Brooklyn Public Library project honors history of African burial ground in New Lots

A new chapter for the Brooklyn Public Library began with a ceremony honoring the history beneath the site of its future branch: a burial ground where early Dutch settlers buried both Black and white people, including enslaved people.

The history at African Burial Ground Square was researched in part by the African Burial Ground Collective. Catherine Mbali Green-Johnson, a longtime resident of East New York and member of the collective, said the group unearthed old maps of burial plots there. 

She said records showed that many white families later exhumed and reburied their relatives at a newer graveyard across the street at the New Lots Dutch Reformed Church, leaving the remaining bodies, mostly Black people, at the original plot.

"Making sure that before we break any ground, before we disturb anything, we bless those hands who stewarded the land," Green-Johnson said.

Green-Johnson said word of this history swirled around the community for years.

"They told me it was a rumor of a burial ground underneath the library. I thought it was pretty ridiculous. No way that we're not celebrating this," she said. 

Research by the collective later proved it to be true.

The former library building was demolished to make way for the new development. At a ground blessing ceremony, community members laid flowers, listened to drums and prayers, and signed wooden blocks made from the same type of wood planned for the new building.

Organizers said the ceremony was an opportunity to acknowledge the land's history before moving forward with a new public space for the neighborhood.

Elected officials also presented funding checks to Lynda Johnson, president of Brooklyn Public Library, to help bridge gaps in the project's financing. The development is expected to cost more than $40 million.

Johnson said library leaders began by considering what the neighborhood needed.

"We decided that rather than pour more money into a building that was never going to be great, that we would really imagine what was possible," Johnson said.

Community engagement on the project began in 2019, library leaders said. Construction is expected to be completed by 2028.

Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.