Despite the front page headlines, this is not shocking. It is not even really surprising that the latest bone and teeth fragments were found just below the surface, and had been previously disturbed by workers laying pipes. Construction workers in cities all around the world are loath to report the discovery of human skeletal remains. They don’t want to see costly projects halted for costly archeological study. So likely as not, they simply turn a blind eye, lay that pipe, push the soil back in and move on. There is anecdotal evidence that workers in Portsmouth have been doing just that for decades, perhaps centuries.
Finding more bodies will disrupt the process of creating the planned African Burial Ground memorial. But, in the long run, this is a good thing for the project. We are getting a glimpse of just how important this memorial actually is. We have long known that the black cemetery was under the streets. What we did not know – and still do not know – is just how large the early "slave cemetery" really is. Estimates of as many as 200 burials have been suggested.
VISIT OUR BLACK HISTORY SECTION
This week’s discovery is the first indication that the 13 burials are not just part of a forgotten family cemetery. There are hundreds, even thousands of small family plots in this region. What we have here, for those who missed it the first time, is the primary burying ground of Portsmouth’s outcast society. While we have long documented, preserved and honored our many historic Caucasian graveyards, our white ancestors decided that it was okay to build roads and buildings right on top of the one piece of hallowed ground originally designated for the city’s African population. That is the backstory that won’t go away, and that is why the city is working diligently to redress that error.
The workers who "covered up" earlier burials were acting out of expedience, not bigotry. It was only in the last few years that we have confirmed through DNA testing that the bodies found in this region were indeed of African descent. If there are villains in this story, they too are long dead and buried. Whomever decided it was acceptable to expand the city on top of its only black cemetery were creatures of another era. In doing so, they made the city’s "invisible" black population even more obscure. Perhaps that was their plan. More likely they simply wanted to profit from a piece of land already allocated, but allocated to a disenfranchised population with no power to protest.
Our job now is simply to shine a light on the story. That’s what the memorial on Chestnut Street is all about. What the light shows us, this week, is that the "Negro Burying Ground" may have been sizeable. We still don’t know its boundaries or how many African-Americans or others were buried here.
Years ago, before the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail was conceived by Valerie Cunningham, most people had no idea that there were slaves here in the North. We didn’t know that the first African American arrived here in bondage in 1645, just a few years after the first white settlers – many of whom, incidentally, were indentured workers.
The surprising thing is -- not that there are more bodies – but that we have taken so long to admit they are there. Admitting we have a past is the first great gift of history. And there are more gifts to come. Now we have more stories to tell. We also have an opportunity to dig back and discover why our ancestors were so torn by racial issues and why one race felt it necessary and acceptable to oppress another. And, when this memorial park is completed, we will have a place to pause and reflect – who were we, who are we, and who do we want to become.
© 2008 by J. Dennis Robinson and SeacoastNH.com. All rights reserved.
Seacoast History Blog #09
