In 2023, the city of Newark, NJ unveiled, Shadow of a Face, a new monument dedicated to Harriet Tubman and the activists of the underground railroad. The monumengt was placed in the space previously occupied by a monument to Christopher Columbus. Unlike this and other mmonuments in the city the Tubman memorial brings Harriett’s image etched in stone to eye level, conveying her as a person of the people and an activist with the people. A mosaic of tiles created by Newark residents during artist-led community workshops as well as recorded audio stories brings the works and voices of the people directly into the memorial. Tubman’s memorial eloquently and artistically imparts the ideals of equality, activism, and restorative justice.

The archaeological investigation of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan changed the way that archaeologists engage with descendant communities in NYC and beyond. Nearly all of the burial places for free and enslaved persons of African descent in NYC were destroyed and redeveloped, usually without the removal of remains. An unknown number of cemeteries for enslaved persons likely existed in NYC that were never recorded while Indigenous burial sites were frequent targets for avocational archaeologists in the early 20th century. This paper will examine the history of municipal and social control of bodies—both living and dead— representing marginalized groups and the legal and financial obstacles that marginalized communities faced when attempting to preserve sacred sites. Decades after the investigation of the African Burial Ground, archaeologists are currently working with local communities and descendant groups at numerous burial sites to help reclaim lost sacred places throughout NYC.

The ongoing work at the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society offers a powerful example of the complexities of Descendant Community engagement. Biological descendants of the 18th and 19th century Black Ironworkers of the Catoctin Iron Furnace in Western Maryland have recently been identified using genealogy and genetic analysis. These newly identified descendants include both Black and White families across North America with varying ties to the contemporary Black community in the region. In this paper, I champion the importance of the New York African Burial Ground Project’s framework for Descendant Community engagement, which includes local Black communities with longstanding ties to the history of enslavement regardless of their ability to demonstrate direct biological or genealogical ties. By embracing an expansive notion of descendancy, contemporary researchers will be better suited to circumnavigate the marginalization 18th and 19th-century Black communities in the archival and archaeological record.

The practices and policies of urban planning often result in the ongoing physical and social marginalization of certain neighborhoods and residents, perpetuating white supremacy and classism. Historic preservation and archaeological practice are implicated in these continual moves towards (re)marginalization, leading to what seems like a complete silencing and erasure of the histories and resources of these communities in the archive and archaeological record. In part, this is because established frameworks are not often attendant to the ways that local communities think about, interact with, and preserve their sites. As current urban planning initiatives are increasingly intersecting with localized heritage, communities are fighting back by establishing grassroot cultural organizations centered around reclaiming and retelling their historical narratives through placemaking, heritage management, and art and storytelling. This paper uses a documentary archaeological approach to examine historical case studies of marginalization and resistance within New York City and the impact on present communities.