African Burial Ground opens

The bodies of hundreds of free blacks and slaves were honored at a dedication ceremony at an African Burial Ground in New York City Friday.

The burial ground had served as a final resting place for thousands of blacks before the turn of the 19th century. The cemetery in lower Manhattan had since been forgotten as the city expanded above and around it. Eventually the cemetery was 20 feet underground.

The bones were found 16 years ago during excavations for a federal building. The burial ground, most of which still lies deep beneath sidewalks, buildings and streets, was designated a national historic landmark in 1993. The site was designated a national monument last year.

Visitors can enter the 20-foot-high chamber of gray stone with water elements running beside it. Alongside the chamber sits a circular court, with a map inscribed into the center. The majority of the space is green, with seven grassy mounds marking the spots where some of the disinterred bones were reburied four years ago.