Richmond’s long-forgotten Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, which McQueen brought to light, is adjacent to two well-preserved cemeteries for White people, including former U.S. Supreme Court chief justice John Marshall and Confederate veterans. But the African burying ground is invisible beneath an abandoned gas station, highway overpasses and railroad tracks.

“Nobody could see it,” said Ana Edwards, an activist who has spent years elevating Richmond’s Black history. “It was simply shoveled under roadways and scraped aside to make room for bridges. There was no respect. That really hurts, but there’s also anger.”

Historians now believe Shockoe Hill could be the largest cemetery for free and enslaved Africans in the country, eclipsing New York City’s African Burial Ground National…