![](media/image1.png){width="0.55in" height="0.7027777777777777in"}

**[MEMORIAL DEDICATED AT THE African Burial Ground]{.underline}**

**[National Monument]{.underline}**

**New York, NY --** The National Park Service (NPS), in partnership with
the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the African Burial
Ground Monument Foundation, the Office of the Mayor, City of New York,
and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, today dedicated
a new memorial at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower
Manhattan. The permanent memorial, constructed to honor the memories of
the free and enslaved Africans buried at the original seven-acre site in
the 17^th^ and 18^th^ centuries, was opened to the public for the first
time following a dedication ceremony.

The burial ground was rediscovered in 1991 when construction began on a
federal office building in Lower Manhattan. As the largest and oldest
African cemetery excavated in North America, the burial ground is one of
the most significant archaeological finds in U.S. history. The burial
ground stretched more than five city blocks during the 17th and 18th
centuries, and it is estimated that over 15,000 enslaved and free
Africans were buried there.

Before taking part in a wreath laying ceremony at the entry to site's
ancestral chamber, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne delivered
the keynote address. "Today, in dedicating this monument, we declare
once again that this place is sacred. We pay tribute to the lives of
those buried here. We celebrate their humanity, a humanity that
tragically was not recognized in their lifetime," said Secretary
Kempthorne. "We often think of history in terms of famous leaders and
great battlegrounds. But what we remember here today -- the people we
commemorate -- is truly our history."

In 1991, the remains of 419 African men, women and children were
unearthed by archaeologists at the site that is now the African Burial
Ground National Monument. Since then, the U.S. General Services
Administration has played a pivotal role in the extensive mitigation
response to the unearthed remains and conception and completion of NPS'
interpretive center in the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway
and the exterior memorial.

-   more --

"We are honored to be here today with our partners to dedicate a
national monument that tells the full story of the African Burial
Ground," said Administrator Lurita Doan of the U.S. General Services
Administration. "The project fulfills GSA's pledge to better inform
future generations about the history of this great nation."

Construction on the memorial, which was designed by Rodney Léon,
president and co-founder of Aarris Architects, began in 2005. Mr. Léon
was one of five designers selected from 61 applicants who answered an
initial call for proposals in 1998. In June, 2004 NPS convened the five
finalist designers for a series of public forums in New York City's five
boroughs. The finalists presented their designs for public comment and
each designer revised their designs based on public feedback from these
presentations. Throughout September 2004, the public was able to see the
completed designs and comment on them at six locations in New York
City's five boroughs, as well as online. The GSA and the NPS gathered
public feedback on the finalist memorial designs through the African
Burial Ground Web site (www.africanburialground.gov), special exhibits
and public forums.

"The memorial represents a unique opportunity and responsibility for all
of us," said Rodney Léon. "No longer will one walk past this site or
through Lower Manhattan and not be provided the opportunity to know,
understand, and acknowledge and respect the significance of this site."

The first Africans arrived in New Amsterdam about 1625. Along with
European merchants, traders, sailors and farmers, these enslaved workers
helped to establish the early colony. Throughout the 17^th^ and 18^th^
centuries, Africans were an important part of the city's population,
reaching a peak of over twenty percent. The African Burial Ground tells
the story of the contributions of enslaved and free Africans in the life
and building of the early Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which would
later become New York City. The history of the site reveals how New York
played an early and critical role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It
is the newest national monument in New York City, joining the Statue of
Liberty, Governors Island, and Castle Clinton.

"There is no other national monument in our country that addresses
either slavery or the early African-American experience, and we are
honored to be home of this tribute to those who lived and died here,"
said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "It is our hope that those who visit this
monument will be reminded of how far we have come, and may the memory of
those buried here be forever honored."

The opening of the new memorial is the result of an ongoing partnership
between the public and private sectors dating to the rediscovery of the
site. An advisory group, the African Burial Ground Federal Steering
Committee, provided recommendations to assist in planning for the site.
The dedication ceremony is the inaugural co-sponsorship event of the
African Burial Ground Monument Foundation, the park's official
non-profit partner, and the National Park Service. In addition, New York
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President
Scott Stringer hosted the pre-dedication breakfast for speakers and
special guests.

"This is a critical milestone in the evolution of the African Burial
Ground project, but more a beginning than a culmination," said Howard
Dodson, secretary of the African Burial Ground Monument Foundation. "The
monument and the interpretive center that will support it are important
new resources for commemorating and telling the stories of our enslaved
colonial African ancestors."

\- more -

The African Burial Ground was designated by President Bush as a national
monument in February 2006, making it the 390th national park site to be
managed by the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. Department
of the Interior. The African Burial Ground National Monument memorial
will be open to the public every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except New
Year's, Christmas and Thanksgiving. The visitor center, located in 290
Broadway, will be open Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except for
federal holidays.

"The African Burial Ground National Monument is a significant addition
to the National Park System," said Dennis Reidenbach, Northeast regional
director of the National Park Service. "We must tell the stories of all
Americans and the burial ground is a place where we reach into the past
and have an opportunity to touch the future by telling the stories of
the Africans who worked to make New York City and the nation strong."

**About the African Burial Ground National Monument
([www.nps.gov/afbg](http://www.nps.gov/afbg))**

One of the most significant archaeological finds in U.S. history, the
African Burial Ground is a 17th and 18th century cemetery that was
re-discovered in 1991 when construction began on a federal office
building in Lower Manhattan.  In 1993, the site was preserved as a
National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior and was
later designated a National Monument by Presidential Proclamation on
February 27, 2006. The National Monument is part of an original
seven-acre site containing the remains of approximately 15,000 people,
making it the largest and oldest African cemetery excavated in North
America.

**About the African Burial Ground Monument Foundation**

The African Burial Ground Monument Foundation was established in 2006 by
Dr. James Forbes, Senior Minister Emeritus, The Riverside Church, Edward
Lewis, Chairman and Founder of Essence Communications Inc. and Howard
Dodson, Director, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,
with the objectives of raising funds and generating global outreach for
America's newest National Monument.

\- NPS -