Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program, College of Charleston

ONE WEEK AWAY! Make sure to join us next Saturday, August 19th, for a conversation and celebration of Dr. Billingsley’s newly released paperback edition of his classic study of Robert Smalls, “Yearning to Breathe Free.” From 4 to 6:30pm, come on out to Tabernacle Baptist Church and learn about the remarkable story of Smalls’ self-emancipation during the Civil War. Reception and book signing to follow the remarks. We will also be holding an open house of the JFA exhibit prior to this event from 11am to 3pm at Darrah Hall of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park!! This event is free and open to the public!

On August 23rd, MPCPMP (Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project) invites you to a webinar with performing artist Antonio Rocha in observance of the UNESCO-designated International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, August 23rd. The program will be on Zoom, and you can register for free here.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: "Voyage through Death to Life upon these Shores"*: The Malaga Speaks. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. On August 23rd, MPCPMP invites you to a webinar with performing artist Antonio Rocha in observance of the UNESCO-designated International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. The program will be on Zoom, and you can register for free. The story of the Malaga, a 19th century....

Anthony Ashley Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury Visitors to Charleston, South Carolina quickly become familiar with two names: Ashley and Cooper. The Charleston peninsula, where the town w...

Interesting analysis of US role in Niger and response to coup there . . . :

Opinion | The U.S. calling the crisis in Niger a coup could make it worse Mohamed Bazoum, Niger's deposed president, says if his enemies succeed, there will be "devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world.”

OK--maybe more strictly speaking GLAW than CLAW, but close enough to be on this page, I think.

“Krak Teet” is a Geechee word and means “to speak”! Trelani Michelle, a Savannah native, has brought this term to life with her book "Krak Teet: A Catalog of Black Savannah's Biographies.”

Join us for a book talk and signing on August 17th at 6:00 p.m. at the Beach Institute African-American Cultural Center in Savannah, GA. This book centers the experiences of native Gullah Geechee elders from 1920 to 1970!

Trelani is an award-winning writer, oral historian, and teaching artist who was crowned Savannah’s Best Local Author in 2021. A storyteller and a story-gatherer with a Bachelor’s from SSU and an MFA from SCAD, Trelani interned with the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center to further her work of “Zora Neale Hurstoning” by teaching the history that textbooks overlook and putting an end to code-switching.

A FREE copy of this book will be provided to the 1st twenty individuals/families to register for event!

To register, click the QR code or visit our website - gullahgeecheecorridor.org

Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/krakteet-book-talk-and-signing-with-trelani-michelle-tickets-691159285027?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/community/beaufort-news/article277775323.html?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR04kg6j99KEQ2jMb2jCnwzkCPVcJh8PFeONdqPkM8uIMrzynZZ4kKqwCPg

Trailblazing director returns to Beaufort. Gullah Geechee star again in latest film. Gullah Geechee were the focus again of the second film she made in the Lowcountry of South Carolina

Very sorry to see this sad news. The Slavevyages database was an amazing achievement, an amazing gift of an amazing tool for researchers. Thank you, Professor Richardson. May you rest in peace.

We are sad to announce the passing of one of SlaveVoyages' founders, Dr. David Richardson. Dr. Richardson was an Emeritus Professor of Economic History at the University of Hull, UK, and former Director of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation. Over several decades he supplied the core data of the pre-1780 British voyages, and most of the pre-1715 French voyages, that now form SlaveVoyage's Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. He also brought in what is still by far the largest grant the project has ever won - the 2002 Arts and Humanities Research Council Award. May he rest in peace. We will miss you, David! Sincere sentiments to his family and friends.

Many people are aware that linguist
Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner made many field recordings of Gullah Geechee people as part of the research that culminated in "Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect" (1949). But fewer know that he also took many photographs while doing research in the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia between 1931 and 1933. It is an important collection and useful for helping visitors to understand what some traditional Sea Island Gullah Geechee people and communities actually looked like given the stereotypes and misconceptions that persist.

Photographs (clockwise): (1) "Gullah boy (Raymond) standing in front of house on St. Simon's Island"; (2) "Gullah woman standing in front of a fence"; (3) "Gullah Man Riding a Bull; (4) "Sam Polite Gullah informant repairing a fish net on St. Helena Island, S.C."; and (5) "Paris and Rosa Capers Gullah informants in front of their house on St. Helena Island, S.C."

Source: Lorenzo Dow Turner papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Lois Turner Williams. The Lorenzo Dow Turner papers were donated to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2003 by Professor Turner's widow, Lois Turner Williams. Additional materials were donated in the spring of 2010 by Mrs. Turner Williams.

2023 Samantha Payne (Harvard University), "The Last Atlantic Revolution: Reconstruction and the Struggle for Democracy in the Americas, 1861-1912" | Society of American Historians Payne’s dissertation is an extraordinary historical provocation. Embracing the challenges and reaping the rewards of transnational and comparative history, Payne has written a transformative study of the end of slavery in United States, Cuba, and Brazil, the last 3 slaveholding societies in the At...

Congratulations to our superstar colleague Sam Payne on winning this year's Allan Nevins Prize:

2023 Samantha Payne (Harvard University), "The Last Atlantic Revolution: Reconstruction and the Struggle for Democracy in the Americas, 1861-1912" | Society of American Historians Payne’s dissertation is an extraordinary historical provocation. Embracing the challenges and reaping the rewards of transnational and comparative history, Payne has written a transformative study of the end of slavery in United States, Cuba, and Brazil, the last 3 slaveholding societies in the At...

Sister City for Charleston?

The English city facing up to its troubled past Bristol, perhaps more than any other city in the UK, has proactively sought to reconcile its dark past and present rather than ignoring it.

Walter Edgar’s Journal: A photographic history of the Civil Rights era Acclaimed civil rights photographer Cecil Williams, founder of the Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum talks with us this this time, along with Jannie Harriot, the museum’s Executive Director. Cecil began photographing the events and people of the Civil Rights era in the early 1950s ...

Q&A: Joe McGill discusses his Slave Dwelling Project and new book about his experiences A new book, "Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery," is drawing attention to Joe McGill's Slave Dwelling Project. Now in its 10th year, the project

Anson's Landing to Gadsden’s Wharf: A Brief History Charleston’s new International African American Museum (IAAM) stands on ground formerly known as Gadsden’s Wharf, a man-made structure built along the Cooper River waterfront shortly before the American Revolution.

Let's hear it for Bernie Powers!!

Perseverance: A historian's perspective on the making of the IAAM To bring the International African American Museum to Charleston, it took an entire team.The museum opened to the public on Tuesday, and it has been over 20 yea

Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage - Cecil Williams & the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina Educators take note! In this professional development workshop, you'll hear from civil rights photographer Cecil Williams as he shares his experiences and the educational posters he developed on South Carolina's role in the movement. Learn some visual literacy strategies for talking about photograph...

Very favorable -- and in my opinion accurate -- review of the IAAM in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/arts/design/charleston-african-american-museum.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR3JSKk-XOmFRjTLpRd0G4gnUm8Z8U1_qUi9OOR919NoqTxEn_kZ1tqxmwY

In Charleston, a Museum Honors a Journey of Grief and Grace The International African American Museum, in a former slave port, is about more than slavery. It’s about survival and resilience.

Greatly looking forward to the opening of this museum. It's been a long time coming.
Would be great for the city and/or the museum to honor Herb Frazier's implicit wish here to record the recent history of African American displacement from the site. A number of photographers -- e.g., Nancy Santos, Jack Alterman -- have produced portfolios of work both of the West and the East Side, and I'm sure there must be a ton of less professional collections that a dedicated curator could look through. (The brilliant District Six Museum in Cape Town might be a model . . . )

Frazier: IAAM opening brings bittersweet memories - Charleston City Paper A 1960s March wind lifted our kites high above the rusty chain link fence that divided our neighborhood and an industrial area along the Cooper River. If the twine snapped, our kites fell where hundreds of enslaved lives were lost in the freezing winter of 1807 and 1808. We didn’t know the fencing...

One of the most important jobs in Lowcountry cultural management.

Penn Center appoints executive director – Beaufort South Carolina The Island News Robert L Adams Jr., Ph.D. Penn Center appoints executive director June 21, 2023 News From staff reports Following a one-year planning and executive search process, the Historic Penn Center, a multi-service 501c3 nonprofit organization in St. Helena Island, S.C., dedicated to promoting and preserving...

College of Charleston Faculty Pivotal in the New International African American Museum Above: Bernard Powers at the International African American Museum. (Photo by Mike Ledford) Having worked with Charleston's new International African American Museum (IAAM) since its inception, Bernard Powers, director of the College of Charleston's Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston and....

We are honored to kick off our Grand Opening celebrations this Thursday by giving thanks that we have made it to this moment.

Even though this multifaith service is sold out, you can still participate from the comfort of your own home by tuning in to our event live stream.

We have an extraordinary lineup of speakers including our very own President and CEO Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, Rev. DeMett Jenkins, and special guest preacher Rev. Dr. Howard John Wesley.

You will be able to live stream this multi-faith event by visiting: https://direct.me/iaamuseum

Full doc available here: https://youtu.be/4SlsREOauRQ

New documentary highlights Lowcountry sweetgrass basket makers, African roots CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A new documentary by Bloomberg Philanthropies highlights the history of sweetgrass basket weaving in the Lowcountry and the way it connects weavers to their African …

GREAT article on Lauren Davila's incredible discovery: "How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S." Well done, Lauren!
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-grad-student-discovered-largest-us-slave-auction

Charleston man sleeps where his enslaved ancestors did and shares the experience in new book An historic preservationist, who's slept in more than 200 slave dwelling across the country, teams up with a Charleston journalist for a new book, "Sleeping with the Ancestors".

publication imminent . . .

Book Review: Slave Dwelling Project founder Joseph McGill’s book “Sleeping with the Ancestors” strives to open readers’ eyes | Charleston Magazine McGill cowrote the book, which is being published June 6, with journalist Herb Frazier

Indigo is making a comeback in South Carolina—here’s where to find it Indigo was once so vital to the state people called it “blue gold.” As interest in the dye reignites, historic sites are shining a light on its past.

Surprisingly good piece here in Conde Nast Traveler: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/in-charleston-leaving-the-nostalgia-behind?fbclid=IwAR1d5mWkN2n9tJyG9pD0w1PR2P0aBudAAjnGOZRBIdXMEYL_N6ocNySfjs0
(omits the fact that CN Traveler's been one of the chief purveyors of the golden haze for the last couple of decades!)

In Charleston, Leaving Nostalgia Behind The Holy City's complicated history has sometimes been eclipsed by its myriad Southern charms. But now, Charleston is taking steps to confront—and honor—the difficult parts of its past.

Five local dishes to discover in South Carolina With the recent enthusiasm for Gullah-Geechee cuisine, plus homegrown chefs such as Rodney Scott putting regional barbecue on the map, South Carolina’s foodie scene is currently having a moment.

I am really excited to reflect on the making of "Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice" in a plenary session with Tiya Miles, composer John Wineglass, and my colleagues at the American Society for Environmental History conference today.

Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls - Charleston Gaillard Center Produced by the Charleston Gaillard Center World Premiere Friday, October 6, 2023 This fall, the Charleston Gaillard Center is proud to present its first ever original theatrical work based on the life of Charlestonian Robert Smalls. The “Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls” production...

One of the CLAW program's many former distinguished speakers leading the way . . .

Samuel Ringgold Ward The rediscovery of a pivotal figure in Black history and his importance and influence in the struggle against slavery and discrimination Born on the Easte...

Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) is a non-profit tax-exempt organization established in 2011 to honor the two million captive Africans who perished during the transatlantic crossing known as the Middle Passage and the ten million who survived to build the Americas.

Huge news that the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port markers Project has just won a Mellon Foundation grant to support their work: https://www.middlepassageproject.org/

JACKSONVILLE, FL, March 30 -- The Mellon Foundation has awarded a 3-year grant to the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) to support community-led research efforts, outreach, organizing, discussion, planning, and engagement with the Black Atlantic's silenced and ignored histories. MPCPMP, established in 2011, is a national non-profit organization. Its mission is to honor the two million captive Africans who perished during the trans-Atlantic crossing known as the Middle Passage and the ten million who survived to build the Americas. Both the ocean and the arrival locations are sacred spaces. By re-centering the history of place and people, MPCPMP informs and assists local communities in more than 70 arrival locations from New Hampshire to Texas in publicly acknowledging with markers and remembrance ceremonies their connection to the trans-Atlantic human trade as well as the arrival, presence, and contributions of Africans and their descendants.

Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) is a non-profit tax-exempt organization established in 2011 to honor the two million captive Africans who perished during the transatlantic crossing known as the Middle Passage and the ten million who survived to build the Americas.

Coming up at the Charleston Museum at the end of the month:

The Charleston Museum | News and Events » Crafting Freedom: The Story of John “Quash” Williams, Free Man of Color and Master Carpenter in Eighteenth-Century Charleston with Dr. Tiffany Momon of Sewanee: The University of the South and the Black. Join Dr. Tiffany Momon of Sewanee: The University of the South and Founder and Co-Director of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive for the next installment in the Charleston Museum’s 250th anniversary lecture series. This lecture takes the life of John “Quash” Williams, an enslaved and later...