slavery

On this special summer series episode of the South Carolina Lede for July 09, 2024: a look at a new limited podcast series called “40 Acres and a Lie,” a three-part series from Reveal and the Center for Public Integrity, that tells the history of an often-misunderstood government program that gave more than 1,200 formerly enslaved people land titles, only to take the land back, fueling a wealth gap that remains today.

Margaret Seidler thought she knew her family’s history. Then, a genealogical search on-line led her to connect with a cousin who, unlike Margaret, was Black. Determined to find as much as she could about her lineage, Margaret soon came face to face with more than just an expanded family tree. And what she found led her to devote years to historical research and many difficult conversations about the centrality of the institution of slavery in Charleston, and the part some of her ancestors played in helping it flourish. This week we talk with Margaret Seidler about how this journey into history challenged her and about her new book, Payne-ful Business: Charleston’s Journey to Truth (2024, Evening Post Books).In the book, Seidler has written about the realities of Charleston’s racial history while highlighting the historians, journalists, and community members who work to reconcile those truths. And the enslaved individuals whom she found advertised for sale in ante bellum newspapers are brought to vivid life by artist John W. Jones. He truly uncovers the humanity hidden beneath those detached advertisements.

This week we're talking with Joseph McGill and Herb Frazier, authors of Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery (2023, Hachette).Since founding the Slave Dwelling Project in 2010, Joseph McGill has been spending the night in slave dwellings throughout the South, but also the in North and in the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist. Events and gatherings arranged around these overnight stays have provided a unique way to understand the complex history of slavery. McGill and Frazier talk with us about how the project got started and about the sometimes obscured or ignored aspects of the history in the United States.

“M” is for McCord, Louisa Susanna Cheves (1810-1879). Essayist, poet. McCord’s essays were well received and praised by her male contemporaries and were reflective of the dominant opinions of South Carolina’s elite in the decades prior to the Civil War.

“M” is for McCord, Louisa Susanna Cheves (1810-1879). Essayist, poet. McCord’s essays were well received and praised by her male contemporaries and were reflective of the dominant opinions of South Carolina’s elite in the decades prior to the Civil War.

Saint Helena Island's decades old zoning law banning golf carts, gated communities and resorts is still being challenged. The law is meant to protect the island's Gullah Geechee people.

An historic preservationist, who's slept in more than 200 slave dwelling across the country, teams up with a Charleston journalist for a new book, "Sleeping with the Ancestors".

A project in Charleston, South Carolina, is using DNA to trace the African roots of three dozen people buried in the late 1700s. The remains were uncovered in the coastal city during construction in 2013. Since then, scientists have learned more about these people and their lives by pulling genetic material from their remains. The research showed most had ties to West Africa and most were likely born into slavery in Colonial America. It's one of a growing number of projects using ancient DNA research. In Charleston, the work has also inspired plans to build a memorial on the burial site.

Until recently, the story of the Charleston Work House received little recognition in the city's collective memory. That changed a little when Mayor John Tecklenburg unveiled a plaque detailing its past. The Charleston Work House, was located next to The Old Charleston Jail on Magazine street. It was a place where slave owners could pay the city to punish enslaved people. The plaque erected July 13 includes research reviewed by the Charleston Commission on History.

A Connecticut woman who says she's descended from slaves shown in widely-published, historical photos owned by Harvard can sue the Ivy League university for emotional distress. Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday partly vacated a lower court ruling that dismissed a complaint from Tamara Lanier over photos she says depict her enslaved ancestors. The court concluded the Norwich resident can plausibly make a case for suffering "emotional distress" from Harvard and remanded that part of the claim to the lower court. But the high court upheld the lower court's ruling that the photos are the property of the photographer and not the subject.