RARE 1667 NYC AFRICAN AMERICAN LAND TRANSFER! (Part 1 of 2)

In Part 1 of this story from the PBS series "History Detectives," a remarkable document in Mark E. Mitchell's vast collection of African-American documents and memorabilia tells the story of the first land in the Americas to be owned by freed slaves from Africa, 200 years before the Civil War. In this story, Sociologist Tukufu Zuberi meets with Mark Mitchell to review this land deed from the 1600s, and then after establishing its authenticity, he visits a number of experts and research archives to see what more he can learn based on clues offered in the document. Professor Zuberi learns that the deed grants land to Groote Manuell, a former slave brought to New Amsterdam (which many years later would become New York City) by Dutch settlers. Zuberi also learns that Groote Manuell was at the heart of a mystery, and he begins to investigate this aspect to the story. In Part 2 of this story, we learn why the Dutch settlers granted Groote Manuell and a number of other slaves their freedom as well as land in the colony that would one day become New York City.

The document that inspired this story and brought this fascinating chapter of history alive is just one of thousands of fascinating items in Mark Mitchell's remarkable collection -- a collection of rare newspapers, letters and documents. The Mitchell collection includes hand-written letters by some of the most important figures in the annals of African-American history including Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Banneker, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X as well as hand-written poems by Zora Neale Hurston and Phillis Wheatley, the first American-American author to publish a book in the United States.

For more information, visit

http://www.africanamericancollection.com

or contact Tom Martin - Tom@TomMartinMedia.com

Category:

Education

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[dogons2k12]

Great info indeed

Check out my video series on African Historical Ruins

[freemaninstitute]

Check out the Mark E. Mitchell African American History Collection. Go to: BlackHistoryMatters . com