This summer, a group of Bronx high school students took part in a five-week program teaching them the history of slavery in our city.  

The program included field trips, interviews, and research focused on the role that enslaved Africans played both in the Bronx and across the five boroughs.  

“Learning about this history and learning about my ancestors… I feel like I’m giving back to the community in a sense,” said Dasani Grant, a student at Dewitt Clinton High School.  

Grant created a pamphlet that she hopes visitors can use to learn about the grounds at Van Cortlandt Park and the history of slavery that’s there, from the burial grounds to the renamed Hester and Piero’s Mill Pond. 

The students took on their own creative ventures, from websites and social media pages to videos and articles to accompany the park’s Enslaved Peoples Project.