Browse Items (193 total)

The original balcony pews at First African Baptist church were built for and by slaves when the building was constructed in 1859. The writing on the ends of each pew are written in an African dialect known as "Cursive Hebrew."

This project was funded by Bernard and Anne Spitzer Travel Fellowship for research projects involving travel abroad and incorporating the study of architecture, landscape architecture, or urbanism.

The ceiling at First African is in the design of a "Nine Patch Quilt," which indicated that the church was a safe haven for slaves (it was a symbol of the Underground Railroad). The church, constituted in 1777, came from the oldest Negro congregation…

This project was funded by Bernard and Anne Spitzer Travel Fellowship for research projects involving travel abroad and incorporating the study of architecture, landscape architecture, or urbanism.

The Congolese Cosmogram is an African prayer symbol, which also represents birth, life, death, and rebirth. The church was a haven for runaway slaves, and some say that the holes were actually "air holes" for slaves who would hide under the basement…

The Beach Insitute was built in 1867, by the Freedmen's Bureau as a school for newly freed slaves. It today serves as an African American cultural center, which was founded by Westley Wallace Law. W.W. Law's likeness can be seen on the banner…

This portion of the Riverwalk along Charleston's Cooper River was dedicated in memory to Philip Simmons. This location marks the beginning of the area in which the new International African American Museum is sited for construction.

The King-Tisdell Cottage was also founded by W.W. Law, as a museum for the cultural achievements of turn of the century middle-class blacks in Savannah. However, the exhibits go as far back as slavery. Imani, a guide at the Cottage, is wealth of…

After Sunday service on April 17, 2016, a mural of the "Mother Emanuel AME 9" was unveiled. The mural, by Scott Stanton "Panhandle Slim" is a gift from First Baptist to Mother Emanuel. Standing before the mural is Rev. Dr. Brenda Nelson, who was in…

Vaughnette Goode-Walker has devoted her life to the study of urban slavery in Savannah, and leads a truly amazing tour sharing stories of the the city's past. She insists on referring to the "remembrance" of slavery, rather than the…