Sullivan's Island
Sullivan’s Island, "the Ellis Island for African-Americans"
Sullivan's Island is a barrier island north of Charleston Harbor in Charleston, South Carolina and this town, with a small population of about 1700, boast of beautiful beaches, the Charleston Island Lighthouse, Fort Moultrie, golf courses and other tourists attractions. However, Sullivan's Island since the 1700's has an almost unknown and dubious history attached to it concerning how did enslaved Afrcians enter into America during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Sullivan's Island was a main of point of entry into 13 colonies via Charleston, South Carolina's harbor for about an estimated 40 percent of the enslaved Africans brought and sold in America throughout during the 1600's, 1700's and 1800's. Fort Moultrie was built as a first line of defense to protect the coastal city of Charleston from the British in the Battle of Sullivan's Island fought on 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. The Island also built quanrantine stations for sick and infirmed soldiers. This page is dedicqated to the millions of enslaved African people who has to endure the horrible conditions on the island and the treatment upon arriving like
Historians believe that 12 to 20 million Africans were brought to the 13 colonies, mainly those coastal cities with ports and of those, 4 to 10 percent were brought to other cities mainly throughout the America South but in Northern cities too. Sullivan's island was considered one of the main ports of entry into 13 colonies where African people were led off slave ships, dispersed and sold into slavery within the mainland until 1807 when Congress abolished the importation of African slaves anywhere within the United States. South Carolina was known to have the most slave auction markets in the United States and by the 18th century slavery was practiced in every colony in the United States until the 1860's. South Carolina reportedly had about 10% of the total slave population in the United States.
Unfortuately, African-Americans did not have the freewill and the "unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" to travel and embark into the official U.S. port of entry, Ellis island, in New York's harbor on their own like other groups of immigrants from Europe and other parts of the world; consequentially US port cities like Porthmouth, New Hampshire, Baltimore, Maryland, New Orleans, Louisiana and Charleston, South Carolina were the main entry ways into America for African-Americans that most Americans from all ways of life do not know about . This is way Sullivan's Island is know as the "Ellis Island for African-Americans."
http://www.africanamericancharleston.com/lowcountry.html
Fort Moultrie
The first fort on Sullivan's Island was still incomplete when British Commodore Sir Peter Parker and nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charleston was saved from British occupation, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, Colonel. William Moultrie. In 1780 the British finally captured Charleston, abandoning it only on the advent of peace.
After the Revolutionary War, Fort Moultrie was neglected, and by 1791 little of it remained. Then, in 1793, war broke out between England and France. The next year Congress, seeking to safeguard American shores, authorized the first system of nationwide coastal fortifications. A second Fort Moultrie, one of 20 new forts along the Atlantic coast, was completed in 1798. It too suffered from neglect and was finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. By 1807 many of the other First System fortifications were in need of extensive repair. Congress responded by authorizing funds for a Second System, which included a third Fort Moultrie. By 1809 a new brick fort stood on Sullivan's Island.
After the Revolutionary War, Fort Moultrie was neglected, and by 1791 little of it remained. Then, in 1793, war broke out between England and France. The next year Congress, seeking to safeguard American shores, authorized the first system of nationwide coastal fortifications. A second Fort Moultrie, one of 20 new forts along the Atlantic coast, was completed in 1798. It too suffered from neglect and was finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. By 1807 many of the other First System fortifications were in need of extensive repair. Congress responded by authorizing funds for a Second System, which included a third Fort Moultrie. By 1809 a new brick fort stood on Sullivan's Island.
A history of the infamous Pest or Pestilence houses
A pest house or pestilence house, plague house or fever shed as they were known as, was a place where very sick people (slaves or soldiers) who were afflicted with communicable diseases were housed or quarantine for a period for about 1o days or more and kept away from the general population. These diseases were usually tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox or typhus fever. These are a few examples of the kind of Pest houses found on Sullivan's island and in other parts of the country. Sullivan’s Island Pest Houses Historians estimate that "around 260,000 African slaves on 882 ships came through Charleston Harbor. Most of these slaves experienced a quarantine period at Sullivan’s Island at the northern approach of Charleston Harbor. The island was used as a quarantine station to hold slaves on ships or in ‘pest houses’ until it was determined the men and women were fit for slave auctions in Charleston. In the 1790s, residents of Sullivan’s Island demanded the pest houses be removed. James Island on the southern side of Charleston Harbor became the new home for quarantine pest houses."
http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2014/06/09/sullivans-island-sc-is-perhaps-the-most-significant-historical-site-in-the-usa-you-never-heard-of/
Pestilence Houses: Immigration in Charleston
Disease had plagued the population of all major port cities on the coast of the American colonies due to the sudden introduction of many foreign people and their foreign diseases into the New World. Diseases from Europe and Africa were introduced by maritime travel. Without immunity to diseases like malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, and cholera, an infection could become an epidemic, quickly spreading through the colonial population. To limit the spread of such communicable diseases, arriving vessels, passengers, and cargo were inspected before they entered the city. Pestilence houses or "lazaretto" – named for Saint Lazarus the patron saint of lepers – were established to hold the infected passengers for ten to forty days to avoid contamination of the public.
Charles Towne's erected one of the earliest colonial pestilence houses on Sullivan's Island in 1707. Made of brick without a ceiling, insulation, or windows, the building measured 30x16 feet and offered little comfort or medical care for the sick. A total of four pestilence houses stood on Sullivan's Island during the eighteenth century. None survive today and their original locations are undetermined but it is known that they occupied lots between Fort Moultrie and the west end of the island. In 1793, Sullivan's Island residents called for the removal of the pestilence house. The last pestilence house located on the island was closed and sold in 1796. The pestilence houses were relocated to James Island and later, in the 1830's, to Morris Island.
Although the exact locations of the pestilence houses on Sullivan's Island are unknown, but their importance to Fort Moultrie's history connects them forever. However, one remaining lazaretto still exists outside of Philadelphia. This gives visitors a chance to contemplate the experience of immigrants once they arrived in America.
https://www.nps.gov/fosu/learn/historyculture/pestilence.htm
http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2014/06/09/sullivans-island-sc-is-perhaps-the-most-significant-historical-site-in-the-usa-you-never-heard-of/
Pestilence Houses: Immigration in Charleston
Disease had plagued the population of all major port cities on the coast of the American colonies due to the sudden introduction of many foreign people and their foreign diseases into the New World. Diseases from Europe and Africa were introduced by maritime travel. Without immunity to diseases like malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, and cholera, an infection could become an epidemic, quickly spreading through the colonial population. To limit the spread of such communicable diseases, arriving vessels, passengers, and cargo were inspected before they entered the city. Pestilence houses or "lazaretto" – named for Saint Lazarus the patron saint of lepers – were established to hold the infected passengers for ten to forty days to avoid contamination of the public.
Charles Towne's erected one of the earliest colonial pestilence houses on Sullivan's Island in 1707. Made of brick without a ceiling, insulation, or windows, the building measured 30x16 feet and offered little comfort or medical care for the sick. A total of four pestilence houses stood on Sullivan's Island during the eighteenth century. None survive today and their original locations are undetermined but it is known that they occupied lots between Fort Moultrie and the west end of the island. In 1793, Sullivan's Island residents called for the removal of the pestilence house. The last pestilence house located on the island was closed and sold in 1796. The pestilence houses were relocated to James Island and later, in the 1830's, to Morris Island.
Although the exact locations of the pestilence houses on Sullivan's Island are unknown, but their importance to Fort Moultrie's history connects them forever. However, one remaining lazaretto still exists outside of Philadelphia. This gives visitors a chance to contemplate the experience of immigrants once they arrived in America.
https://www.nps.gov/fosu/learn/historyculture/pestilence.htm
In 1707 an act was passed ordering Pest Houses or pestilence houses be built on Sullivan's Island and to be used as a quarantine station for African slaves and soldiers. The pest houses remained on the island until 1790 African slaves were forcefully made to stay on the island for a period of about at least 10 to 40 days. To learn more visit:
http://www.moultrienews.com/archives/fighting-illness-at-sullivan-s-island-pest-house/article_2398f643-9b97-5c48-bfc3-bc42cecb9b7d.html
http://www.moultrienews.com/archives/fighting-illness-at-sullivan-s-island-pest-house/article_2398f643-9b97-5c48-bfc3-bc42cecb9b7d.html
The Bench by the Road Project
A Bench by the Road
"The Bench by the Road Project is a memorial history and community outreach initiative of the Toni Morrison Society. The Project was launched on February 18, 2006, on the occasion of Toni Morrison's 75th Birthday. The name "Bench by the Road" is taken from Morrison's remarks in a 1989 interview with World Magazine where she spoke of the absences of historical markers that help remember the lives of Africans who were enslaved and of how her fifth novel, Beloved, served this symbolic role:
"There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves . . . There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. There's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit in Charleston or Savannah or New York or Providence or better still on the banks of the Mississippi. And because such a place doesn't exist . . . the book had to" (The World, 1989).
Because the Toni Morrison Society wanted to be a place where scholars and readers could, through their engagement with Morrison's novels, remember not only slavery but also many of the forgotten moments in African American history, the Society also chose when it was founded in 1993 "a bench by the road," as its organization motto. The newly launched Bench by the Road Project extends the Society's mission. While there have been several notable African American museums built in American cities since 1989, the goal of the Bench By the Road Project is to create an outdoor museum that will mark important locations in African American history both in the United States and abroad.
Among the places being considered are those that have special significance in Morrison's novels--5th Avenue in New York City where the Silent Parade, protesting the East St. Louis Riots, was held in 1917; the site of Emmett Till's death in Mississippi; train stations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, where thousands began their journeys in the Great Migration; an all-Black town in Oklahoma; Sullivan's Island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina; University Hall in Providence, Rhode Island; the home of Fannie Lou Hamer in Mississippi and other unmarked sites that have historical meaning for African Americans.
Over the next five years, the Society plans to mark twenty of these sites by placing a specially crafted bench, each with an inscription detailing its significance. Corporations, community organizations, families, and individuals will be invited join the Society in this effort by sponsoring a bench at appropriate sites. Our hope is that the Bench by the Road Project will serve not only to acknowledge Toni Morrison's attention to these historic sites and their meanings in her novels but also to mark their locations, inspire dialogue, and engage them as part of our public memory."
http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/bench.html
Bench Description:The Bench is a black steel memorial bench that measures 26 inches deep and either 72 (6ft) or 48 (4ft) inches long. The seat is made from ribbed steel, and the arms are 12 gauge 1-1/2" galvanized steel tubing. The bench can be mounted or moveable. The bench has a plastisol coated seat and powder coated frame in order to provide an excellent weather resistant finished. The bench has a bronze 6x9 inch naming plate mounted in the center of the back of the Bench. The plate will have the name of the site, the name of the sponsoring organization, and the date of the placement on the front of the plate. The Bench also comes with a bronze description plaque of approximately 12X18 inches. This plaque will be mounted in a cement foundation on the ground next to the bench and will include a general description of the Project and a more specific statement of not more than 35 words describing the Bench's significance.
Costs4ft Steel Bench in black includes the bronze naming and descriptions plaques, shipping, and delivery. The sponsoring organization should specify mounted or un-mounted design. Mounting of the bench and the placement of both description plaques is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization. 4ft Bench seats two. Total cost is $3500.
6ft Steel Bench in black includes the bronze naming and description plaques, shipping, and delivery. The sponsoring organization can specify mounted or un-mounted design. Mounting of the bench and the placement of the naming and description plaques is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization. 6ft bench seats four. Total cost $5,000.
Current Bench Placements
"The Bench by the Road Project is a memorial history and community outreach initiative of the Toni Morrison Society. The Project was launched on February 18, 2006, on the occasion of Toni Morrison's 75th Birthday. The name "Bench by the Road" is taken from Morrison's remarks in a 1989 interview with World Magazine where she spoke of the absences of historical markers that help remember the lives of Africans who were enslaved and of how her fifth novel, Beloved, served this symbolic role:
"There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves . . . There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. There's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit in Charleston or Savannah or New York or Providence or better still on the banks of the Mississippi. And because such a place doesn't exist . . . the book had to" (The World, 1989).
Because the Toni Morrison Society wanted to be a place where scholars and readers could, through their engagement with Morrison's novels, remember not only slavery but also many of the forgotten moments in African American history, the Society also chose when it was founded in 1993 "a bench by the road," as its organization motto. The newly launched Bench by the Road Project extends the Society's mission. While there have been several notable African American museums built in American cities since 1989, the goal of the Bench By the Road Project is to create an outdoor museum that will mark important locations in African American history both in the United States and abroad.
Among the places being considered are those that have special significance in Morrison's novels--5th Avenue in New York City where the Silent Parade, protesting the East St. Louis Riots, was held in 1917; the site of Emmett Till's death in Mississippi; train stations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, where thousands began their journeys in the Great Migration; an all-Black town in Oklahoma; Sullivan's Island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina; University Hall in Providence, Rhode Island; the home of Fannie Lou Hamer in Mississippi and other unmarked sites that have historical meaning for African Americans.
Over the next five years, the Society plans to mark twenty of these sites by placing a specially crafted bench, each with an inscription detailing its significance. Corporations, community organizations, families, and individuals will be invited join the Society in this effort by sponsoring a bench at appropriate sites. Our hope is that the Bench by the Road Project will serve not only to acknowledge Toni Morrison's attention to these historic sites and their meanings in her novels but also to mark their locations, inspire dialogue, and engage them as part of our public memory."
http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/bench.html
Bench Description:The Bench is a black steel memorial bench that measures 26 inches deep and either 72 (6ft) or 48 (4ft) inches long. The seat is made from ribbed steel, and the arms are 12 gauge 1-1/2" galvanized steel tubing. The bench can be mounted or moveable. The bench has a plastisol coated seat and powder coated frame in order to provide an excellent weather resistant finished. The bench has a bronze 6x9 inch naming plate mounted in the center of the back of the Bench. The plate will have the name of the site, the name of the sponsoring organization, and the date of the placement on the front of the plate. The Bench also comes with a bronze description plaque of approximately 12X18 inches. This plaque will be mounted in a cement foundation on the ground next to the bench and will include a general description of the Project and a more specific statement of not more than 35 words describing the Bench's significance.
Costs4ft Steel Bench in black includes the bronze naming and descriptions plaques, shipping, and delivery. The sponsoring organization should specify mounted or un-mounted design. Mounting of the bench and the placement of both description plaques is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization. 4ft Bench seats two. Total cost is $3500.
6ft Steel Bench in black includes the bronze naming and description plaques, shipping, and delivery. The sponsoring organization can specify mounted or un-mounted design. Mounting of the bench and the placement of the naming and description plaques is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization. 6ft bench seats four. Total cost $5,000.
Current Bench Placements
- Sullivan's Island, South Carolina - July 26, 2008
- Oberlin, Ohio - April 23, 2009
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi - October 3, 2009
- Paris, France - November 6, 2010
- Concord, Massachusetts - May 21, 2011
- George Washington University - September 23, 2011
- First Congregational Church, UCC, Atlanta, Georgia - May 27, 2012
- Lincoln, Massachusetts - September 2012
- Mitchelville, South Carolina - October 2012
- Fort-de-France, Martinique - June 2013
- Eden Cemetery, Collingdale, Pennsylvania - April 2014
At Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, S.C.: Toni Morrison, far left, led the procession during a ceremony dedicating her “Bench by the road,” honoring the memory of slaves who arrived on the island. The island was used as a port and quarantine station where African slaves were kept before being doled out and sold in Charleston and other parts of the south.