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The site for the museum is an undeveloped lot at Gadsden\u2019s Wharf in downtown Charleston, chosen for it\u2019s historical significance and its status as \u2018sacred ground\u2019.<\/p>\n
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Joe Riley, who served as mayor of Charleston for over four decades, has spent the past 18 years trying to secure enough funding for the museum.<\/p>\n
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Gadsden\u2019s Wharf in Charleston was where 100,000 African slaves – roughly half of all that entered the United States – took their first steps onto American soil.<\/p>\n
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Eric Nova, of Gullah\/Geechee descent, discusses his hopes for the International African American Museum and the impact of Gullah culture on Charleston.<\/p>\n
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The Old Slave Mart Museum, tucked away on Chalmer St. in Charleston, was constructed as an auction house in 1859. Slaves were sold out of the public eye to avoid the negative image that such human misery conveyed.<\/p>\n
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Gadsden\u2019s Wharf in downtown Charleston is considered “sacred ground” because so many Africans, shackled, ill-fed and racked with disease, died there once they completed their terrifying journey across the Middle Passage and exited slave ships in the new world.\u00a0 It is the place where almost half of all African slaves – more than\u00a0100,000 men, women, and children – entered the country.<\/p>\n
Now, after 18 years of planning and fundraising, officials will soon break ground at Gadsden\u2019s Wharf for the International African American History Museum, an institution designed to celebrate and educate visitors on African American heritage, from slavery to the present.<\/p>\n
The project was proposed in 2000 by former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who has spearheaded efforts to create the museum for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s national in scope and importance,\u201d said Riley, who was mayor of Charleston for 40 years.\u00a0 \u201cThat was what I realized when I began.\u00a0 This is not a museum for Charleston, this is a museum for our country.\u00a0 From the beginning, we stepped into the responsibility that we were creating something for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cultural importance of the planned museum is tremendous.\u00a0 There are many who believe the museum is vital to educate people about a darker part of American history that is often understudied or ignored.\u00a0 As Riley says, the few slave cabins that still exist on former South Carolina plantations like Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in West Ashley are not enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like in school they should at least talk about slavery more in depth,\u201d said Eric Nova, a Charleston resident who is of Gullah\/Geechee heritage. The Gullah\/Geechee managed to preserve their West African roots in the face of the extreme cultural oppression that was a part of slavery.<\/p>\n
The Gullah\/Geechee people descended from slaves that worked on island plantations along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.\u00a0 They developed their own Creole language, a mix of African languages and English that is still spoken by some descendants today.\u00a0 They also retained and passed down skills learned from their African ancestors, such as basket weaving.\u00a0 It is not uncommon to see Gullah basket weavers making sweetgrass baskets on the streets of downtown Charleston.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the more we progress as a society, the less we\u2019re going to start talking about it,\u201d Nova said on slavery.<\/p>\n
The museum is intended to explore the vast arc of African American history, including slavery.\u00a0 According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, while the majority of South Carolina teachers feel comfortable discussing slavery in their classrooms, 58 percent of teachers believe that their textbooks do not adequately cover the topic.\u00a0 Only 8 percent of high school seniors interviewed in the study could identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War.<\/p>\n
The covering-up of unflattering history is not a modern trend.\u00a0 During the 1800s when slaves were being unloaded at Gadsden\u2019s Wharf, some residents were concerned with tarnishing Charleston\u2019s image.\u00a0 As a result, slave auctions took place in small buildings across downtown Charleston rather than out in the public eye.<\/p>\n
Riley persuaded the city to purchase one of these former houses on Chalmer Street and turn it into the Old Slave Mart Museum.\u00a0 Although the site is historic and contains a large amount of information on slavery, it is small and sometimes overlooked.\u00a0 Supporters of the new museum hope that the IAAM will finally break the cycle or omission and give the issue the attention it deserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the purpose of this museum, because it\u2019s history we do not know,\u201d Riley said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that\u2019s a structural defect in the United States of America.\u00a0 There\u2019s never any reconciliation with the slaves that lived there\u2026 it\u2019s swept under the rug.\u201d<\/p>\n
The museum is expected to display a variety of exhibits on African American culture.\u00a0 The IIAM’s Center for Family History will offer DNA testing and genealogical databases to assist visitors in tracing their history and find out if\u00a0 where their ancestind.\u00a0 came from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see anything and everything in this museum,\u201d said Tevin Smalls of West Ashley.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not very in touch with my African American history.\u00a0 I\u2019m a little ignorant in that department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nova said that he would like to see some exhibits display Gullah\/Geechee culture.\u00a0 \u201cI feel like there needs to be some Geechee food in that museum, even if it\u2019s just red rice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Groundbreaking for the museum was supposed to take place earlier this year, but a major stumbling block has been funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main obstacle has been getting the funding,\u201d Riley said.\u00a0 \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a mounted effort to keep this from happening, but the challenge was raising money.\u00a0 And I knew this had to be substantial\u2026this is a national institution.\u00a0 It had to be achievable, even if it was daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 40,000 square-foot museum is projected to cost $75 million.\u00a0 Riley devised a funding formula that would split the funding evenly into thirds: $25 million from Charleston (half from the city and half from the county), $25 million from the state, and $25 million from private donors.<\/p>\n
Riley said that the museum it approaching its goal for private funding, bolstered by its most recent donation of $1 million from BMW, the German auto manufacturer.<\/p>\n
The most difficult part has been securing funding from the state.\u00a0 The museum has received $14 million in state funds so far, and had counted on receiving an additional $5 million in the state budget last year.\u00a0 That was not provided.\u00a0 There is a possibility of receiving $5 million from the state in the upcoming budget.\u00a0 That still leaves $6 million in state funds needed for future funding.<\/p>\n
Michael Moore, CEO of the museum, has said that the $5 million in the Senate\u2019s budget version will be enough to break ground this year.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A place where slave ships once docked in downtown Charleston is being transformed into the International African American Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":9912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
Gadsden\u2019s Wharf in Charleston was the place where over 100,000 African slaves took their first steps on to American soil.\u00a0 Soon, it will become the site of the International African American Museum, an ambitious project that is scheduled to break ground this year.<\/p>
The project was first proposed in 2000 by former Charleston mayor Joe Riley, who said he realized that Charleston\u2019s role in the slave trade meant that they had a duty to raise awareness about African American culture.\u00a0 Now, 18 years later, the project is close to getting off the ground.<\/p>
Riley emphasized that the museum goes far beyond Charleston, and that it serves to educate everyone about history that is relevant to all African Americans.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s national in scope and importance,\u201d Riley said.\u00a0 \u201cThat was what I realized when I began.\u00a0 This is not a museum for Charleston, this is a museum for our country.\u00a0 From the beginning, we stepped into the responsibility that we were creating something for our country.\u201d<\/p>
Construction was planned for earlier this year, but some issues have prevented the museum from breaking ground as scheduled.<\/p>
\u201cThe main obstacle has been getting the funding,\u201d Riley said.\u00a0 \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a mounted effort to keep this from happening, but the challenge was raising money.\u00a0 And I knew this had to be substantial.\u00a0 This is a national institution. \u00a0It had to be achievable, even if it was daunting.\u201d<\/p>
The 40,000 square-foot museum has a projected total cost of $75 million.\u00a0 Riley devised a formula that would split the funding evenly into thirds; $25 million from Charleston (half from the city and half from the county), $25 million from the state, and $25 million from private donors.<\/p>
Riley said that they are approaching their goal for private funding, bolstered by their most recent donation of $1 million from BMW.<\/p>
The biggest issue has been getting funding from the state.\u00a0 The museum has received $14 million in state funds so far, and there is an additional $5 million proposed for the museum in the upcoming budget.\u00a0 That still leaves the museum $6 million dollars short in state funds.<\/p>
Some supporters of the museum are calling on the state legislature to give full funding out of moral responsibility.\u00a0 The museum is projected to generate significant revenue once it opens given intense local interest and Charleston\u2019s large tourist economy, but the cultural importance of the museum is tremendous.\u00a0 For many who believe that the history of slavery is overlooked or ignored, the museum is vital to educating people on a darker part of our past.\u00a0 As Riley says, the few slave cabins that still exist at Magnolia Gardens are not enough.<\/p>
The effort to conceal the brutal details of slavery is not a modern trend.\u00a0 Even back when slaves were still being brought off ships, auctions were often conducted out of the public eye.\u00a0 Small auction houses existed all over downtown Charleston because people worried about the city\u2019s image being tarnished by public auctions.<\/p>
One of those former auction houses has been turned into the Old Slave Mart Museum on Chalmer St.\u00a0 Riley convinced the city to purchase the house from its previous tenants to preserve its history.\u00a0 The museum contains detailed information about the slave trade and plantation life, and houses some small exhibits, but some people feel that the small building and out-of-the-way location are not adequate to address the full scope of what happened in Charleston and all across the country.<\/p>
\u201cThat\u2019s the purpose of this museum, because it\u2019s history we do not know,\u201d Riley said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that\u2019s a structural defect in the United States of America.\u00a0 There\u2019s never any reconciliation with the slaves that lived there\u2026it\u2019s swept under the rug.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI feel like in school they should at least talk about it more in depth,\u201d said Charleston resident Eric Nova. \u00a0\u201cThey should teach everything about slavery in school, but they\u2019re not going to do that. I feel like the more we progress as a society, the less we\u2019re going to start talk about it.\u201d<\/p>
Nova is of Geechee\/Gullah descent, one of the only groups descended from West Africans who managed to preserved their traditions and culture for centuries despite being enslaved.\u00a0 Nova said he would like to see that culture displayed in the museum exhibits.<\/p>
\u201cI think they should at least have some Geechee food in there, even if it\u2019s just red rice,\u201d he said.<\/p>
While the Gullah people retained their roots, the vast majority of African slaves were not so lucky, which is why the museum will offer DNA testing on certain days so visitors can learn about where their African ancestors came from.<\/p>
\u201cI need to see anything and everything in this museum because I do not know much about my African-American history,\u201d said Tevin Smalls of West Ashley. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m pretty ignorant in that department.\u201d<\/p>
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