Key questions: 

• How did enslaved labor contribute to the development of the United States?
• How did the institution of slavery change over time and across geography?

In this activity, students explore slavery, freedom, abolition, memory, and memorialization centered around the African Burial Ground in Portsmouth, NH. This burial place was in use for two hundred years before being built over and purposefully forgotten in public memory, until it was rediscovered and rededicated in the 21st century. 

Provide students with the photograph on the second page of In Honor of those Forgotten, a educational and fundraising pamphlet for the African Burial Ground memorial and rededication. This photograph shows Chestnut Street in downtown Portsmouth, NH with an approximation of the location of the individual burial sites within a section of the African Burial Ground. In small groups, have students complete a See, Think, Wonder organizer on the image. 

After sharing out and discussing, provide students with the overview on page three of the pamphlet, which introduces the African Burial Ground and its rediscovery in the 21st century. Provide students with time to explore the website African Burying Ground Memorial Park – Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They should focus on confirming or modifying what they listed in their organizer, but can also explore what they had not considered. 

After students have shared out, discuss: 

• What did you list as a ‘think’ idea that was either confirmed, modified or rejected? 
• What did you list as a ‘wonder’ that you found the answer to? What do you still not know? 
• What did you learn that you hadn’t considered before? 

As a conclusion, ask students to journal on the question: What can a study of the process of forgetting, rediscovery, and memorialization of the African Burial Ground help us to learn about slavery and its legacy in the North?