Beautification Committee for MLK Jr. Memorial Park

03/26/2026

Did you know that Michael Allen was in charge of the creation of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (GGCHC) established in 2006 by an Act of Congress? And that the GGCHC is the first African American Heritage area in the country?

Check out what Michael Allen will be attending at Transforming Public History: From Charleston to the Atlantic World Conference

03/26/2026

Congratulations to the USC Beaufort Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era for this recognition.

The National Park Service announces the inclusion of two institutes of higher learning to the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. The new members added to the network this quarter are the USC Beaufort Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era and Selma University.

The Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era at USC Beaufort in Beaufort,
S.C., is currently the only research institute focusing solely on the Reconstruction era
attached to an organization of higher learning in the nation. The Institute promotes
educational initiatives, facilitates scholarly research and presents public events that focus
on the social, economic, cultural and political history of the Reconstruction era in the
United States and the Lowcountry.

Selma University in Selma, Ala. was established in the 1870s as an institute of higher
education for formerly enslaved people. Initially established to train ministers, it
eventually grew to include a high school, a teacher's college and welcomed women as
both students and educators. Still an active HBCU, Selma University was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

IMAGE: NPS

03/26/2026

FYI...Women's History Month

Today is ! The Reconstruction era was full of inspirational women who aspired to make great changes during a transformative period for themselves and others. One such woman was Hallie Quinn Brown a powerful orator who spoke on women’s rights, civil rights, and temperance. Brown was born in 1850 in Pittsburgh and went on to gain an education at Wilberforce University after the Civil War. She worked as a teacher in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Ohio. Eventually she became a dean at Allen University, a principal at Tuskegee Institute, and a professor at Wilberforce University. While she worked in the education system, she gave lectures in the United States and abroad. Brown is well known for her work in Women’s Clubs including the Colored Woman’s League of Washington D.C., the National Association of Colored Women, and the Ohio State Federation of Colored Woman. She spoke to promote women’s suffrage and equal rights, using her voice as her means of activism until she passed away at nearly 100 years old, in 1949. Learn more about Brown on the National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/people/hallie-quinn-brown-ca-1850-1949.htm

Brown’s work and story touched many sites of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network including Allen University, Tuskegee Institute, and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.

IMAGE: LOC

03/26/2026

Elizabeth Smalls Bampfield, daughter of Robert Smalls.

In 1904, just after the end of the Reconstruction era, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated a Black woman to be the postmaster of Beaufort. Elizabeth Smalls Bampfield, daughter of Robert Smalls, took over the role of postmaster after her husband passed in 1899. In 1904 President Roosevelt chose to nominate her for reappointment over the wishes of white republicans who wanted J.B. Kinghorn in the position. The newspapers reported that a “fight was made on her appointment” because of the color of her skin, but that “President Roosevelt ignored this.” Bampfield served as postmaster until 1908. Learn more about Elizabeth Smalls Bampfield on our website: https://www.nps.gov/people/elizabeth-smalls-bampfield.htm

IMAGE: Massachusetts Historical Society/Elizabeth Smalls Bampfield wears a high neck frilly dress and her hair in a braid and curls.

07/19/2024

Remembering Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon , “October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) who was an American song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist who, in the early 1960s, was a founding member of the Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement in Georgia.[1][2] In 1973, she founded the all-black female a ca****la ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, based in Washington, D.C.” wiki

“ We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes” is a lyric from the song “Ella's Song” by Sweet Honey in the Rock. The song honors the life and work of civil rights activist Ella Baker (1903–1986), who was a key figure in organizations like the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Baker's vision for the civil rights movement was influenced by participatory democracy and the Harlem Renaissance, and she is credited with helping grassroots organizations adopt a community-based approach. “Ella's Song” is a reminder that working for justice is a long-term commitment, and some people play it as a reminder that the work of freedom is not yet done.”

Words won't do so you'll have to listen...........

07/08/2024

This march occurred Saturday, July 6, 2024 in Nashville ,Tennessee . “According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Patriot Front is ‘a white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America, bequeathing to them, and no one else.’”

State and local leaders are reacting after a group called “Patriot Front” was seen marching through downtown Nashville Saturday afternoon.

06/20/2024

Yesterday marked the beginning of a special series being aired on Public Radio by Journalist Alexia Fernández Campbell a contributor to 40 Acres And A Lie, a three-part series featured in Mother Jones and the public radio show and podcast Reveal, which explores how the land loss deprived Black people of building intergenerational wealth. Part 1 focuses on a Black family on Edisto Island SC and the '40 acres and a mule', Special field order No. 15 and how it affected their ancestors.

"Special Field Orders No. 15 redistributed land either confiscated by the U.S. during the Civil War or abandoned from Charleston, South Carolina, to the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Florida, and as far inland as thirty miles west from the coastline. Although not all of the land was abandoned, Congress previously decided that land owned by Confederate soldiers or supporters would be considered abandoned and able to be confiscated by the federal government. This totaled about 400,000 acres of land including the barrier islands that were historically home to cotton, rice, and sugar cane plantations. The land was to be divided so that newly freed families could settle on their own land. The 400,000 acres would be divided into 40 acre plots and distributed per family. In addition to receiving land, men were encouraged to join the U.S. Army to help support their newfound freedom. Sherman later announced that families could also lease a mule from the United States Army, giving them “40 acres and a mule.”

"After Lincoln’s assassination, President Johnson overturned the special field order. He stated that the confiscated land could only be held during wartime. After the war ended, the land would need to be returned to the landowners. After the land was restored, the Black families had few options, resulting in most becoming sharecroppers. This limited their financial opportunities and independence despite being free."

Our historical investigation found 1,250 formerly enslaved Black Americans who were given land – only to see it returned to their enslavers.

03/27/2023

Parents and guardians of kids and youth there is a 4-H meeting Wednesday and you’re invited. Bring the family!

4-H friends our next meeting is at the end of the month. We look forward to seeing as many friends as possible!

01/17/2023

This was a wonderful program!!