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Activity
Report
African
Burial Ground Project
Pursuant to the Amended Memorandum of Agreement
April 30, 2003
This report covers events
surrounding the African Burial Ground (ABG) project for the period of February
2003 through April 2003.
Introduction
The
activities for this reporting period include the continued consultation with
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission (NYCLPC), and the National Park Service
(NPS), and the re-initiation of technical studies by Howard University. A list of meetings, telephone conversations,
etc., held during this reporting period is provided as Appendix A.
Activities of the Reporting Period
Howard University Technical Studies
The Howard
University team has re-initiated its work to produce the history and skeletal
biology draft reports, to complete the archaeological analysis and to begin
preparing the archaeology report.
To date, the History Team, under
the direction of Dr. Edna Medford, has submitted the following
deliverables:
- Sections
on Revised History (Caribbean) – The British West Indian Background of New
York Africans:
- Sections
on Revised History (Colonial New York);
- Sections
on Revised History (Africa);
The Skeletal Biology team, directed
by Dr. Michael Blakey, has submitted the following deliverables:
- Sections
on methods for data collection, cleaning, and reconstruction, dental
inventory, burial descriptions/photo-digitization, and revisions in
Skeletal Biology report’s proposed preliminary outline and revised and
more-fully developed chapter content descriptions; and the monthly
progress report.
- Sections
on dental wear (serration), and initial drafts of all Skeletal Biology
Section One chapters
- Sections
on dental pathology (degenerative infections), revisions of all Skeletal
Biology Section One chapters, and initial of all Skeletal Biology Section
Two chapters;
The Archaeology Laboratory has
re-opened at the U.S. Custom House at the foot of Broadway and Drs. Warren
Perry and Jean Howson, with Len Bianchi, have submitted the following
deliverables:
- Report
Outline of initial draft report, tasks associated with the outline, and
schedule, and the monthly letter progress report.
- Preliminary
inventory of remaining artifacts; and the monthly letter progress report.
The team is also working to complete the inventory of
artifacts recovered from the World Trade Center.
Dr. Trimble and Ms. Brighton, Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps), met with Dr. O. Jackson Cole, Howard University, to
discuss the potential candidates for the peer review of the draft and final
reports. Dr. Cole provided a list of
experts that Howard University recommended for the peer review. In an effort to develop a list of candidates
for each of the three fields, the NPS, the ACHP and the NYCLPC also provided
recommendations for the candidate list.
Howard University and GSA will select two members and one member,
respectively, for each of the three peer review boards (history, skeletal
biology and archaeology).
The Corps
and Howard University are continuing to develop a scope of work for an
additional modification to the Howard University contract for the printing of
the final volumes of the three reports.
The teams are determining the potential size of the three reports,
including the relative number of text pages and photographs, in order to
determine the relative cost of the printing.
In addition, a scope of work to prepare an integrated report is also
being developed.
Consultation
Meetings
with New York State Senators and Members of Congress
Through
January and February, Regional Administrator Reichelt traveled to Washington,
DC and met with key members of the New York congressional delegation to discuss
among other matters the African Burial Ground. Meetings were held with Senators Schumer and Clinton. Meetings were also held with members of
Congress Boehlert, Houghton, Kelly, Nadler, Quinn, Rangel, Reynolds, Serrano,
Sweeney, Towns, and Walsh.
Meetings
with Local Government Officials
A meeting
with Manhattan Borough President, C. Virginia Fields was scheduled for May 1,
2003 and a meeting with New York State Legislator, David Paterson was scheduled
for June 5, 2003.
Meeting with National Park Service (NPS)
On February
21, 2003, GSA, the Corps and the NPS met at GSA offices at 26 Federal Plaza in
New York City. Attendees included:
GSA, Northeast and Caribbean Region
Mr. Karl Reichelt, Regional Administrator
Mr. Steve Ruggiero, Deputy Regional
Administrator
Mr. John
Scorcia, Deputy Regional Administrator
Ms.
Cassandra Henderson, Public Affairs Specialist,
Corps
Dr. Michael
Trimble, Chief, Curation and Analysis Branch, St. Louis District
Ms. Nancy
Brighton, Lead Archaeologist, New York District
NPS
Robert McIntosh, Associate
Regional Director, Planning and Partnership
Terrence
Moore, Deputy Associate Regional Director for Planning
James
Pepper, Assistant Regional Director, Strategic Management
GSA provided an update on the
current status of the various elements of the project, including the status of
the technical studies being conducted by Howard University. The NPS will be a part of the selection
committee for the exterior memorial and will act as the GSA’s contracting
technical representative for the design of the interpretive center.
Meeting with the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
On March 14, 2003, the ACHP and the
Corps met at the ACHP offices in Washington, D.C.
(NYCLPC participated via
telephone.) Attendees included:
ACHP
Ms. Charlene
Dwin-Vaughn,
Assistant Director, Federal Agency Programs
Dr. Laura
Henley Dean, Program Analyst
NYCLPC
Ms. Amanda
Sutphin, Director of
Archaeology
Corps
Dr. Michael K. Trimble Chief,
Curation and Analysis Branch, St. Louis District
Ms. Nancy
Brighton, Lead Archaeologist, New York District
Dr. Trimble provided a status
report of the various elements of the African Burial Ground project to
date. Dr. Trimble also reported on the
efforts of GSA and the NPS to develop a partnership that would allow the NPS to
manage and operate the Interpretive Center.
The ACHP and NYCLPC requested that GSA initiate an aggressive outreach
effort to the community, as public involvement throughout the project is a
requirement of the amended Memorandum of Agreement. All were in agreement that the African Burial Ground project is a
community project and there should be a concerted effort to bring the community
into the current plans for reburial, selection of the exterior memorial,
etc. Dr. Trimble indicated that he
would relay the LCP/ACHP concerns to GSA, as well as coordinate a meeting with
the project archaeologists and the LCP/ACHP, and would update both agencies.
Meeting with the New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission
On April 2, 2003, representatives from GSA, the
Corps and the NPS met with the NYCLPC at the NYCLPC offices at 1 Centre Street
in New York City. Attendees included:
NYCLPC
Robert
Tierney, Chair
Ronda Wist,
Executive Director
Mark Silberman, Counsel
Amanda Sutphin, Director of Archaeology
GSA, Northeast and Caribbean Region
Mr. Karl Reichelt, Regional Administrator
Mr. Steve Ruggiero, Deputy Regional
Administrator
Mr. John Scorcia, Deputy Regional Administrator
Ms.
Cassandra Henderson, Public Affairs Officer
Corps
Dr. Michael
Trimble, Chief, Curation and Analysis Branch, St. Louis District
Ms. Nancy
Brighton, Lead Archaeologist, New York District
NPS
James Pepper, Assistant Regional
Director, Strategic Management
Lloyd
Chapman, Archeologist, Stewardship and Partnership Team
The purpose of the meeting was to
provide the NYCLPC new chair, Robert Tierney, with an introduction to the
project and to provide the NYCLPC staff with an update on project
activities. GSA reported on the
status of the technical documents provided by Howard University to date, the
evolving partnership between the NPS and GSA, as well as the goal of creating
an alliance among the federal, state and city parks in lower Manhattan.
Meeting with
the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
New York State
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Bernadette Castro, Commissioner
Robert Kuhn, Assistant Director,
Historic Preservation Field Office Bureau
Julian Adams, Program Coordinator
GSA
Stephen A. Perry, Administrator
David Safavian, Chief of Staff
Raymond J. McKenna, General Counsel
Karl Reichelt, Regional
Administrator
Steve Ruggiero, Deputy Regional
Administrator
John Scorcia, Deputy Assistant
Regional Administrator
Lionel Batley, Regional Counsel
Carol Latterman, Regional Counsel
Cassandra Henderson, Public Affairs
Officer
Corps
Michael Trimble, Chief, Curation
and Archives Analysis Branch
Nancy Brighton, Lead Archaeologist
NPS
George McDonald, Special Assistant
to the Deputy Director
James Pepper, Assistant Regional
Director
GSA
identified the various project elements and provided an update on the status of
each. The goal of this meeting was to
re-initiate the State’s involvement with the project and to develop a
partnership with the State to create an alliance among the federal, state and
city parks in lower Manhattan.
Public Outreach
In an
effort to re-initiate consultation with the public, GSA is planning a
leadership forum with invited local politicians, community leaders, select
members of the community, and ministers to be held on May 22, 2003 at the U.S.
Custom House at Bowling Green in lower Manhattan. Approximately two hundred individuals will be invited to
participate in this forum. Members of
the Howard University team will make presentations concerning the status of the
scientific research, highlighting some of the results from the analyses that
were conducted. Dr. Dodson, Schomburg
Center, will present plans for the reinterment ceremony. The conceptual designs for the Exterior
Memorial will be presented, along with the design principles that guided the
artists in the development of their submissions. The forum will provide the participants with an opportunity for
questions and answers, as well as the chance to submit written comments.
It should
be noted that GSA is planning additional forums and focus group meetings during
June, July, and August.
GSA is also
working to update the project website, www.africanburialground.gov, to
provide the public with an easy way to keep abreast of the current project
activities. When finished, the site
will contain an update on the current research, the concept designs for the
Exterior Memorial and other information.
Interpretive Center/Exterior Memorial
The NPS
will provide its technical assistance in the development of the design for the
Interpretive Center. In addition, the
NPS will also be on the selection committee for the Exterior Memorial. The concept designs for the five finalists
will be available for public review in May in the lobby of 290 Broadway and at
the leadership forum (see public outreach above). As part of this exhibit, the public will be able to submit
comments regarding the concept designs.
The finalists will review the comments and may incorporate public
recommendations into their designs.
Reconciliation Inventory
The Corps is developing a strategy
for completing a reconciliation inventory to ensure that all remains, burial
artifacts, etc., that were analyzed by Howard University that are to be
reburied are accounted for. The Corps and the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA)
met on February 21, 2003 in New York City to review the procedures the two
teams have developed to conduct the final inventory of the artifacts and individual
burials prior to their preparation for reburial. A trial run of the inventory process, necessary to determine the
most efficient way of completing the inventory, was completed at the Cobb
Laboratory, Howard University, Washington, D.C during the week of March 17 –
21.
The focus was on the process for
inventorying each burial to ensure all remains are reburied and the movement of
each burial to the BCA team for placement in each coffin. Both teams met, to conduct a trial run of the
process to ensure both teams are able to accomplish their individual tasks
efficiently. Based on these activities,
the report that documents the process was revised to include any changes made
as part of the trial run. The Corps and Howard University teams will work with
the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA), who will wrap the remains and place them
in coffins.
Reinterment Ceremony
On April 3, 2003, Karl
Reichelt,
John Scorcia, and Cassandra Henderson of GSA, met with Dr. Howard Dodson, of
the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, regarding the proposal
submitted for a reinterment ceremony.
The Schomburg Center’s plan for the ceremony involves a week long
ceremony that will include ceremonies in Washington, D.C., at points along the
way in Baltimore, Delaware, Philadelphia, Newark, and two ceremonies in New
York City. More detailed information will be provided at the Leadership Forum.
Frank Bender Bronze
Mr. Frank Bender, a forensic
identification expert from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has created a statue of three
faces that was based on information gathered from actual individuals recovered
from the burial ground. The creation of
the faces was the subject of a BBC, British Television documentary. The statue was delivered to 290 Broadway,
where it will be permanently exhibited, along with other sculpture and artwork
created to memorialize the burial ground.
A brochure describing the sculpture is being developed and will be
available to all visitors.
Press Release
On February
26, 2003, GSA issued a press release to announce significant
progress toward completion of the culturally and historically significant
African Burial Ground project in lower Manhattan. Highlights of the press release are as follows:
- GSA has increased
efforts to inform, advise and engage public, African-American community,
elected officials, contractors and other stakeholders important to the
African Burial Ground.
- GSA also announced that
reinterment is expected during the second half of 2003 and ceremony
planning is underway.
- A working partnership
was established with the National Park Service to develop an interpretive
center adjacent to burial ground.
- GSA renewed its
partnership with Howard University to complete the outstanding scientific
research on the project.
Refer to (Appendix B)
02/26/2003
GSA Announces Significant Progress With New York African Burial Ground Project
Appendix A
Timeline of Deliverables Submitted to GSA and Meetings and Relevant
Telephone Calls Conducted and/or Attended by the ABG Project Team
February – April 2003
January-February Regional Administrator Reichelt met
with key members of the New York Congressional Delegation to discuss among
other matters, the African Burial Ground
February 4 ABG
Team Meeting (GSA/Corps) in New York City
February 19 GSA receives the first set of
deliverables from Howard University (History -Caribbean section and Skeletal
Biology – methodology, annotated outline, etc.).
February 20 ABG
Team Meeting (GSA/Corps) in New York City
February 21 Meeting among Bronx Council on
the Arts, Corps and GSA regarding the reconciliation inventory in New York City
Meeting
among the NPS, Corps and GSA in New York City regarding ABG project elements
and activities
March 6 Meeting among GSA senior
leadership and Corps in New York City regarding progress of teams and upcoming
meetings
March 10 Telephone conversation with
Amanda Sutphin, NYCLPC, regarding a meeting between GSA Regional Administrator
and NYCLPC Chair
March 11 ABG Team Meeting
(GSA/Corps) in New York City
March 14 Meeting among
ACHP, NYCLPC,
and the Corps in Washington, D.C. regarding the progress of the Howard
University technical studies and reinterment
GSA receives
the second set of deliverables from Howard University (History – Colonial New
York section, Skeletal Biology – initial draft of Section One and Archaeology –
Outline/schedule)
March 17 – 21 Meeting among Corps, Bronx Council
on the Arts, and Howard University in Washington, D.C, regarding the
reconciliation inventory process
March 18 Meeting among Dr. O.
Jackson Cole, Howard University and the Corps in Washington, D.C., regarding
the Advisory Review Board (report peer review) candidates and updates on the
other elements of the project
March 20 Meeting among the NPS and
the Corps in Washington, D.C., regarding recommendations for candidates for the
Advisory Review Board (report peer review)
April 2 Meeting among the GSA,
NPS, Corps and the NYCLPC in New York City to update new NYCLPC Chair on
project elements
April 8 – 30 Telephone calls from the Corps
to potential candidates for the Advisory Review Board (report peer review) to
determine interest and availability in conducting peer review
April 8 ABG Team Meeting
(GSA/Corps) in New York City
April 14 Meeting among GSA, Corps
and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation,
in New York City
April 16 GSA receives the third
set of deliverables from Howard University (History – Africa, Skeletal Biology
– initial drafts of report sections, and Archaeology – preliminary inventory)
April 21 Frank Bender Bronze
Sculpture delivered to 290 Broadway, New York City
APPENDIX B
02/26/2003
GSA Announces Significant Progress With New York African Burial Ground Project
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