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Philadelphia Burial Ground Archaeology News Coverage

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Archaeological map recording the skeletal remains of 89 African-American individuals associated with the earliest free African-American Baptist congregation in Philadelphia. Recovered during construction of the Vine Street Expressway, the burials revealed important information on the demography, health quality, prevalence of disease and trauma, patterns of physical stress, and levels of nutritional adequacy for a group of people about which little historical documentation exists.” (Abstract, A Distinct Church of the Lord Jesus”: The History, Archeology, and Physical Anthropology of the Tenth Street First African Baptist Church Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Site Number 36 PH 72, Vine Expressway (1-676), L.R. 67045, ER# 82-0133-101-W)

Scroll down here to find news coverage related to:
PAF Historic Burial Places Map and Database
4125 Chestnut Street/Ludlow Street Cemetery
AME Burial Ground/Weccacoe Park
Burial Grounds & Cemeteries (general)
Potter’s Fields in Philadelphia
Forensic Anthropology
Kensington Burial Ground
Logan Square – Sister Cities Park
Stephen Gloucester Reburial
Mutual Burial Ground of Kensington
Queen Lane Germantown
Washington Avenue Project
Washington Square
218 Arch Street/First Baptist Church Burial Ground)
*Note: Philadelphia Inquirer Archives are now behind a paywall.
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PAF Historic Burial Places Map and Database
New online map points to the unmarked graveyards of Philly’s dead, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 27, 2018
Unmarked Philadelphia burial grounds the subject of comprehensive new map, Builders, beware, Curbed Philly, Feb. 27, 2018
New map unearths dozens of forgotten burial grounds across Philly, PlanPhilly, Feb. 23, 2018.
PAF President Doug Mooney Interview about New Burial Map, NewsWorks WHYY Public Media, Feb. 22, 2018.
Philadelphia Plans for Future Density Require Dealing With Historic Sites, NextCity, 10/25/17.
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4125 Chestnut Street/Ludlow Street/Harmony Society Cemetery
U. will enlist expert to investigate African American burial ground found under Penn property, Daily Pennsylvanian, March 18, 2018
Beneath Penn property could lie the burials of West Philadelphia’s earliest black residents, Daily Pennsylvanian, March 1, 2018.
Reports of Historic Black Graveyard Underneath Proposed Apartments Won’t Slow Contractor’s Plans for Development, Atlanta Black Star, Jan. 31st, 2018.
Construction continues on apartments planned atop oldest African American graveyard in West Philadelphia, PlanPhilly, Jan. 31st, 2018.
Prefab Future For Former African-American Cemetery In West Philly, Hidden City, Jan. 29, 2018
Company building apartments atop former graveyard considers hiring consultants, West Philly Local, Jan. 29, 2018.
Oldest African American graveyard in West Philadelphia lies beneath proposed apartments, Philly.com, January 25, 2018
Proposed West Philly apartments may sit atop an old graveyard
Philly.com, Jan. 24, 2018
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AME Burial Ground/Weccacoe Park

Queen Village makes room for memorial to a historic African American burial ground, by Inga Saffron, June 7, 2018, Philly.com.
Remains of 8,000 Blacks desecrated at Philly cemetery, by Michael Coard, Philadelphia Tribune, July 2016.
City Hears Concerns about Playground, Cemetery
Phila. Inquirer, May 6, 2014
Philly to Host Meeting about Historic Cemetery
Phila. Inquirer, May 3, 2014
City Says It’s Involved in Historic Black Burial Ground site
Philadelphia Inquirer, 03/20/14
City urged not to disturb Mother Bethel_burial ground
Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/9/13
Historic African American Cemetery in Queen Village larger than thought
Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/10/13
Speedy Peaks into Early Days of Science
Philadelphia Inquirer, 09/17/13
Thousands of African-American Graves Found Beneath Philadelphia Playground, by Cherese Jackson, Liberty Voice, July 31, 2013
19th-Century African American Cemetery Found in Philadelphia
ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine (AIA), July 26, 2013
Archaeologists Dig Up History as Playground Renovations get Underway
PHILLY IN FOCUS Blog, Philadelphia Protest, Marches & More!, July 24, 2013
Historical American Site Erased from History
Techbook Online, July 24, 2013
Reviving the Memory of thousands forgotten in burial ground beneath Philly playground
Newsworks.com, July 27, 2013
Thousands Buried beneath Philly Playground
NBC.COM, July 27, 2013
Old Mother Bethel grave site could hold thousands
Philly.com, July 24, 2013
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218 Arch Street/First Baptist Church Burial Ground
Philadelphia Plans for Future Density Require Dealing With Historic Sites, NextCity, by Karen Chernick, October 25, 2017.
‘How do we fix this mess?’ Philly archaeologists lay out plan to preserve lost burial grounds, NewsWorks, June 4, 2017.
How Philly could fix its construction-crews-disturbing-dead-bodies problem, Archeologists say Pennsylvania needs to reform “terrible” — or write new — laws., BillPenn, June 2nd, 2017
Proposal made to solve a Philly riddle: What to do when you dig up old bones, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 2nd, 2017. *Archived Philadelphia Inquirer articles are behind a paywall.
Beating the clock —and the storm — at old burial site, About 70 coffins and more than 100 bodies were extracted from construction location, Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 2017
Emergency Excavation In Old City Reveals Lack Of Oversight, Hidden City, March 15 2017.
Archaeologists Worked Feverishly to Excavate Colonial-Era Graves at Philly Construction Site, Smithsonian, March 14, 2017
Historic grave removal should not be hurried, Ronnie Polaneczky, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 2017
Race to dig at historic cemetery a mere hint of what ails Philadelphia’s oversight of buried treasures, Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 2017
Archaeologists Race to Exhume Historic Remains in Philadelphia, Archaeology Magazine, March 10, 2017
Tour Of Forensics Lab Housing 1700s Remains Found At Construction Site, CBS Philly, March 10, 2017
Developer will allow time for archaeologists to excavate abandoned Old City bodies, Philly.com, March 10, 2017
Why old dead bodies will accidentally surface in Philadelphia again, BillyPenn, March 10, 2017.
Discovery of 18th-century remains at Philly building site gives pause to modern world, Newsworks, March 10, 2017
Worker Plunks Reporter With Dirt Ball at Old City Construction SitePhilly Voice’s Brian Hickey was broadcasting live from a site where coffins from the 1700s were found, Philadelphia Magazine, March 9, 2017
Race on to excavate huge number of historic graves found on building site, by Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer March 9, 2017
Coffins found at Old City construction site: It’s not the first time workers have found remains here, Curbed Philadelphia, March 9, 2017.
Dozens Of Coffins Discovered At Construction Site In Old City, CBS Philly, March 9, 2017.
Old bones found – and nobody’s in charge, by Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 4th, 2016.
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Burial Grounds & Cemeteries, Potter’s Fields
Lost in the Shuffle: Finding Philly’s Displaced Soldiers, Mickey Herr, Hidden City, May 25, 2018.
‘How do we fix this mess?’ Philly archaeologists lay out plan to preserve lost burial grounds, NewsWorks, June 4, 2017.
How Philly could fix its construction-crews-disturbing-dead-bodies problem, Archeologists say Pennsylvania needs to reform “terrible” — or write new — laws., BillPenn, June 2nd, 2017
Proposal made to solve a Philly riddle: What to do when you dig up old bones, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 2nd, 2017. *Archived Philadelphia Inquirer articles are behind a paywall.
Old City Remains Discovery Prompts Protocol Change, CBS Philly, June 1, 2017.
Washington Square: From mass graves to mass media: Thousands of Revolutionary War soldiers are buried beneath the park , Philly Voice, April 10, 2017.
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Cemetery Studies
The Culture of Cemeteries, Rich Veit. The Academic Minute, 10/31/14)
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Stephen Gloucester Reburial
Final resting place for Rev. Gloucester, PlanPhilly, Dec. 2, 2008
Dust to dust: Philadelphia abolitionist reburied, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 2, 2008
Finding Reverend Gloucester, PlanPhilly, Nov. 22, 2008
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Independence Visitors Center/ Independence National Historical Park Mall