• African Burial Ground National Memorial

    African Burial Ground

    National Monument New York

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Reinterment Ceremonies

Maya Angelou at podium, Mayor Bloomberg, Nadler October 2003 ceremony

Maya Angelou, Bloomberg, Nadler at Reinterment Ceremony October 4, 2003

NPS

The Rites of Ancestral Return commemorative ceremony, which began with an Evening Departure Ceremony at Howard University, documented and celebrated the contribution of African Americans as the ancestral remains from the African Burial Ground were returned from Washington, D.C., to New York City. The remains were given a permanent resting-place at the African Burial Ground Memorial Site on October 4, 2003.

Did You Know?

The Sankofa has a strong association with the African Burial Ground

New York's African Burial Ground is the nation's earliest known African and African American cemetery. An estimated 15,000 men, women and children were buried here between the late 1600s and the mid 1790s. More...