Historians say the site at Chestnut and Court Streets downtown is where a 1705 city map identifies the "Negro Burying Ground". Now DNA analysis confirms that that the remains are from people of African descent. New Hampshire Public Radio's Raquel Maria Dillon has more.
New Hampshire law says that when unmarked graves are discovered, and no living descendants can be identified, the State Archeologist decides what to do with the remains. So Richard Boisvert (bow-VER) called a unprecedented meeting in Portsmouth.
BOISVERT :11 This is the 1st time I've held a public meeting of this sort. What I really want is to hear from community what you think we should do.
A city contractor working on a sewer line discovered the graves last October. But historians who study African-American history in the Seacoast say they suspected all along that they might be there. Archeologists identified 13 coffins, and carefully removed 8 before construction resumed. Archeological consultant Kathleen Wheeler spent the winter studying the bones.
WHEELER :16 Turns out we have 4 males, sadly they died in their early 20s or certainly by age of 30. We have one female… she appears have had some kind of infection that showed up in her leg bone.
Wheeler says there's very little skeletal material to work with – most of the bones have disintegrated, leaving only a handful of teeth. The coffins are slow to reveal their secrets. Besides bones, she found only a shroud pin.
WHEELER :13 We found nothing: no clothing, no buttons, no pins. Just one long thin very corroded piece of metal may have been shroud pin. Which might suggest they were buried very simply, just a muslin cloth.
One of the other coffins contain two or three bodies. Boisvert and Wheeler are hopeful that DNA analysis will shed some insight as to why. They also hope to determine which ethnic group or region of Africa the individuals come from. But the chances of finding living descendants are slim to none.
Geraldine Copeland, a Portsmouth resident for the last 35 years, said she was very surprised that construction resumed so quickly after the coffins were found.
COPELAND :16 Surely I thought when an early cemetery has been found, more respectful activity will follow. I'm asking you Dr. Boisvert to request that the remains be reentered at the Chestnut St. site from which they were removed.
Copeland wants the city to convene a committee to design a memorial for the site, and hold a befitting ceremony for the reburial.
COPELAND :24 Heedlessly, street and house construction took place. It's time for all of that to stop. It's time to dedicate and consecrate a part of this area which nearly 300 years ago was designated as a Negro Burial Ground.
Then the ideas started flowing – a statue, a park, public art, an above-ground mausoleum… Some suggested new handmade coffins for the reburial, others wanted to perform an ecumenical ceremony or invite a spiritual leader versed in the African religion that the individuals might have practiced…
Leaders of the Seacoast African-American community fell in line – Valerie Cunningham of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail:
CUNNINGHAM :05 And we definitely believe that the street should be closed to vehicular traffic.
But that's up to the City of Portsmouth. State Archeologist Boisvert can decide only what happens to the remains in the eight coffins that have been removed, not the five left in the ground, or the rest of the graves. Lead Archeologist Kathy Wheeler says the cemetery could stretch all the way up the street.
WHEELER :06 when we recovered at least 4 individuals, they were under an existing sewer line.
A man named Fred Ross stood up to say that if it were a choice between the bodies and the sewer, the sewer should go somewhere else. Jack McGee, says he won't drive down that street anymore.
McGEE :15 A conscious decision was made at end of 18th century to pave over that cemetery. Carts and wagons and now cars go over that area, it's extremely disturbing to me.
Many suggested that the removal of the coffins is an opportunity to atone for the history of slavery in New England. Mark Sammons is an author and a historian of Black history.
SAMMONS :23 Let's not affirm a history of brutality by choosing the cheapest route. Let's not endorse centuries of marginalization by choosing the convenient route. Let's restore the respect our forbearers failed to give to those they enslaved, isolated, segregated. Let's right the wrongs committed by our predecessors here in town. This is our chance to do the right thing. FADE APPLAUSE
Senior City officials couldn't attend the meeting. They were busy wrestling with last minute changes to Portsmouth's school budget. But Deputy City Manager Cindy Hayden says city officials want to do the right thing.
HAYDEN :09 I've attended many public hearings in my professional life and never have I heard such uniformity of opinion. LAUGHTER. So the message is loud and clear.
State Archeologist Boisvert says he'll make a decision about where and how to rebury the remains in the coming months, but in the meantime, the street has been repaved.
For NHPR News, I'm RMD.
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