2 African Burial Ground National Monument
Rodney Leon
In 2004, architect Rodney Leon won a competition to design this national monument, which is located on the site of the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for enslaved and free Africans. Dating back to the 17th century, the burial ground was only discovered in 1991 in the midst of construction work on an office tower. Leon’s design features a 25-foot granite monument and is made with stone from South Africa and North America to symbolize the two worlds coming together.
