Institutions

View Institutions of the Lower East Side in a larger map

African American Burial Ground 

This monument is a testament to the African Americans who lived here in the late 1600’s to the late 1700’s. Although it had been in used for about a hundred years, it was only rediscovered in 1991. The government wanted to build a federal building on the corner of Duane and Elk Street.  However, when construction went underway, they discovered forgotten bodies underneath the ground. These African Americans are thought to have lived outside the city that was then called New Amsterdam. The burial ground is thought to contain both slaves and free African Americans.  The monument is also proof that African Americans lived there at some point in our history.¹ In 1993, the Burial Ground was registered to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2006, the Burial Ground became a national monument. In 2007, the memorial sculpture was revealed. And in 2010, the African American Burial Ground opened up a visitor center.²

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Saint Augustine Episcopal Church 

Known formerly as the Chapel of Trinity Parish, St. Augustine Episcopal Church was fully completed in 1829.  In its’ early stages, was attended by Edgar Allen Poe and later by “Boss Tweed.” It featured two “slave galleries” in the balcony, so that African American slaves could pray in the same congregation as their owners. In 1966, the Church became a landmark and it became independent from the Trinity Parish in 1976.³ Now, the Church has a culturally diverse congregation, and serves the largest African American congregation of any denomination on the Lower East Side.⁴

Church Message Board⁵                     Slave Galleries⁶                                                The Church⁷

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1. “African American Burial Ground,” National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/afbg/index.htm

2. Edward Rothstein, “A Burial Ground and Its Dead Are Given Life,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/arts/design/26burial.html?pagewanted=all

3. “Saint Augustine Episcopal Church,” http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StAugustineEpis.html

4. “Explore the Lower East Side,” Tenement Museum, http://www.tenement.org/guider.html

5. Image Credit to Gabriella Deane

6. http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/img/AllSaintsFreeEpis1956SlaveGal.jpg

7. http://placematters.net/files/places/pm_793_2.jpg