A coalition of elected officials, community advocates and historians gathered in Elmhurst Friday, Sept. 18, to call on the city to acquire a parking lot that paves over an ancient burial ground housing the remains of up to 300 freed slaves.
The burial ground, located on a parcel of land at 47-11 90th St. in Elmhurst, dates back to 1818, nine years before New York fully abolished slavery. In 1828, one year after slavery was abolished in the state, a group of freed slaves formed the United African Society of Newtown and built a church near the site, formalizing a local burial ground that had been used for at least a decade prior.
