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Activity
Report
African Burial Ground Project
Pursuant to the Amended MOA
October
31, 2002
This report covers
events surrounding the African Burial Ground project for the period of
August through October, 2002.
Introduction
Dr. Michael Trimble
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), St. Louis District,
continues to serve as GSA’s technical advisor for the African Burial
Ground (ABG) project. The
Corps is preparing protocols for the reconciliation inventory that would
occur prior to the reinterment of the human remains and associated
burial items. The purpose
of the inventory would be to ensure all human remains and associated
burial items excavated were reinterred.
Activities of the
Reporting Period
1.
At a meeting of August 7, 2002 at
the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, GSA Regional
Administrator Karl Reichelt, GSA Deputy Assistant Regional Administrator
John Scorcia, Cassandra Henderson, Public Affairs Specialist, and Dr.
Michael Trimble (Army Corps of Engineers) met with Dr. Howard Dodson,
Director of the Center.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss
the selection of a local non-governmental individual or organization,
such as the Schomburg Center to be charged with the task of planning,
coordinating, and implementing the reinterment ceremony for the ABG.
Dr. Dodson suggested a
ceremony that is international in scope, ecumenical, shows some of the
traditional African religions, and showcases the African American
experience in NYC. Dr. Dodson indicated that he would develop a proposal
(project scope and schedule) and send it to GSA in early September.
2.
The Corps visited Howard University from August 26-28, 2002
to
examine a sample of the remains to determine how the remains are stored
and how the reconciliation inventory can be efficiently and accurately
completed.
The
Corps also examined the associated burial artifacts that are stored at
ARTEX, in Landover, Maryland and received an electronic copy of the
existing inventory compiled by Howard University.
3.
On September 3, 2002 the Corps met with the Bronx Council on the Arts
to
discuss procedures for the transfer of the skeletal remains and burial
artifacts and their subsequent placement in shrouds and coffins.
This meeting was necessary since the Bronx Council will be
participating in the reburial ceremonies and will also be involved in
the preparation of the remains prior to reburial.
It is anticipated that the reconciliation inventory would be
conducted concurrently with the preparation of the remains for reburial.
As each burial is inventoried, the remains would then be prepared
for reburial and transported to the reburial site in New York City.
4.
The following schedule* was
developed during August, based on the assumption that Howard University
was going to resume completion of the scientific research by September
1, 2002 on the ABG project.
Final
Draft Anthropology Report is due on 12/30/2002
Final
Draft History Report is due on 12/30/2002
The
Initial Draft Archeology Report is due March 2003
The
Final Draft Archeology Report will be due in early Summer 2003
The
Integrated Report will be due in late Summer 2003
Reinterment
April 2003
Completion
of Exterior Memorial in January 2004
Completion
of the Interpretive Center in February 2004
*
Schedule of key deliverables will be revisited once we negotiate
a schedule for the delivery of the scientific reports from Howard
University.
5.
On September 4, 2002,
GSA
Administrator Perry, Regional Administrator Reichelt and other GSA and
Corps officials met with Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) to brief him
on recent events regarding the ABG.
Congressman Rangel was pleased with GSA’s efforts to re-open a
positive and productive dialog with all ABG stakeholders and to move
forward respectfully and expeditiously to complete this important
project. Via conference
call, Congressman Rangel contacted the President of Howard University to
solicit the cooperation of the university in completing the scientific
research and urged the university to provide the reports to GSA so the
reinterment of the remains could take place at the earliest possible
date. Congressman Rangel also volunteered his support
to assist GSA in obtaining the National Park Service’s
participation in the long term curation of the ABG site and Interpretive
Center.
6.
Later on September 4, 2002,
GSA Administrator Perry, Regional Administrator Reichelt and other
GSA and Corps officials met with Ms. Sherida Paulsen, Chair of New York
City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and her staff.
LPC was provided an update as to the recent GSA efforts to
re-open a productive dialog with all ABG stakeholders and GSA efforts to
move the project forward to a positive conclusion.
LPC was also provided with the status of GSA’s ongoing
negotiations with Howard University for the completion of
bio-anthropology, history, and archeology reports.
Ms. Paulsen raised the
following issues (GSA’s responses are in italics):
- Does
GSA have a plan in place for public outreach? GSA plans to inform
the descendant community of the reinterment plans, status of the
Howard University research, etc…in order to meet its obligations
as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding with ACHP.
- There
is concern if we re-inter the burial goods before the archaeology
report is written. Michael
Trimble to discuss the GSA plan with Amanda Sutphin (LPC) for
securing written reports from Howard University.
- Has
GSA made any provisions for an integrated report that ties the
bio-anthropology, history, and archeology reports together?
GSA will obtain an integrated report.
- LPC
requested periodic briefings and would also like to be kept informed
on the Exterior Memorial and Interpretive Center projects. LPC
will continue to receive a Quarterly Report and will receive oral
briefings every several weeks or as deemed necessary. Arrangements
will be made for Ms. Sutphin to receive a briefing on the Exterior
Memorial and Interpretive Center projects.
- GSA
NY offered to meet periodically with LPC to discuss progress and
address concerns. GSA
NY also plans to brief Deputy Mayors who have various ABG
responsibilities.
7.
GSA received letters from Howard University dated
September 3* and 17, 2002, stating their unwillingness to complete the
entire research project. The
university sought to withdraw from the agreement to complete the
Bio-skeletal, Archaeology, and History Reports and only complete the
History Report. During the month of September, numerous attempts were made to
engage the university in positive communication.
*GSA
had no knowledge that this letter was forthcoming while conducting
meetings on September 4th with Congressman Charles Rangel and
LPC Chair Sherida Paulsen.
8.
Preliminary discussions were begun with the University of Maryland,
in the event Howard University failed to
fulfill its contractual obligations.
Meetings were held on September 20th and 23rd.
9.
By cure letter dated September 24, 2002,
GSA informed Howard University
that their proposed contract modifications to withdraw from completing
the Bio-skeletal and Archeology Reports as outlined in the
university’s letters of September 3 and 17, 2002 were unacceptable.
The letter went on to state that the university was endangering
the performance of the contract and that unless this condition was cured
within 10 business days, the GSA might terminate the entire contract for
default.
10.
On September 27, 2002,
GSA Regional Administrator Reichelt and staff members met again
with Dr. Howard Dodson at the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture to continue discussions regarding the reinterment
ceremony. Dr. Dodson
provided a general overview of the program he envisions for the
reinterment ceremony and summarized the five components of the overall
ceremony:
- Departure
Ceremony from DC- sort of a caravan
·
General Arrival Ceremony in NYC- perhaps to take place on Wall
Street, the location of the “Wall Street Slave Market.”
- Formal
Burial Ceremony in NYC
- Opportunity
for Intellectual Significance for the event
·
Libation Prayer- Timing between the arrival and burial of the
remains- paying of respect- perhaps a 24 to 48 hour prayer vigil.
·
Somewhere in the overall ceremony, find a way to involve children
since a large number of burials at the African Burial Ground were
children.
Dr. Dodson indicated
that he would develop a proposal and submit it to GSA.
GSA representatives provided Dr. Dodson with an overview
of the recent event surrounding the Howard University contract.
GSA representatives also mentioned that as soon as the issues
relating to the Howard University contract are resolved, GSA would like
to hold a media event to share the following information with the
descendant community:
·
Announce the new project schedule and reinterment date.
·
Schomburg has been hired to do the reinterment.
·
Introduce stakeholders –ACHP, NYC LPC, and NPS.
·
Announce the five finalists for the Exterior Memorial.
·
Schomburg to be part of the media event
·
Include Congressman Rangel and Manhattan Boro President-Virginia
Fields.
11.
On October 8, 2002,
GSA
Administrator Perry, Regional Administrator Reichelt and several senior
GSA associates visited Howard University to meet with Dr. Swygert,
President of Howard University. Several senior executives from the
university were also present for the meeting.
During the course of the meeting, Dr. Swygert announced
that Howard was now fully committed to completion the original
contract. This reversal of intent by the university satisfied GSA’s
concerns that were detailed in the cure letter to the university dated
September 24, 2002. Dr.
Swygert announced that his chief of staff, Dr. O. Jackson Cole, Jr.
would be the executive in charge of the ABG project for the university.
Dr. Cole was tasked with the responsibility of preparing the
revised proposal to submit to GSA for the completion of the scientific
research. The
university’s letters of September 3 and 17, 2002 have caused
additional delays to the anticipated completion dates for various
components of the ABG project. A
revised schedule will be developed once we negotiate the proposal GSA
receives from the university.
12.
GSA and the Corps worked with the New York City Police Department
to
identify artifacts recovered from the site of 6 World Trade Center
disaster that were a part of the African Burial Ground archaeological
collection. A box
containing several bags of processed artifacts of glass and ceramic
fragments were returned to GSA for incorporation into the collection.
These artifacts constitute the last items to be recovered from
the 6WTC laboratory. All
recovered artifacts will now be sanitized and compared with the original
catalog to determine the extent of loss resulting from the destruction
of the World Trade Center.
13. From
October 28 – 30, 2002
the Corps met with members of the
Howard University team to assist in developing their proposal for
completion of the project. Their
proposal will include the completion of the three scientific reports,
coordination with the interpretive center design team, and the creation
of a review board that would provide quality assurance prior to review
of the reports by the government.
The meeting was very productive and university representatives appeared
eager to complete the research.
Major points addressed during
the meeting with Howard University
The
Howard University team hierarchy is as follows:
Dr.
Cole- Executive in Charge
Dr.
Donaldson- Project Manager
Dr.
Blakey- Bio-skeletal Report
Dr.
Medford – History Report
Dr.
Warren Perry- Archaeology Report
Additional
items to be added to the scope of work to complete the scientific
research are: Howard University will form a board of directors to
oversee its research as it progresses among its three scientific teams;
increases in salary rates since the salary rates in the current contract
are in 1993 dollars; Howard University will work with the designers of
the Interpretive Center so that the work on the center can commence;
Howard University will participate in the reconciliation inventory of
the remains; GSA/ACE will work with Dr. Cole to improve the invoicing
procedures for the modification that is currently being negotiated.
Schedule for
Modification to Howard University contract
Howard
University stated that it would submit its proposal to complete the
research to GSA on November 8, 2002. However, the university has now
requested an extension to November 15, 2002 to submit its proposal.
GSA/Corps representatives will immediately begin to work
collaboratively with the university to convert the proposal into a
modification to Howard University’s existing contract by the week of
November 25, 2002. GSA and
Howard University plan to sign the modification by December 2, 2002 so
that the university can commence to complete the research.
14.
Proactive steps GSA will take to accelerate the reinterment schedule
GSA/Corps
will begin an immediate dialog with ACHP and NYC LPC in January 2003
(and will continue this activity monthly)
GSA/Corps
will meet monthly with Howard University research teams and receive
monthly progress reports/drafts of chapters for all three reports and
share this information with ACHP and NYC LPC
15. Impact
on Reinterment Schedule
It
is anticipated that Howard University will submit final draft
Bio-Skeletal and History Reports to GSA in May or June 2003* and
that the university will submit its first draft Archaeology Report in
December 2003*
*This
information to be further fine-tuned when GSA negotiates the
modification to the contract with Howard University
The
GSA target date for Reinterment is June 2003; worst-case
scenario is September/October 2003.
16.
Coordination with the National Parks Service
(NPS) regarding the Interpretive Center has been initiated.
A meeting is scheduled for December 6, 2002, between GSA, the
Corps and the NPS to begin formal discussions.
Appendix A
No changes from
August report
Dr. Trimble of the
Corps will continue to meet with representatives of Howard University,
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission and the National Parks Service to
bring the project back on track, to determine a project timeline, to
hold stakeholders accountable, to gather information on where each party
stands with relation to the African Burial Ground project, and to
address procedural and public interest issues for GSA.
GSA has selected five
finalists to compete for the design of the ABG Memorial.
This will be announced when GSA determines a final reinterrment
date.
GSA will receive the
final anthropological report from HU by December 30, 2002.*
GSA will receive the
final historical report from HU by December 30, 2002*
GSA will receive a
draft archeological report from HU by March 2003.*
GSA will reinter the
remains and burial artifacts no later than April 30, 2003*
GSA will receive the
final archeological report from HU by July 31, 2003.*
In order to achieve the
highest quality study, GSA is will arrange for the production of an
Integrated Report (all the above documents combined into a universal
document).
The entire project will
be completed by no later than July 31, 2003.*
*Schedule
of key deliverables will be revisited once GSA negotiates the delivery
of the scientific reports from Howard University.
From1989 to 2000, GSA
obligated $19.6 million on the ABG project.
From 2000 to present,
GSA has obligated $2.7 million on the ABG project.
The bulk of this money
was to fund the Office of Public Education and Interpretation (OPEI)
(about $800,000 per year). Other
funds were spent on construction and transportation for coffins;
construction, transportation and storage of the crypts; the excavation
contract; the asbestos abatement for the 6WTC artifacts; the Bronx
Council on the Arts contract relating to preparation of the remains for
reinterment and several consultant contracts.
GSA expects that an
additional amount not to exceed $2 million will be required to complete
the project. This includes possible contract modifications to the site
preparation, Howard University and payments to Corps of Engineers.
Appendix B
Added
August – October meetings
Timeline
of Meetings and Relevant Telephone Calls Conducted/Attended by Corps
Team
March, 2002
Corps contacted to assist in project.
April 25
Meeting with Mr. Stephen Perry in Washington, D.C.
April 26
Meeting with Mr. Mark Mack at HU.
April 30
Meeting with Dr. Jerry Rose in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
May 7-8
Review of photographs and documentation of skeletal remains at HU.
June 17
Meeting with Mr. Karl Reichelt in New York.
June
18
ABG progress meeting in New York.
Meeting with HU contracted archaeologists, Dr. Warren Perry, Dr.
Jean Howson, and Mr. Len Bianchi, and Dean James Donaldson in New York.
June
19
Meeting with Ms. Kim Hamilton-Shakir, Bronx Council on the Arts
in New York.
June 21
Meeting with Dean Donaldson, Dr. Edna Greene Medford, and Mr.
Mack at HU.
June
24
Teleconference with Ms. Charlene Vaughn and Ms. Laura Dean at the
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
July
2
Teleconference with Ms. Amanda Sutphin at the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission.
July 8
Meeting with Dr. Medford at HU.
Meeting
with Dr. Frank McManamon at the National Park Service (NPS).
July 9
Meeting with Ms. Vaughn and Ms. Dean at the ACHP.
Teleconference with Mr. Reichelt.
July
10
Teleconference with Mr. Bianchi to discuss archaeological
databases.
July 11
Meeting with Mr. Perry in Washington, D.C.
July
12
Meeting with Dr. Michael Blakey at the College of William and
Mary.
July 17
Teleconference with Dr. Howard Dodson at the Schomburg Center.
July 24
ABG progress meeting in New York.
August 7
Met with Dr. Howard Dodson, Schomburg Center
August 26-29
Met with Howard University staff in Washington, DC
August 28
Reviewed stored artifacts at Artex in Landover, MD
September
3
Meeting with Bronx Council on the Arts
September
4
Meeting with Congressman Rangel and LPC in separate meetings
September
20
Meeting with the Provost of the University of Maryland
September
23
Meeting with the Provost of the University of Maryland
September 23
Meeting with ACHP and LPC in Washington, DC
September 27
Meeting with Dr. Howard Dodson, Schomburg Center
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