7th Graders Get an In-Depth Look at American History in Visit to African Burial Ground National Memorial

September 23, 2019

On September 18, as part of their study of colonial era New York and the African Diaspora, 7th grade Social Studies students took learning outside the classroom walls on a visit to the African Burial Ground National Memorial, located here in Lower Manhattan. This memorial is the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans. As the students walked through the memorial, they took photos and notes on the artifacts and exhibits they observed which they later reflected on in their homework and in class, answering questions such as "What did archaeologists learn from this discovery" and "Name one kind of cultural or religious object found at the Burial Ground. What does it show us about the person buried with it?"