The picture above, a fairly normal 1920s Manhattan street scene showing mostly late-1800s buildings, is hiding a secret. The south side of Duane Street – the left side of the photo – was part of the “Negros Burial Ground” for nearly all of the 18th century. The best estimates are that more than 15,000 people were buried there, including both slaves and free blacks. When the site was closed for burials, streets were mapped through it and the land divided into lots, burying the burial ground below ordinary real-estate development.
That obliteration of people’s lives and deaths cannot be undone. A small portion of the burial ground has been cleared and is now a memorial and national monument. The entire site – most of which is, of course, still occupied by the urban fabric of the 19th century and later – is a designated landmark. But there is no physical remnant of what was there, because every inch of the land has been built on or turned into streets.
