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 the Wagener and Salley communities of Aiken County, South Carolina and features stories of individuals who were enslaved, served in the Civil War, achieved entrepreneurial success during the … Read more
Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison was born enslaved on November 20, 1849, in Barnwell County South Carolina. This presentation tells the contextualized story of her life, featuring local history of the antebellum period and Civil War in Barnwell County during Martha’s enslavement; a personal account of Martha’s life on the Phillips Plantation during the Reconstruction Era … 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
