Georgetown,SC Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project

07/02/2026

Remembering the Hamburg Massacre – July 8, 1876

The Hamburg Massacre did not begin on July 8. It began with a confrontation on July 4, 1876, when members of the all-Black Hamburg militia were participating in an Independence Day parade. Two white men demanded that the militia leave the public road so they could pass. Although the disagreement was minor and was being addressed through the courts, it was used as a pretext for violence.

Over the next several days, hundreds of armed white men—including members of the Red Shirts, a white supremacist paramilitary organization that openly supported the Democratic Party during Reconstruction—gathered in Hamburg. Their goal was to intimidate African American citizens, suppress Black voting, and restore white political control in South Carolina through violence and fear.

On July 8, 1876, the Red Shirts and their allies attacked the town. After the fighting ended, several Black militia members were captured. Six African American men were murdered, some after they had surrendered:

• Doc Adams
• Thomas Butler
• Lewis Elerson
• Moses Parks
• Allen Attaway
• David Phillips

The Hamburg Massacre became one of the most notorious acts of racial terror during Reconstruction. It marked the beginning of a wave of political violence across South Carolina that helped undermine Reconstruction and paved the way for decades of disfranchisement and Jim Crow segregation.

As we remember these men, we honor their courage and reaffirm our commitment to preserving the truth of our shared history. Their lives remind us that the struggle for freedom, justice, and equal citizenship has always come at a great cost.

https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/neatline/show/after-slavery-hamburg-massacre

https://www.charlestonmuseum.org/news-events/waving-the-bloody-shirt-reconstruction-era-violence-and-political-identity/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/22/us-white-supremacy-democracy-capitol-attack

06/23/2026

06/21/2026

The Flying Igbo, the Gullah Geechee, and the Stories That Carried Our Ancestors

Today is a good day to remember one of the most powerful stories of resistance connected to the Middle Passage.

In 1803, approximately 75 Africans, many believed to be Igbo people from present-day Nigeria, were brought across the Atlantic and sold into enslavement in Georgia. After being transferred to the schooner York for transport to St. Simons Island, they resisted. According to historical accounts and oral traditions, they overpowered their captors, brought the vessel ashore at Dunbar Creek, and chose death over a life in bo***ge.

This event, remembered as Igbo Landing, became one of the most enduring acts of resistance in the history of enslavement in North America. Among Gullah Geechee people and throughout the African Diaspora, the story evolved into a powerful legend: the captives did not die—they spread their wings and flew home to Africa.

More than 180 years later, in 1985, author Virginia Hamilton introduced many readers to these traditions through her award-winning book The People Could Fly. The title comes from one of the Gullah Geechee people’s most beloved Flying Africans stories, tales in which enslaved people reclaimed their freedom by taking flight.

The Flying Africans offered hope to people enduring unimaginable suffering. They reminded the enslaved that their spirits could never be owned and that freedom remained possible even in the darkest of times.

As we prepare for the Georgetown, South Carolina, Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project, we honor the memory of all those who crossed the Atlantic against their will, those who resisted, those who survived, and those whose stories continue to inspire us today.

We remember.

https://www.nps.gov/fofr/learn/historyculture/igbo-landing.htm

https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/05/20/remebering-igbo-landing-the-story-of-rebellion-on-georgias-shores

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/74385/the-people-could-fly-by-virginia-hamilton-illustrated-by-leo-and-diane-dillon/

06/21/2026

For millions of African-American families, the earliest traceable ancestors arrived not by choice but through the brutality of the transatlantic slave

06/21/2026

THE WANDERER: One of the Last Slave Ships to Reach America

In November 1858, the Wanderer arrived at Jekyll Island, Georgia, carrying more than 400 African captives who had survived the horrors of the Middle Passage. Their arrival occurred more than 50 years after the United States outlawed the international slave trade, making the voyage an illegal act that shocked the nation.

The men, women, and children aboard the Wanderer were taken from their homes in West Africa and forced across the Atlantic. Many were sold throughout Georgia, South Carolina, and other Southern states, where they endured enslavement while preserving cultural traditions, languages, skills, and knowledge that would help shape future generations.

As we prepare for the Georgetown, South Carolina Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project, we remember the lives forever changed by ships like the Wanderer. Their stories are part of the larger history of the African Diaspora and the enduring legacy of the Gullah Geechee people.

By remembering these voyages, we honor the resilience of those who survived, the memory of those who perished, and the generations who carried their heritage forward.

“We remember the crossing. We honor the ancestors. We preserve their stories.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/louisiana-museum-remembers-yacht-turned-slave-ship-180977653/

https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2016/02/the-wanderer-the-last-american-slave-ship/

https://www.ugapress.org/9780820334578/the-slave-ship-wanderer/

06/19/2026

What stories lie beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean?

In her powerful book Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging, author, diver, and explorer Tara Roberts chronicles her journey to uncover the stories of slave shipwrecks and the people connected to them. Through her work with underwater archaeologists and the organization Diving With a Purpose, Roberts explores shipwrecks linked to the transatlantic slave trade, including the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring captive Africans illegally to the United States.

Roberts reminds us that these wrecks are more than archaeological sites—they are underwater memorials to the millions of African men, women, and children who endured the horrors of the Middle Passage. Her work helps restore names, histories, and humanity to those whose stories were too often erased.

As we prepare for Georgetown’s Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project, we reflect on the importance of remembrance. The waters that once carried enslaved Africans also carry their stories, their resilience, and their enduring legacy.

“We remember not only the suffering, but also the strength, knowledge, and cultural traditions that survived and continue to shape our communities today.”

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770110/written-in-the-waters-by-tara-roberts/

The storyteller joins a team of African American divers on their worldwide quest to shed light on the untold history of the slave trade.

06/18/2026

The Department of Interior revealed in court filings June 17 that at least two signs once posted at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie have since been thrown away, following Trump Admin orders last year.