Sponsors (8)
Official title: To establish the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Educational Center in New York, New York, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 25, 2025 by Daniel Goldman · Last progress February 25, 2025
The bill secures federal protection, a museum, and educational programming that preserve and interpret the African Burial Ground—bringing research, tourism, and long-term stewardship benefits—at the cost of significant federal spending, governance complexities, and unresolved ethical and local-control concerns that must be carefully managed.
Students, local residents, and visitors gain a permanent, federally supported museum, curricula, workshops, and exhibits that expand public education about the African Burial Ground and U.S. slavery history.
The site and its collections receive long-term federal protection and stewardship, preserving cultural heritage, artifacts, and the burial site for future generations.
Lower Manhattan, nearby nonprofits, and the museum stand to gain economic benefits from increased tourism, donor support, and local revitalization tied to a nationally recognized memorial museum.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending (initial $15 million plus open-ended 'such sums as necessary') and potential ongoing operating costs, creating budgetary impacts and uncertainty.
Descendant communities and the public may face ethical, cultural, and privacy harms from excavation, DNA analysis, display, or disposal of human remains and artifacts unless consultation and protections are rigorous.
Expanding federal management and land acquisition could limit local control and influence over land-use decisions for adjacent properties.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Creates and funds a National Park Service museum and educational center at the African Burial Ground, authorizes property acquisition, governance, and federal funding for construction and operations.
Creates a federally supported museum and educational center at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan, authorized and managed by the Secretary of the Interior as part of the National Park System. The law directs property acquisition and construction, establishes an advisory council and a museum director and staff, authorizes federal payment of acquisition and construction costs, and provides initial funding with ongoing appropriations to support operations, programming, collections, and partnerships with museums, HBCUs, local governments, and community groups.