January 27, 2026<\/p>\n
St. John\u2019s University graduate student Sebastian Loiseau spent his summer in a sacred space\u2014a reminder of a shameful period in US history, and a place where remembrance, research, and respect come together to give voice to lives long overlooked.<\/p>\n
Sebastian is a student in the combined Bachelor of Arts\/Master of Arts in History<\/a> program in St. John\u2019s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences<\/a> and is projected to graduate in May. \u201cI always liked history and felt like it was something I could teach someday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A graduate of Chaminade High School<\/a> in Mineola, NY, Sebastian transferred to St. John\u2019s after two years at Nassau Community College. \u201cI wanted to stay local, and my brother attends St. John\u2019s, so it felt like a good fit,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n After a recommendation from one of his professors, Sebastian was approached by Elizabeth LaRochelle \u201919SJC, \u201920M.A.<\/a>, Youth Programs Coordinator for the National Parks of New York Harbor (and a former program graduate) about an internship with the National Park Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eventually, Sebastian was assigned to the Visitor Center and Museum adjacent to the African Burial Ground National Monument<\/a> located in lower Manhattan. Rediscovered in 1991 during the construction of the Ted Weiss Federal Office Building<\/a>, it contains remains of up to 15,000 free and enslaved Africans from the 17th and 18th centuries.\u00a0Community advocates pressured the city to study the site and rebury the individuals with dignity. Eventually, it became a national monument.<\/p>\n One of Sebastian\u2019s responsibilities was greeting visitors who came to the monument, looking either to learn more about the burial ground or to spend time in quiet contemplation. \u201cSometimes you\u2019re answering questions and other times you step back and give them space,\u201d he commented, noting that he thoroughly enjoyed his visitor interactions. \u201cSeveral visitors come for information. Others come to reflect. You have to respect both.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMany people don\u2019t know that New York had an enslaved African population. That\u2019s part of what this site exists to correct.\u201d Their own community buried enslaved Africans, and this is not a mass grave, he noted.<\/p>\n Another mandate for the internship was an independent research project, Sebastian noted. \u201cOne of my class projects was on dental history and a forensics team from Howard University spent three years studying the remains, which provided an excellent resource on the subject. So I went in there with the intention that my final project would be about the dental health of Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, Sebastian used ArcGIS StoryMaps<\/a> to trace African cultures, migration routes, enslavement, and the site\u2019s origins.\u00a0<\/p>\n