Under Lower Manhattan's streets lie sunken ships, colonial taverns, Indigenous villages and the remains of everyday households, and city archaeologists have spent decades bringing them to light. On Saturday, November 14, at 3 p.m., the South Street Seaport Museum and the Professional Archaeologists of New York City are hosting a free panel at 213 Water Street on what those digs have found. The program, Unearthing New York: Marking 60 Years of Archaeological Discovery, is free with registration.

What the panel covers

PANYC President Kelly Britt leads a conversation with a panel of urban archaeologists about discoveries across the city: burial grounds, military sites, working-class neighborhoods and the objects people left behind, finds that the museum notes tell stories written records do not. The panel marks the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act, signed in 1966, which requires federal agencies to consider how their projects affect historic places, including archaeological sites below ground.

The talk takes place inside Maritime City, the museum's three-floor exhibition at 213 Water Street, surrounded by 540 objects tracing how New York grew from its seaport, with a focus on the working people employed by ships and shipping lines and the immigrant families who arrived through the port. Admission to Maritime City is included with a registration for the talk.

Who is hosting

The Professional Archaeologists of New York City was founded in 1980 to encourage cooperation among the city's professional archaeologists and to advise public agencies and the public on the city's archaeology; it does not excavate itself. Since 1989 it has co-sponsored an annual public program with the Museum of the City of New York.

Also at the museum: The Promise of Liberty, extended

The museum's exhibition The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation, which displays rare national documents, has been extended through November 29 and is now included with general admission. A general admission ticket also covers the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and the 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16, along with the exhibitions in the first-floor Schermerhorn Row galleries at 12 Fulton Street. In the cooler months, guided tours of Wavertree leave about every 30 minutes and last about half an hour.

Plan your visit

The panel is Saturday, November 14, at 3 p.m., at 213 Water Street; registration is on the Seaport Museum's website. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its main number is 212-748-8600. The 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J and Z trains all stop at Fulton Street, a short walk east to Water Street.

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