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Cheval-de-frise was increasingly used after Denmark Vesey's 1822 planned slave uprising in order to prevent slaves from escaping their owner's land. This example is in front of one of the mansions on Meeting Street, which is arguably the most…

This is another example of the cheval-de-frise in the French Quarter.

This memorial sits along High Battery on the southern end of Charleston's peninsual. It was appropriated shortly after the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME by graffiti artists who used the memorial as a canvas for Black Lives Matter messages. The…

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…

These Creole Cottages in the French Quarter are fine examples of some of the vernacular architecture found here.

This monument to Denmark Vesey was unveiled in 2014, at which time it was the only monument to an African or African American in the greater Charleston area. However, the monument stands in Hampton Park, on the north side of the city, and not in…

Drayton Hall, located on the Ashley River, is a preserved platation home. They offer a program called "Connections: From Africa to America" before the main guided tour begins, the only direct part of the Drayton Hall tour that addresses slavery.

Exchange Place, or Exchange Alley, was the corridor that connected the American to the French sectors of town. It was created as a result of the 1829 law against keeping slave depots and jails in the French Quarter. Slaves would be led through the…

Exchange Place, or Exchange Alley, was the corridor that connected the American to the French sectors of town. It was created as a result of the 1829 law against keeping slave depots and jails in the French Quarter. Slaves would be led through the…

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…