The mission of the Burial Database Project of Enslaved African Americans is to identify, document and memorialize burial sites of the enslaved, most of which are abandoned or undocumented. Operating from the premise that all burial sites are sacred, we seek to identify these grounds by creating a database for their documentation regardless of their current condition - survived and protected or neglected and deserted.
The initial stage of this project will be to collect, record, and store pertinent information submitted to us by descendants, property owners, churches, community organizations and concerned citizens through online submissions. The collective impact of the future database will not only identify known and unknown burial sites, but will bring into national focus a lasting memorial for the enslaved.
For scholars and historians, as well as institutions interested in reconstructing the history of American slavery, the database will be a valuable research tool. Once established, a primary goal of the Burial Database Project of Enslaved African Americans will be to create a national burial registry that will be accessible to the public as a genealogical instrument to assist those searching for lost fragments of their personal history.
The Burial Database Project of Enslaved African Americans is currently housed at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus in New York City.
Data Submission
We are currently seeking submissions regarding the location of slave burial grounds in any state. A submitted slave burial ground is a gravesite that includes one or more burials of persons who died enslaved or were born enslaved and died after emancipation. We welcome any burial submission regardless of its status (marked, unmarked, abandoned), its size or its type (family cemetery, plantation cemetery, church cemetery, etc.) Each evaluated submission will receive follow up communication for verification and complete documentation.
If you are aware of a slave burial ground or cemetery and would like to contribute information, please go to the submission section of this website.
SUBMIT A BURIAL GROUND
