"Seneca Village was a community consisting mostly of free Black people and immigrants, which was destroyed in the late 1800s. The area was seized through eminent domain to become part of Central Park, evicting roughly 1,600 people from their homes and community. Cynthia Copeland shares the process of rediscovering the history of Seneca Village through the archives at the New York Historical Society and city records such as the census. There was an archeological dig of the area in 2011, with Diana diZerega Wall and Nan A. Rothschild that discovered many artifacts, such as household items. Copeland was also involved in researching Weeksville as part of the landmark designation of the Hunterfly Road Houses.”
- Excerpt from Oral History on Seneca Village by Cynthia Copeland, Historian
Envisioning Seneca Village is a project depicting what it might have looked like in 1855, two years before it was destroyed by the City of New York to build Central Park. It features an interactive 3D model and supplementary materials. BGC professor Meredith Linn is a member of the project's team.
Before Central Park by 
The Park and the People by 
In the Shadow of Slavery by