I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1179 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National 

Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself and Mr. MCEACHIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within 

the National Park Service the African-American Burial 

Grounds Network, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African-American Bur5 ial Grounds Network Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) From 1619 until 1865, millions of African 

2 Americans throughout the United States were 

3 enslaved. 

4 (2) Slaveholders often controlled where and how 

5 the dead were buried, and prohibited burials on valu6 able land. As a result, slave burial grounds were 

7 often confined to remote areas or marginal property. 

8 (3) Such burial grounds were rarely docu9 mented, and they infrequently appear on historical 

10 maps. A lack of accurate information is typical of 

11 African-American cemeteries from before the Civil 

12 War. 

13 (4) Following the end of slavery, many African14 American families continued to face restrictions on 

15 where they could bury their dead. Across much of 

16 the United States, local laws segregated burial sites 

17 by race. African-American burial grounds often 

18 failed to receive the type of maintenance and record19 keeping that predominantly White burial grounds 

20 enjoyed. 

21 (5) Many African-American burial grounds 

22 from both before and after the Civil War are in a 

23 state of disrepair or inaccessibility due to overgrowth 

24 of vegetation, crumbling physical structures, and 

25 other challenges. 


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1 (6) There is no official national record or data2 base for African-American burial ground locations, 

3 and the location of many sites is unknown. As a re4 sult, the family members and descendants of those 

5 interred are unable to visit these sites to honor and 

6 remember their ancestors. 

7 (7) Abandoned African-American burial 

8 grounds are often discovered when construction 

9 projects inadvertently disturb human remains, slow10 ing or halting completion of those projects. 

11 (8) The presence and location of historic Afri12 can-American burial grounds should be recorded, 

13 and there should be coordinated national, State, 

14 local, and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore 

15 these sites. 

16 (9) African-American burial grounds are an in17 tegral component of the heritage of the United 

18 States. 

19 (10) Creating and maintaining a network of 

20 previously abandoned, underserved, and other Afri21 can-American burial grounds will help communities 

22 identify and record burial grounds and preserve local 

23 history while better informing development decisions 

24 and community planning. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to authorize the Na3 tional Park Service to coordinate and facilitate Federal 

4 and non-Federal activities to identify, interpret, preserve, 

5 and record unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, 

6 and other African-American burial grounds. 

7 SEC. 4. U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS NET8 WORK PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subdivision 1 of division B of sub10 title III of title 54, United States Code, is amended by 

11 inserting after chapter 3085 the following: 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER 3086—U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN 

13 BURIAL GROUNDS NETWORK 

14 ‘‘§ 308601. Definitions 

15 ‘‘In this chapter: 

16 ‘‘(1) NETWORK.—The term ‘Network’ means 

17 the African-American Burial Grounds Network es18 tablished under section 308602(a). 

19 ‘‘(2) BURIAL GROUND(S).—The term ‘burial 

20 ground’ means any natural or prepared physical lo21 cation, whether originally below, on, or above the 

22 surface of the earth, into which as a part of the 

23 death rite or ceremony of a culture, human remains 

24 are deposited. 


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1 ‘‘(3) HISTORIC.—The term ‘historic’ means 

2 properties that can reasonably be considered to date 

3 back at least 50 years. 

4 ‘‘§ 308602. U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Net5 work 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

7 with the National Parks Service, shall establish, within the 

8 Service, a program in accordance with this chapter to be 

9 known as the ‘U.S. African-American Burial Grounds 

10 Network’. The Network shall include burial grounds deter11 mined by the Secretary to relate to the historic African12 American experience from among applications for inclu13 sion submitted by an individual, private or non-profit or14 ganization, State, local, or Tribal government, or other en15 tity. 

16 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—In carrying out the 

17 Network, the Secretary shall have the following duties: 

18 ‘‘(1) Review existing and new studies and re19 ports to inform consideration of sites for the Net20 work. 

21 ‘‘(2) Provide technical assistance to and work in 

22 partnership with the public, Federal, State, local, 

23 and Tribal governments, other public entities, edu24 cational institutions, and private nonprofit organiza25 tions in identifying, documenting, preserving, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179

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1 searching, evaluating, and interpreting African2 American burial grounds. 

3 ‘‘(3) Engage in consultation and public engage4 ment with descendant, local, and other communities 

5 historically associated with identified burial grounds 

6 by geography, genetics, or culture. 

7 ‘‘(4) In accordance with section 304, provide 

8 technical assistance and support to ensure that the 

9 locations of unmarked and unrecorded African10 American burial grounds are documented. The Sec11 retary is directed to make this information available 

12 in a public database, except in such circumstances in 

13 which the Secretary determines that the privacy and 

14 safety of the burial ground warrants the information 

15 being protected. 

16 ‘‘(5) Develop a program to train States, units 

17 of local government, regional governmental bodies, 

18 organizations, educational institutions, and private 

19 entities to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

20 ‘‘(6) Produce and disseminate appropriate edu21 cational and training materials relating to African22 American burial ground identification methods and 

23 best practices for caring for artifacts, developing in24 terpretive tours and exhibits, preserving burial 

25 ground landscapes, heritage tourism initiatives and 


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1 sources for grants, such as handbooks, maps, inter2 pretive guides, or electronic information. 

3 ‘‘(7) Produce and disseminate appropriate edu4 cational materials about African-American burial 

5 grounds through curriculum-based experiences, les6 son plans, and primary materials. 

7 ‘‘(8)(A) Create and adopt an official, uniform 

8 symbol or device for the Network; and 

9 ‘‘(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol 

10 or device adopted under subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(c) DONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept mone12 tary donations to further the purposes of this chapter. 

13 ‘‘(d) CONSENT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER RE14 QUIRED.—Burial grounds shall only be considered for ad15 dition to the Network with— 

16 ‘‘(1) the consent of the property owner; and 

17 ‘‘(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, 

18 private or nonprofit organization, State, or local gov19 ernment, or another entity. 

20 ‘‘§ 308603. Authority to make grants 

21 ‘‘The Secretary may make grants to public, Federal, 

22 State, local, and Tribal governments, other public entities, 

23 educational institutions, and private non-profit organiza24 tions in accordance with this section for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the identification of African-American bur2 ial grounds that may qualify for the Network; 

3 ‘‘(2) the preservation and restoration of Afri4 can-American burial grounds that have been in5 cluded in the Network; 

6 ‘‘(3) interpretation of African-American burial 

7 grounds; and 

8 ‘‘(4) related research and documentation for 

9 sites that have been included in the Network. 

10 ‘‘§ 308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 

11 of understanding 

12 ‘‘The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree13 ments and memoranda of understanding with, and provide 

14 technical assistance to, the heads of other Federal agen15 cies, States, units of local government, Tribal govern16 ments, regional governmental bodies, organizations, edu17 cational institutions, and private entities to achieve the 

18 purposes of this chapter and ensure effective coordination 

19 of the Federal and non-Federal elements of the Network 

20 described in section 308602 with System units and pro21 grams of the Service. 

22 ‘‘§ 308605. Private property protection 

23 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed— 

24 ‘‘(1) to authorize the Secretary to require or af25 fect management or use of private property without 


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1 the written consent of the owners of the affected pri2 vate property; or 

3 ‘‘(2) to prohibit the Secretary from providing 

4 land management guidance or requirements related 

5 to private property as a condition of grants or other 

6 assistance provided to the owners of that private 

7 property under this chapter.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

9 for title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

10 after the item relating to chapter 3085 the following: 

‘‘3086 U.S. African-American Burial Ground Network .......................... 30861’’. 

Æ 


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