small plot memorial surrounded by buildings and sidewalks circled by a dark fence. There are plans in the works, now, after 15 years, , to construct a new memorial at Duane and Elk.

Mike Lavin