Old Slave Mart Museum Opens

The Old Slave Mart Museum (www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/osm.htm) is open!Drawing upon the most contemporary scholarship, exemplary historical interpretation and rich collections which have been inaccessible for some time, the museum, located at 6 Chalmers Street, recounts the story of Charleston’s role as an urban slave-trading center during the domestic slave trade.

While many Americans are familiar with the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 15th and early 19th centuries, many are not aware that the United States constitution, ratified in 1780, contained a provision that led to a ban on the importation of African slaves after 1808, 53 years before the Civil War. It was this vacuum in the increasing demand for labor that the domestic slave trade, in part, filled.

This interstate trade was a hugely profitable economy organized by local and regional slave traders and dealers within the United States who, between 1789 and 1861, forcibly relocated approximately 1 million American-born slaves from the upper South to the lower South. During that same period, over two million African-American slaves were sold in local, interstate and state-ordered sales combined. The Old Slave Mart Museum focuses on the history of this particular building and site and the slave sales that occurred there.

The Old Slave Mart was once part of a complex of buildings known as Ryan’s Mart that occupied the land between Chalmers and Queen Streets. The complex consisted of a yard enclosed by a brick wall and contained three additional buildings: a four-story brick building partially containing a “barracoon” or slave jail, a kitchen, and a “dead house” or morgue. The Slave Mart building is the only structure remaining from this complex.

Slave auctions at the Old Slave Mart ended in November 1863, and the property changed hands many times after the Civil War, and between 1938 and 1987 the building, which by then had come to be known locally as “The Old Slave Mart”, housed a museum featuring African American and –later, African - arts and crafts.

The Old Slave Mart Museum’s permanent exhibition is divided into two main areas. In the orientation area, visitors will be provided with an introduction to the domestic slave trade within the greater historical context of slavery in the United States as well an overview of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. An architectural side-bar tells the story of the building, using visual and archival documentation of the site’s changing footprint and function over time.

The orientation area also explains the systems as well as the mechanics of domestic slave trade operations and the major social, political, and economic impact that trade had on American antebellum society. Exhibit elements explain how the trade became a force for modernizing South Carolina; how it strengthened Charleston’s financial, social, and political networks within the state; and how it extended the city’s influence throughout the upper South, the lower South, and the emerging West.

In the main exhibit area visitors will also get a closer look at the daily process of slave sales at Ryan’s Mart from the perspectives of a number of its historically documented buyers, traders, and enslaved African Americans. This section explains this antebellum slave market’s role within Charleston’s larger, but concentrated, slave-trading district.

The Old Slave Mart Museum’s permanent exhibit also speaks to the stories, the contributions and the legacies of those who shaped the outcome of the domestic slave trade. Various narratives are presented in different media (personal letters, oral histories, documents, audio, video and artifacts) to provide visitors a sense of the “real people” who passed through Ryan’s Mart, where they lived and how visitors can find their various legacies today. A final element in this section directs visitors to other sites in the Lowcountry where they can follow up on these stories and see the contributions of individuals whose stories are found at the Old Slave Mart Museum.

This permanent exhibition was curated by Nichole Green, Director of the Old Slave Mart Museum, designed and fabricated by Rowland Design, Inc. of Louisville, KY and MurphyCatton, Inc. of Walton, KY, respectively. The project team also included museum consultant, Deborah L. Mack, Ph.D. and text writer, Toni Wynn. Curator, Elaine Nichols; archivist, Harlan Greene; and historians, Bernard E. Powers, Jr., Edmund L. Drago, Ph.D., Steven Deyle, Ph.D. served as advisors.

In its upstairs gallery, the Old Slave Mart Museum features a portion of Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery, an enlightening exhibition that offers an inspiring look at the cultural, political, economic and social practices enslaved Africans developed while enduring the dehumanizing conditions of slavery. Lest We Forget is an exhibition created by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, in conjunction with the UNESCO Slave Route Project.

The exhibit features eighteen of the original thirty-one full-color panels that reflect the experience of slavery through topics including slave labor and slave systems in the Americas, the struggle against slavery and its abolition, and the triumph over slavery. Lest We Forget was curated by Howard Dodson, Director of the Schomburg Center.

Both exhibitions are highlighted with artifacts from the Old Slave Mart Museum’s Rebecca R. Hollingsworth collection as well pieces from the personal collections of local sweetgrass basket artist, Jeanette Gaillard-Lee and blacksmith, Phillip Simmons.

The Old Slave Mart Museum -www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/osm.htm - is open from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., Monday through Saturday. The museum will be closed on Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Sundays.

For More Information contact (843) 724-3746. NOTE: Registration is required for all programs and some special events. Please call (843) 795-4FUN or visit www.ccprc.com to register for programs and events.*

Daniel Island

has again been recognized as one of America’s 100 Best Master-Planned Communities by Where to Retire magazine.  On Daniel Island, more than 400 acres are dedicated to a network of parks and open greenspace, and 12 miles of trails (with more to come) link parks and neighborhoods with downtown Daniel Island shops restaurants and conveniences.  Additionally, Golfweek has named Daniel Island’s Ralston Creek “One of the Nation’s Best New Golf Courses” and dubs it a “Lowcountry version of St. Andrews.”  www.danielisland.com.

Wentworth Mansion

Make it five in a row for the Wentworth Mansion. The luxurious historic Charleston hotel scored its fifth diamond from AAA’s prestigious Diamond Rating System for the fifth consecutive year. The only hotel in downtown Charleston to earn the honor, the 21-room Wentworth Mansion is in the company of 99 other properties who received the ranking, just 0.27 percent of the 60,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Located in the heart of historic downtown Charleston, S.C., the Wentworth Mansion is a 21-room, AAA Five Diamond luxury hotel that offers guests a taste of Southern hospitality in an intimate setting. Elegant rooms and expansive suites feature gas-lit fireplaces with their original marble mantels, king-size sleigh beds with European linens, inlaid design floors, whirlpool tubs and double, glass-walled walk-in showers. Guests can relax at the Spa at the Wentworth Mansion enjoy a 360- degree view of the city from the hotel's rooftop cupola or dine on sophisticated Southern cuisine with a twist at Circa 1886, the AAA Four Diamond restaurant located on the hotel grounds. For more information, please visit www.wentworthmansion.com.

The Dining Room at Woodlands

For the twelfth consecutive year, AAA has bestowed upon The Dining Room at Woodlands the prestigious Five Diamond Award, the only South Carolina restaurant to receive that designation from the nation’s largest travel organization. In addition, Woodlands for the eleventh consecutive year received a Five Diamond rating for its luxurious accommodations.  Woodlands Resort & Inn is an immaculately restored 1906 classic revival mansion set amidst 42 acres of parkland grounds.  The resort is just minutes from Charleston in the charming village of Summerville. www.woodlandsinn.com

Naval Base Memorial

at Riverfront Park in North Charleston has been unveiled.  The site on the Cooper River is adjacent to the northern boundary of the former Navy Shipyard offers stunning views. To the south, in the foreground, one can see the piers of the old shipyard and Naval Station. In the distance is the beautiful Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge connecting Charleston to Mount Pleasant. Looking to the north is the expanse of North Charleston’s new Riverfront park with pathways leading to the future site of the recovered and restored Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley.  Within Memorial Park are the pavilion rises from the earth in a graceful shape reminiscent of the bow of a ship.  The Pavilion wall is segmented into 5 historical periods, i.e., Early Years, WWI, WWII, Korean/Vietnam/Cold War and Base Closure, each containing period photos. To learn more, please visit: www.northcharleston.org/memorialpark.aspx 

Museum Mile --

already exists as almost precisely a mile-long stretch that features stops at the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, the Charleston Museum, the Gibbes Museum of Art, the South Carolina Historical Society, the Old Slave Mart Museum, the Washington Light Infantry and more.   For updated information on this ongoing project, continue to check www.charlestoncvb.

Drayton Hall

recently acquired 43.8 acres of marshland that will be forever protected thanks to the Historic Ricefields Association (HRA).  The marsh parcels are located on the west bank of the Ashley River and down-river from Drayton Hall.  The Ashley River Region, named one of the “11 Most Endangered Places in America” by the National Trust, is made up of a diverse habitat.  For more information, please visit www.draytonhall.org.

USS Yorktown at patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum

The elite fighter jet Hornet is on the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.  One of the most impressive and feared fighter jets in military history is now on display on the flight deck.  Hornet becomes the second new museum aircraft to join the Patriots Point air wing in less than a year.  The single seat Hornet last served as part of the Flying Gators, squadron VMFA-142 stationed at Naval Air Station Atlanta, where aircraft and crew served in the Marine Corp Reserve Hornet squadron.  In 2005, the Flying Gators became the first fixed wing Marine Reserve unit activated to combat since the Korean War, flying missions in Iraq.  In addition to the priceless collection of vintage aircraft in Yortown’s hangar bay, Hornet joins an impressive roster of modern jet aircraft on the carrier flight deck including the F-14 Tomcat, S-3 Viking, A-7 Corsair and A-6 Intruder.  Learn more at www.patriotspoint.org.

Carolina FoodPros

Carolina FoodPros, led by local food expert, Amanda Dew Manning, and her culinary team will host special holiday culinary walking tours that are sure to please chocolate enthusiasts’ taste buds.  Indulge yourself in chocolate lover’s dream as you go behind the scenes to meet pastry chefs, bakers and Chocolatiers.  Discover why chocolate has played such a significant role throughout history.  Taste some of the world’s best chocolate and comfort your soul with a sampling of decadent chocolate desserts at some of Charleston’s finest restaurants, bakeries and specialty shops.  Register online at www.carolinafoodpros.com or call 1.800.979.3370.

Folly Beach Fishing Pier Has Reopened

Fishermen can once again cast their lines off the Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier. After almost six months of extensive renovations, the fishing pier reopens with a daylong celebration, which includes free fishing and parking!
The pier railings, windows, building exterior, gift shop facility, public restrooms, and Locklear’s Beach City Grill were renovated.

For more information please call the Park and Program Service Center of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission at (843) 795-4FUN.

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort --

recently received the following awards:

• Five Diamond Award – American Automobile Association
• Top Resort Hotels in America (No.1)– Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report
• Top Family Resort in America (No.1) – Travel + Leisure Family
• Top Continental US and Canada Hotels (No.5) – Travel + Leisure
• Among Top 10 North American Resorts – Conde Nast Traveler
• Gold List Award – Conde Nast Traveler
• No. 2 Ranking for Hotel Spa in Continental U.S. and Canada by Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards

                         www.kawahresort.com