Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books)
Grade 5 UpAThe painstaking care with which archaeologists unearthed graves from a rediscovered cemetery in 1991 is reflected in the detailed research that frames this account of the African Burial Ground that has become a National Historic Landmark in New York City. Men, women, and children of African descent, both enslaved and free, have been a part of the city's history since the arrival of the Dutch in 1623. Drawing on a variety of scholarly resources and primary-source documents, Hansen and McGowan relate what is known about the experiences of the earliest members of the black community in Manhattan. Through black-and-white photographs of uncovered artifacts and reproductions of archival records and maps, a fascinating picture emerges. As the narrative states, analysis of skeletal remains have shown the signs of trauma caused by lives of hard labor, and in some cases perhaps, the effects of punishment for resisting slavery. An excellent portrayal of how archaeology helps to re-create and affirm the past.AJanet Woodward, Garfield High School, Seattle, WACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.