After the first wave in the 1970’s which coincided with the Black Power and Black Arts Movements, Afrofuturism has experienced a second wave in the 21st century with the advent of new literature, hip hop music, television, comics, and film. The pinnacle of this second wave of Afrofuturism has been the meteoric rise of the 2018 … Read more
Born four years after the end of slavery, Matilda Arabella Evans, who grew up on a family farm in eastern Aiken County, South Carolina, was the first African American and first woman in licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina and an advocate for improved health care for African Americans, including children. Matilda’schildhood experiences, educational background, … Read more
In March 1997 journalist Herb Frazier traveled with Mary Moran of Harris Neck, Ga., and her family to a village in the Sierra Leone where they met Baindu Jabati. The two women sang their versions of an African funeral song. Listen to the story of how that song made its way from Sierra Leone to … Read more
Join author and journalist Herb Frazier for a conversation with historic preservationist Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. Since May 2010, McGill has traveled to twenty-five states to sleep in more than 200 former slave dwellings to bring attention to a need to preserve these structures as important historic evidence of African … Read more
Follow author and newspaper journalist Herb Frazier to three sites where captured West Africans were held before they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to America. This forced migration of millions of Africans gave rise to Gullah Geechee culture along the coastal regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida.
Herb Frazier, co-editor of “Ukweli: Searching for Healing Truth,” an anthology of essays and poems from forty-seven poets and writers, will discuss this collection of personal accounts and insights designed to educate White Americans about the systematic racial bias employed to stymie African American progress. “Ukweli” defines the struggles Black people have faced despite their … Read more
As great as Jackie Robinson was, he was not the first American Black Baseball Player. This presentation will show the ways baseball has reflected the role of African Americans in baseball especially beginning in the 19th century, followed by the Jim Crow and Civil Rights Era where Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby and so many other … Read more
Through the stories of enslaved ancestors and notable relatives, The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from The Past (1830-1960), chronicles the rich history of a prominent African American family from Salley, South Carolina features stories of individuals who were enslaved, a woman served as an enslaved cook during the Civil War, and agricultural life.
Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison was born enslaved on November 20, 1849, in Aiken County, South Carolina. This presentation tells the contextualized story of her life, featuring local history of the antebellum period and Civil War in South Carolina during Martha’s enslavement; a historical account of Martha’s life during the Reconstruction Era; the circumstances that involved … Read more
This presentation explores the reasons why South Carolina used African American labor during the war; the diverse roles of African American labor during the war; SC approval of Confederate pensions for African Americans; notable features of the pension application; and notable South Carolina African American Confederate Pensioners.
Lavinia was born enslaved on June 3rd, 1844, in Aiken County, and this presentation tells her personal story of slavery and survival during the Civil War. Lavinia would follow her master into battle in the Civil War, serving the Confederate army as a cook. Six decades later, she would be among about 100 black South … Read more
Did you know the author of Amazing Grace sold a shipload of slaves here? Charleston was the center of the English slave trade. Estimates are over 40% of the Nameless Enslaved sold in all thirteen colonies were sold here. This presentation tells the story of historic Charleston from the perspective of the African-American experience. During the chronologically … Read more
The social, economic, and political landscape of this country were forever changed by the Civil Rights movement. The men we have come to know and appreciated were not alone; women played a big part in this great change. In review of recent events, this historical presentation revisits the significant role Ella Baker and other women … Read more
This presentation addresses the need and efforts to preserve historical records, photos, and documents on the black experience. Also, included are the practice of proper storage and care of these archival materials.
Madam C.J. Walker was a businesswoman and activist in the age of Booker T. Washington. This is my story of a self-made millionaire and her impact on black life and culture.
This presentation addresses many of the unknown facts about African survivals in American culture.
What role did black people play in preserving the Union and ending slavery? With (or without) a period uniform, including a Springfield rifle, Donald West will present a brief history of African Americans and the Civil War which includes data, facts, figures, and key people (men and women).
Woodson promoted black history and culture through his scholarship and the professional organization he help to start, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Donald West’s presentation tells this story.
What role did black people play in the quest for liberty? This presentation and PowerPoints of period artwork, illustrations, and historical documentation addressing the little-known, yet significant impact African Americans made in US history during the period of 1763-1783.
Between 750-1890, Africans were forcefully removed from the continent to places throughout the Islamic world and the Americas. Donald West addresses this historical period with the support of a PowerPoint presentation.
This presentation begins with late 19th century Negro children’s literature to the evolution of the present-day Black children’s literature and features a colorful Power Point.
This program explores and celebrates the art of storytelling through the tales founded in the southern states of the U.S. with specific origins from South Carolina.
Donald Sweeper brings to life professor Richard T. Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard University and the first African American faculty to teach at the University of South Carolina during Reconstruction from 1873-1877. At the University of South Carolina, Greener reorganized and cataloged the library holdings which were in disarray after the … Read more
This is a 45-minute one-man show in which Donald Sweeper tells stories shared to him by his ancestors and the elderly people from the community in which he grew up. This performance also includes Gullah folklore and traditions, as well as rites of passages performed by many of the African American Churches from Reconstruction up … Read more
This performance, in which Donald Sweeper portrays Dr. Ernest E. Just Chautauqua-style, is about 35 minutes in length. As Dr. Ernest E. Just, he tells the story of how the doctor succeeded as a research biologist working at the Woods Hold Marine Biology Lab in Massachusetts from 1909 to 1930 while also heading the Zoology … Read more
This is a stage reenactment which is approximately 35 minutes long in which Donald Sweeper portrays Robert Smalls Chautauqua-style, as if the current year is 1895. Donald Sweeper dramatizes the commandeering of the Planter boat on the early morning of May 13, 1862 as Robert Smalls piloted through the Charleston Harbor undetected by the Confederates … Read more
The Roaring Twenties lives large in our imaginations: flappers, jazz, bathtub gin, gangsters — the 1920s were all that. But the 20s was also a time of tremendous prosperity for some and abject poverty for others, especially in the rural South. For the rising middle class, there were marvels to buy with the new installment … Read more
The Stono Rebellion on September 9, 1739, was the largest slave uprising in North America. Twenty-one whites and approximately 40 African slaves were killed in this bloody confrontation just twenty miles from Charleston. This presentation examines the social and political context of the South Carolina Lowcountry’s plantation system and the growth of slavery in the early Colonial … Read more
The story of the Underground Railroad is one of the most epic in American History. This presentation describes the heroic efforts of African Americans and whites to hide and guide runaway slaves in their desperate journeys to freedom in the north and in Canada. Highlights of the presentation include first person narratives of escaping runaway … Read more
Joseph McGill will chronicle nights spent in several slave dwellings throughout the United States.
