In 1987, human remains were discovered during house construction in Bowie, Maryland. A police investigation aided by anthropologists at the University of Maryland determined that the bones were quite old, likely belonging to a historic gravesite. In the 1980s, as today, there were no legal protections for unmarked historic graves found on private property and no financial support for relocating these burials. The homeowners left the remains in the care of the University of Maryland.

The Bowie Ancestors Project

The 1856 project podcast situates itself against the larger discourse of our nation’s involvement with chattel slavery and abolitionist efforts. Our podcast explores local histories by interviewing descendants, community leaders, historians, activists, young scholars, artists, and writers. We discuss the involvement of the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC), now known as the University of Maryland (UMD), in the enslavement of Africans and how this history intersects with our present. The podcast investigates racialized trauma and how it has been a building block of this institution. This space is our collective dream, where our communities convene and lay the groundwork towards a marronage and a liberated future. In the spirit of our African ancestors, Ubuntu, I am because you are, and you are because I am.

New tracks tagged #Bowie Ancestors Project