☞ REMEMBER: Harlem's African Burial Grounds

As we have mentioned in the past month, the second African Burial Ground to be found in New York City has been a topic of concern for local preservation groups, and we wanted to take a closer look at some of the burial ground's history. The original African burial ground was just right above East 126th Street and 1st Avenue (click map to enlarge), and the current MTA bus station is sitting over what may be a site of deep archeological significance to the history of Harlem. Back then, the church was known as the Low Dutch Church, which can be traced back to 1660 on what was the verdant countryside of East Harlem. The photo from 1880 shows the second incarnation of the institution, called the First Collegiate Dutch Reform Church of Harlem, after the congregation had relocated to the northwest corner of Third Avenue and 121st Street. The current photo shows a new building being constructed on the exact site of the clapboard church -- eventually known as the Elmendorf Church -- over a century after it was razed.

In a recent Huffington Post entry, Harlem's renowned historian Michael Henry Adams chronicled the details of a March community task force meeting spearheaded by State Senators Bill Perkins and Jose Serrano, providing further insight on the past and future of the burial grounds. The gathering at the newest incarnation of the Elmendorf Church, on 121st between Lexington and Third Avenue, brought together over 100 concerned citizens who have now convinced the MTA to commit to setting up an archeological study of the found burial site on 126th Street and 1st Avenue. Work on a new bus station would not start for another five years, but the local community wants to ensure that the MTA will keep its word to further investigate the Harlem African Burial Ground's past before proceeding with the planned bus station's future. Get more details in Michael Henry Adam's Huffington Post article: LINK