The backhoe hit the coffin buried under Chestnut Street the morning of October 7, 2003. Work on the sewer line stopped. And a twelve-year journey began. A journey that led not only to the creation of Portsmouth's African Burying Ground Memorial, but also to an expanding awareness of New Hampshire's history of slavery. A journey that brought together white and Black members of the Portsmouth community in a not-always-easy alliance to "honor those long forgotten." A journey that continues today.