Historic African Burying Ground Gets A New Augmented Reality Experience
A new augmented reality (AR) experience is bringing the stories of Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s African Burying Ground to life.
The platform is being unveiled today as part of the Black Heritage Trail’s Juneteenth celebrations, marking the tenth anniversary of the African Burying Ground Memorial Park.
Portsmouth’s African Burying Ground
The African Burying Ground dates back to at least 1705 and served as the final resting place for more than 200 people of African descent. Over time, the site was paved over and forgotten until 2003, when workers uncovered five coffins during an infrastructure project. DNA testing confirmed their African ancestry.
The Portsmouth City Council responded by forming the African Burying Ground Committee. Their efforts resulted in the dedication of the Memorial Park in May 2015, a space that honors the lives and legacies of those buried there.
The new AR platform adds an immersive layer to the Memorial Park experience. Visitors can access the platform on-site via a mobile link. As they walk from statue to statue, their phones display historical narratives, 3D visuals, and stories, such as the 1779 petition to abolish slavery in New Hampshire.
Preserving history
JerriAnne Boggis, the executive director of the New Hampshire Black Heritage Trail, told Axios that the new AR project helps keep these vital stories visible in a state where Black history is often overlooked.
In 2021, New Hampshire passed laws that limited the teaching of lessons on race and gender. A federal judge struck down the law in May, but Boggis says schools that previously sent students on tours have avoided the trial’s programming.
Nevertheless, organizations like the Black Heritage Trail remain committed to preserving these histories. “It’s not just Black history,” Boggis said. “The history that we look at, the history that we share, is part of the American culture.”
AR Meets Black History
Portsmouth’s initiative is part of a broader trend of using emerging tech to preserve, celebrate, and teach Black history. The Museum of African American History in Boston recently unveiled an AI-powered hologram of Frederick Douglass. Drawing from a curated selection of his speeches, books, and articles, the interactive hologram responds to visitors’ questions.
In Pittsburgh, technologist Adrian Jones launched an AR app allowing residents and visitors to explore the city’s rich Black history through immersive, location-based storytelling. Similarly, in Louisville, Kentucky, the Footprints Through Time project uses AR and holograms to trace the city’s ties to the transatlantic slave trade.
In New Orleans, artist Marcus Brown created Slavery Trails, an AR installation that overlays digital sculptures and soundscapes on sites historically connected to slavery. And at New Philadelphia, Illinois—the first US town platted and registered by an African American—AR technology brings to life the stories of Black residents during the eras of slavery and Reconstruction.
Image credit: Seacoast African American Cultural Center
