A centuries-old cemetery for people who were enslaved is reclaimed in New York

On a residential block in upstate New York, college students dig and sift backyard dirt as part of an archaeological project that could provide insights into the lives of African Americans buried there centuries ago.

This spot of tightly-packed houses in the city of Kingston was a cemetery for people who were enslaved as far back as 1750 and remained a burial ground until the late 1800s, when the cemetery was covered over as the city…