Why has the name of the burial ground been changed from the “Negros Burying Ground/Burial Ground” to the African Burial Ground?
“Negros Burying Ground” is the name that appears on historic maps which were made by Europeans. It is probable that the people who used the burial ground were mainly African. They came mostly from the West Coast of Africa or “Gold” Coast, from places we now know as Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, and from the West Indies. Because of the brutality of slavery, we might never know what they called themselves but they were Africans and African descendants. We do know that at the end of the 18th century and beginning in the 19th, Africans in New York began to create churches, businesses and schools for themselves. Many of these organizations had the word “African” in their titles e.g. The African Mutual Relief Society, Mother Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Grove Theatre, African Clarkson Men’s Literary Society, African Free School. We therefore, believe that by renaming the “Negros Burying/Burial Ground the “African Burial Ground” it is in keeping with a historical precedence crea
