Posts – Page 6 – Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston

Call for Papers: Architectures of Slavery – Ruins & Reconstructions

The Art & Architectural History Department and the new Center for the Study of Slavery at the College of Charleston announce a symposium dedicated to the historic and ongoing relationships between slavery and architecture: A SYMPOSIUM ON THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM AND LANDSCAPES, October 24-26, 2019, Charleston, South Carolina. We seek papers that critically explore places and times in which slavery was a legal institution, as well as papers that analyze the long-enduring memories and legacies of slavery in architecture, urbanism, and landscapes. Charleston is one of the most important sites of such history in the United States and offers an ideal setting for a confrontation with the ways that the systems and values of slavery are woven into the fabric of a place. The city was built upon the slave trade, launched the Civil War, seethed during Reconstruction, and endured decades of segregation and oppression, both in its historic center and in its modern suburbs. We acknowledge, however, the global nature of slavery and welcome relevant submissions pertaining to any corner of the planet.

Please email a 300-word abstract and a two-page CV, with the phrase Ruins and Reconstructions written in the subject line, to walkernr@cofc.edu and stiefelb@cofc.edu by April 1, 2019. Send any inquiries to the same addresses. For more information, view our Call for Papers.

New Center for Study of Slavery to examine troubled Charleston history and current impacts

Now, the College of Charleston has announced it will go even further in confronting its past and examining the impacts of history by establishing the Center for the Study of Slavery. Bernard Powers will serve as the center’s first director, a part-time position he expects to hold during the start-up phase.

slave auction marker

Credit: Post & Courier, Matthew Fortner

CofC opens the Center for the Study of Slavery

The College of Charleston Joins Universities Studying Slavery!

We are excited to announce that yet another South Carolina school has embarked on a process of confronting its own difficult past. The Universities Studying Slavery movement continues to grow. Please welcome the College of Charleston.

College of Charleston students and faculty are researching slavery and its legacies in departments and programs across campus, including History, English, African American Studies, Art and Architectural History, Historic Preservation and Community Planning, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Teacher Education, Southern Studies, Religious Studies, Music, Political Science, Archaeology, Anthropology, Sociology, Jewish Studies, the Charleston Jazz Initiative, the First-Year Experience, and the Sustainability Literacy Institute. Dozens of historic buildings on the school’s campus, containing a wealth of historical material, are inspiring students and faculty to research the individuals who constructed them, including enslaved laborers. Avery Research Center, a highly significant archive and community leader housed in another historic structure, works to “collect, preserve, and promote the unique history and culture of the African diaspora, with emphasis on Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry.” The College’s Addlestone Library houses the school’s Special Collections and the South Carolina Historical Society, both containing extensive archival material documenting the history of slavery in the region. Addlestone’s Lowcountry Digital Library is continuously digitizing more archival materials and creating ambitious open-access online exhibits, such as African Passages, Lowcountry Adaptations.

For two decades the Program in the Carolina Lowcoutry and Atlantic World (CLAW) has promoted scholarship and public events related to the history of slavery. Recent international conferences include Transforming Public History: From Charleston to the Atlantic World (2017) and Freedoms Gained and Lost: Reinterpreting Reconstruction in the Atlantic World (2018).

The College of Charleston says that its membership in Universities Studying Slavery will spur the school to be more intentional in disseminating research and in collaborations within and beyond the institution. More College of Charleston initiatives will be announced in the coming months. The school looks forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with USS as they continue to develop an in-depth and honest account of its own past.

We look forward to the College of Charleston collaborating with nearly forty other schools in the coming months.