Bernard Powers, Director, reports on this significant research discovery:
The Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston fosters a deeper public understanding of slavery and its complex legacies. It supports academic research and teaching that examine the role of slavery in the history of the College and our region. Unfortunately, in Charleston and in many other cities, much of slavery’s past imprint today is shadowy, obscured or completely invisible to our contemporaries. In addition to studying the institution at large, at the Center, our plans include identifying many of the locations that previously comprised Charleston’s downtown slave trading district. These sites will be marked where possible with physical signage, and they will be cohesively catalogued for presentation including on digital platforms for virtual access. It will take considerable energy and time to accomplish this purpose; however, we are certain that meticulous and diligent research can locate the vestiges of this aspect of the once all-pervasive “peculiar institution” and its impact. Just recently our good efforts were advanced through the research of Lauren Davila, a graduate student in the College of Charleston’s master’s degree program and an intern at the Center. While investigating domestic slave trade advertisements in the local newspapers, she came across one that changed the historical record of this commerce in human beings as we understood it until now. The ad she found, announcing without fanfare the sale of six hundred human beings, is in the lower left-hand corner of the image below.
Ad fron Feb. 24, 1835
Lauren’s work came to the attention of Jennifer Berry Hawes, an award-winning journalist for ProPublica with a special knack for exploring the interstices of southern history; Jennifer expanded Lauren’s findings. To read about the remarkable work they have done see the ProPublica article, “How a Grad Student Discovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the US,” which has also been republished in the Post and Courier.
Lauren Davila near the site of the auction she discovered.
In Charleston recently, I had an unusually rewarding and even singular experience in my lengthy career as a historian. I met and conversed with Glenn “Doc” Rivers, head coach of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. For those who do not know, “ Doc” Rivers is a towering figure among NBA coaches. During his stellar career as a player, he was on the roster of the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, and the Orlando Magic. He began his coaching career in 1999, with the Magic and the next year, he was chosen Coach of the Year. Rivers subsequently led the Boston Celtics to an NBA Championship in 2008, he coached the Clippers and since fall 2020, he has been the head coach of the 76ers.
While “Doc” Rivers’ stellar career achievements in the NBA are worthy of extended conversation, this is only the background to the story that I must share with you. His well-established reputation as a social justice activist is equally if not more important than his athletic prowess. Over the years he has used his increasingly large platform to call attention to a variety of social ills and to urge solutions and redress. He was deeply troubled by the January 6thassault on the national capitol and the sources that motivated this unprecedented and shocking event. Not surprisingly, he is especially concerned about contemporary manifestations of racism that continue to plague our country. He is a member of the NBA’s Social Justice Coalition which is “an organization of players, coaches, team governors, and executives leading the NBA family’s advocacy work to dismantle racial inequality and advance social justice.” The organization has prioritized the need for new policies that protect voting rights and criminal justice reform, especially related to racial disparities in drug sentencing. In recent years “Doc” has personally spoken in favor of sensible gun regulation and he has urged police reform to address the all-too-common cases of unarmed black men killed at the hands of officers.
As a coach “Doc” Rivers is a teacher, so it is not surprising that he is also alarmed about recent efforts to prevent history and social studies teachers from teaching about the fundamental roles race and racism have had in the development of American history. He opined that “teaching American history is under assault right now. And it’s not Black history or teaching about slavery, it’s American history.” He considers it an educational dereliction, that he only learned about events like the Tulsa Riot of 1921 as an adult. Going further Rivers poignantly asked, “Imagine if we were not taught the history of Germany and (emphasis added) the Holocaust?” For him, they are part of the whole story and the same is true for any nation’s history. The laudatory and the shameful must both be taught because both shaped how a nation developed. Both also have legacies still felt today. His clarion call is to “know (and teach) your history” in its fullness.
Powers with “Doc” Rivers Alex Subers/Philadelphia 76ers.
It is this deep commitment to historical truth that brought “Doc” Rivers to Charleston recently and occasioned our meeting. He visited the city before in the early 1990s, while playing for the New York Knicks; the team held a training camp at the College of Charleston. Now, “Doc” decided that the 76ers could also benefit from a trip to Charleston so he scheduled a pre-season training camp at The Citadel for the last week in September. Normally the team would have practiced at a complex in New Jersey but now for a variety of reasons, including the earlier covid related restrictions, the coach thought something different was warranted. In addition to the intense practice sessions, traveling, dining, and lodging together would be important for promoting the kind of esprit de corps he wanted to strengthen. “Doc” Rivers also recognized that the players and particularly the younger ones would benefit from visiting Charleston, such an important city for understanding the general history of our country as well as African American history and culture. This was to be a total immersive experience, focused on basketball, camaraderie, and history.
I was contacted by Annmarie Loflin, Chief of Staff of Basketball Operations for the 76ers who informed me about the upcoming plans. I must say I was intrigued and challenged at the prospect of working with a different audience, which I learned not only included the athletes but also the support staff and executives of the organization. Annmarie had done important preliminary planning and we shared ideas about what would constitute an appropriate history-oriented educational component of the training camp. Time was at a premium because, athletics was the fundamental purpose of the visit; this meant we had to ensure that we got the most from every minute devoted to the educational experiences. Finally, we decided that I would provide some short talks and since the team was practicing at The Citadel, we would visit the Old Slave Mart, the International African American Museum, and the Avery Research Center.
On September 26th I briefly addressed the visitors at the 76ers’ team dinner. I tried to set the tone for the educational experiences to come by explaining the significance of the Lowcountry and Charleston for African American history. This included outlining Charleston’s unique role in the Atlantic slave trade, the significance of rice culture in the Lowcountry and the rise of a black majority in the colony and state. I also spoke about the distinctive African American culture which developed in the Lowcountry known as Gullah/Geechee. I tried to make this talk personal to the players by explaining three things. Firstly, black Carolinians cultivated a series of values such as mutual respect, cooperation, spirituality, and resilience that allowed them to survive the otherwise soul-killing inferno we know that slavery was. I urged them to be guided by writer William Faulkner’s famous observation that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Therefore, I told the audience, “We have much to learn about those who have preceded us, those who have made a way for us.” It was particularly important for young people “to imbibe the values of the people who have made the history that we learn about.” This allowed me to explain that as 76ers they have their own culture and to urge them to cultivate those values from their forebears that could promote their group success now. Secondly, I explained that since Charleston was the country’s most important port for the importation of Africans during the slave trade, it was likely that many of them could trace their ancestry back to this place. I shared that earlier that afternoon casual conversation with staffer Rudy Yuille revealed that his ancestry derived from the Greenville, SC. Lastly, I told them that Africans had a proud record of resistance and despite every effort slaveholding society made to justify enslavement, black people never accepted its legitimacy and fought back in myriad ways. As an illustration I offered the 1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest and most significant insurrection of enslaved Africans in the British mainland colonies. During the presentation it appeared that many in room were listening intently and I was relieved that the immediate feedback was positive. In fact, “Doc” Rivers said that “many players, and not only players, coaches, came up to me and said, ‘Wow, I never was taught that in my history class.”
Powers speaks to players and staffers at the team dinner. Alex Subers/Philadelphia 76ers.
Two days later we embarked on our Charleston history tour. As we left the Hotel Bennett we passed the Old Citadel, (today’s Embassy Suites Hotel), the original site of the South Carolina Military College and I explained that it was the eventual response to the foiled 1822 Denmark Vesey slave conspiracy. This was an opportunity to illustrate how much of Charleston’s African American history remains hidden while in plain sight. I also explained that the current Citadel had evolved from its white supremacist origins and that the 76ers training camp there was both the substance and symbol of that change.
Our destination was the Old Slave Mart Museum where the 76ers toured the exhibits and the players had a special lecture focused on slavery and the antebellum domestic slave trade. Many were deeply moved by the scenes and stories of inhumanity portrayed there. After learning that enslaved people made bricks, and that the makers’ fingerprints could sometimes be found on individual bricks, Matisse Thybulle was astounded. He observed “to be able to stand, and look at where somebody’s fingers were- . . . somebody who was being bought, and sold, and torn apart from their family-was a very moving experience.” For Tobias Harris the most “eye-opening thing” was the prices paid for enslaved people. “Wow, somebody was bought for $450. Its horrible. It was sad to hear, but those were what the times were.”
The next stop was at the Cooper River where the International African American Museum, scheduled to open in January 2023 is under construction. Located at Gadsden’s Wharf, one of the country’s most important sites of the Atlantic slave trade, the visitors viewed contemplative gardens, a memorial to the African Ancestors and the outline of a building once used as storage space on the old wharf. Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum C.E.O. took them inside for a quick look at a few of the partially installed galleries. The African background was featured in one place, South Carolina history was highlighted in another location and the Transatlantic Corridor immersed visitors in a dazzling pictorial experience of the African Atlantic diaspora. I explained that the museum uses the word “international” in its name because the history of black South Carolinians has many important international connections which shaped the state and the United States. So a crucial point is that African American history is not confined by the limits of the United States. Mattise Thybulle who is Haitian-American was elated that Haitian history is part of the museum’s international focus. He said the Haitian story “was really meaningful” because “they had a successful rebellion against” French imperialism and also overthrew slavery. It is “an amazing story that doesn’t get spoken about often.” I assured him that the museum aims to correct that.
Powers and Mattise Thybulle at the International African American Museum Alex Subers/Philadelphia 76ers.
The final stop for the day was at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center, which is a museum and archival collection specializing in South Carolina’s black history with emphasis on the Lowcountry. Avery was one of Charleston’s earliest schools for blacks following the Civil War. Its story reflects how newly emancipated black people used their freedoms to improve their lives and build institutions. Avery produced many members of the state’s black educational elite and many were also dedicated to promoting racial justice. The visitors met the staff including Director Tamara Butler and viewed artwork on display by local artists. The 76ers were also treated to a meal prepared by acclaimed Gullah Geechee Chef B.J. Dennis who provided an insider’s personal perspective on the culture.
My whirlwind experience with the 76ers was too short yet it was very meaningful. Many of these young men defied the “jock” stereotype; they brought enthusiasm and a genuine curiosity to their own history. Many were also surprised at the complexity and wide-ranging impact of that history. All that I spoke with appreciated the educational experience and were eager to know more. Furkan Korkmaz a 76er born in Turkey asked many questions because as he said, “I really wanted to learn. . . .Now, when people talk on TV, when my teammates talk, now I really know what we’re talking about. . . .and it helps people get to know each other too.” Joel Embiid a 76er born in Cameroon who recently became an American citizen said “it was good to learn about the history, slavery, and all that happened with my people-my African people-coming here, the people that gave their lives for us to be able to be in this position.”
After the final practice on Saturday, I was called to stand in the midst of the circle of players and coaches. I thanked “Doc” Rivers for his leadership, for the decision to come back to Charleston and for his deep commitment to building not just athletes but whole men who were positioned to become extraordinary change agents. It is easy to see why “Doc” Rivers is considered one of the “Fifteen Greatest Coaches in NBA History.” This final gathering was my opportunity to reinforce what I had earlier told the players about their connection to Charleston’s history. I reminded them that while captive Africans entered Charleston harbor, their spirits were never broken; they were resilient. They came from many different places but once here they, came together to create a new people, an African American people. This was the team’s task now to merge their talents and egos into something new that exemplifies 76ers culture. I told them that the motto of Avery, the school that they visited was “no turning back, going forward,” that they were already champions and the goal now was to win a championship. Let’s hope that the spirits of the history makers the 76ers learned about in Charleston will give them strength, determination and resilience and to guide them to victories on and off the court. Only time will tell but I am certainly rooting for them!
Powers with the players and Doc Rivers at the end of the training camp. Alex Subers/Philadelphia 76ers.
This year marks two centuries since the life and death of Denmark Vesey, a character whose role in Charleston’s history is even today still debated and often maligned. We want to take this opportunity to briefly set forth some of the most salient features of his life and to particularly contextualize his insurrectionary plans and their aftermath. There are many Vesey-related sites in Charleston today, including a marker which commemorates his life that was erected in Hampton Park in 2014. Beginning on Thursday, July 14, there will be a series of activities in the city intended to further illuminate Denmark Vesey and the implications of his life. This will be the most significant Denmark Vesey-related public event since 2014. Details of this Denmark Vesey Bicentenary are provided in this link. We hope you will take the time to participate.
Denmark Vesey was part of a radical trans-Atlantic antislavery tradition. In Africa and everywhere bondage existed, African people resisted enslavement. On plantations and in cities, slavery created a perpetual state of war, a battlefield where, as historian John Blassingame asserted, “slaves fought masters for physical and psychological survival.” This stark reality shaped Denmark Vesey.
Born enslaved in approximately 1767 on St. Thomas, Denmark was purchased there by slave trader Joseph Vesey and relocated to Charleston in 1783. Denmark remained enslaved until 1799 when he purchased his freedom with money from a winning lottery ticket. Now free, Denmark worked as a carpenter, had three enslaved wives and numerous children. His inability to free his family members was a source of continual frustration. This problem was aggravated by the routine racial discrimination free blacks experienced in Charleston and throughout the South.
Statue of Denmark Vesey holding a Bible and carpenter’s tools. Hampton Park, Charleston, SC.
Denmark Vesey found some comfort in spirituality. In 1817 he was a communicant at the white Second Presbyterian Church. However, after Charleston’s African Church formed in 1818 Vesey joined, becoming a class leader. Led by free black minister Morris Brown, this congregation consisted primarily of slaves who left Charleston’s white Methodist Church and affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) of Philadelphia. Being affiliated with this church was revolutionary, as a rejection of white authority, and because the A.M.E. Church was an abolitionist denomination! By this initiative taken by black Charlestonians, antislavery now extended into South Carolina, a state with an extraordinary commitment to slavery. Unsurprisingly, white citizens and officials used every means to harass the church’s members and leaders, further radicalizing Vesey.
In a bold plan, Denmark Vesey and a cadre of skilled, privileged slaves organized rural and city slaves to overpower the municipal guard, arm themselves, set fires and escape to Haiti. Haiti was revered as the only place where enslaved people overthrew their colonial masters and created an independent nation. Offering legal protection to blacks who reached its shores, Haiti changed the geography of freedom in the Atlantic World. No wonder, Vesey’s compatriots tried communicating with Haitian leaders. However, their plans were betrayed. Trials followed, Denmark and thirty-four others were executed, and thirty-seven men were transported from the country. Municipal authorities also destroyed the African Church.
Denmark Vesey’s impact survived his demise in part because white South Carolinians never recovered from his dreadful plans. That is why writer Edwin Holland urged vigilance, describing slaves as “Barbarians who would, if they could, become the destroyers of our race.” To counter the threat, Charleston’s police force expanded and the Citadel began in 1842 to provide white men with military training to protect a slaveholding society. The Negro Seaman Acts of 1822-23 now required jailing out-of-state free black sailors as dangerous antislavery influences. Even so, abolitionists were not easily thwarted and some antislavery messages relied on the memory of Denmark Vesey. Reverend Henry Highland Garnet’s famous 1843 “Address to the Slaves” was an attempt to communicate directly with enslaved people and to encourage insurrection. In the speech Garnet elevated Vesey alongside Toussaint L’Ouverture, Nat Turner and Joseph Cinque in the honored pantheon of freedom fighters. Then Garnet urged his audience to seize the moment: “Brethren, arise, arise! Strike for your lives and liberties. . .Rather die freemen than live to be slaves. . . .Let your motto be resistance! resistance! RESISTANCE!” Similarly, popular novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp developed the theme of slave resistance. Dred, one of the main characters, was a fugitive slave maroon whose personality and insurrectionary plans embodied the characteristics of both Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner.
The foregoing developments and others such as John Brown’s 1859 Raid and the election of Abraham Lincoln the next year, coupled with South Carolina’s black majority, propelled the state into secession and war. These radical steps were taken to protect white lives, to escape Denmark Vesey’s looming shadow; the effort failed and almost destroyed the nation in the process. Today’s persistent racial ills two centuries after Denmark Vesey’s life reveal how limited his options were, and how potent is the legacy of slavery. Vesey’s shadow persists, demanding we confront that legacy or risk the health and stature of the nation.
Bernard Powers, director of the College’s Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston, is History Professor Emeritus at the College of Charleston. He is the author of _Black Charlestonians: A Social History 1822-1885_ (1994), the co-author of _We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel_ (2016), which contextualizes the city’s 2015 racially motivated murders. Among numerous other works, his most recent essay is entitled “Denmark Vesey, South Carolina, and Haiti: Bourne, Bound and Battered by a Common Wind” in James Spady’s _Fugitive Movements: Commemorating the Denmark Vesey Affair and Black Radical Antislavery in the Atlantic World_ (2022). Dr. Powers served as the interim president of Charleston’s International African American Museum (IAAM). He will participate in a panel discussion on Vesey on July 14.
The Anson Street African Burial Ground (ASABG) Project Team will be hosting two days of events titled “Truth Rising: Honoring African Presence in Charleston.” These activities reflect the group’s work studying, protecting, and honoring Gullah Geechee burial grounds, including the unmarked graves found during construction on the Gaillard Center in 2013.
On Tuesday, May 3rd from 6:30pm to 8:30pm the group will be at the Cannon Street Arts Center at 134 Cannon Street, where attendees can learn more about the ongoing research into the thirty-six individuals found at the Gaillard Center site. Between 5pm and 6pm free DNA testing will also be available.
Wednesday, May 4th is the third anniversary of the Gaillard Center site reburial ceremony, and the ASABG will be hosting a celebration with libations, music, and speeches. The event will be at 2 George Street from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, and attendees will have another free DNA testing opportunity from 7pm to 8pm.
The full itinerary is below. Participants can learn more about these events and RSVP at ASABGProject.com.
CSSC Director Bernard Powers co-authored this op-ed with local historian and attorney Robert Rosen suggesting a response to the city’s Confederate Defenders monument. “We propose a major world-class monument at White Point Garden to the African American heroes of the Civil War and the era of emancipation. We have many illustrious men and women to choose from.”
Dr. Powers and another C of C History professor, Adam Domby, are interviewed in this week’s Post and Courier podcast on John C. Calhoun and the monument that was removed on June 24, 2020 from Marion Square. Go here for a link to the podcast. Charleston’s City Council has asked Dr. Powers and Robert Rosen to advise them on relocating the Calhoun statue, which is now being stored at an undisclosed location.
On Sunday, Feb 23, 4 PM, come to Wesley United Methodist Church on Johns Island for a program, “Awakening the Ancestors through Music.” Participants will learn about Lowcountry sprituals and funeral songs. Co-sponsored by International African American Museum, The Progressive Club of Johns Island, Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor Commission, Charleston County Public Library, and Wesley United Methodist Church.
On Monday, Feb 24, 6 PM, come to the College of Charleston Sciences Auditorium, room 129, to hear a talk by Margaret Seidler, “Telling the Story of a Charleston Family of Slave Traders and Those They Sold.” Co-sponsored by the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW) program at C of C and the Center for Family History at the International African American Museum.
This op-ed reflects on the significance of the May 9 event honoring those ancestors whose labor contributed so much to Charleston. Written by Julia Eichelberger, CSSC Executive Board member and director of the Program in Southern Studies.
In February, CSSC Director and Emeritus Professor of History, Dr. Bernard Powers, delivered a lecture entitled “Denmark Vesey, South Carolina and Haiti: Borne, Bound, and Battered by the Common Wind.” This was the keynote address for the first evening of the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World’s academic conference, “The Vesey Conspiracy at 200: Black Antislavery in the Atlantic World.”
The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW) program hosted a three-part film series exploring links between Gullah people and the country of Sierra Leone, Africa. Simon Lewis, CSSC Executive Board member and director of the CLAW program, organized the series and the discussions that followed, including one with author Edward Ball (Slaves in the Family) and Thomalinda Polite, whose film “Priscilla’s Legacy” documents her reconnecting with her ancestors in Sierra Leone. Priscilla is the name of a child Edward Ball encountered in his research for Slaves in the Family, and he managed to identify some of her living descendants, including Polite.
In 2018 when the College announced the formation of the Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston, this op-ed was published reflecting on the need for all Charlestonians to understand our shared past, which is profoundly shaped by slavery. The author, Julia Eichelberger, an English professor at the College, directs the program in Southern Studies and serves on CSSC’s Executive Board.
