Saving God's Little Acre

Brown graduate students surveyed hundreds of grave markers on the site.

Archaeology students are reviving the history of one of the oldest African-American cemeteries.

FOR YEARS, STORIES of those buried in God’s Little Acre in Newport, Rhode Island, one of the oldest United States cemeteries for Africans and African Americans, had been slipping away despite a dedicated team of descendants and volunteers.

Stories like that of Charity “Dutchess” Quamino—who was brought to the United States from West Africa as a slave in the 1700s and eventually became a pastry chef and caterer, later serving George Washington for at least one event—have been in danger of disappearing as gravestones weather or recede into the Earth.

Then three Brown archaeology graduate students were drawn into the project by a volunteer at Newport’s Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission, and they became a key part of efforts to preserve and revive the history through a long-needed site map.

The cemetery, founded in the late 17th century, is the final resting place of at least 500 Africans and African Americans, many of whom were enslaved. Few stories of people buried were preserved, and the only known cemetery map dated back to 1903 and was incomplete.

Using three-dimensional images and aerial drone footage, graduate students Alex Marko, Dan Plekhov, and Miriam Rothenberg undertook an intense investigation, recording the extensive details on grave markers. They created an interactive map and database they intend to make available to researchers and tourists.

“We know the bigger picture of the slave trade and how inhumane it was,” Plekhov said. “You learn even more when you focus on individual people and individual experiences.”

Soon, Rothenberg said, “people can use a map on their phone or tablet to identify specific graves and interact with this site and its history more personally.”

Said Plekhov, “Making people aware of this lesser-known history, telling these stories . . . could drive us all toward a more inclusive future.” —Jill Kimball