colorful homes of Rainbow Row. T-shirts and hats, cup holders, belts, knickknacks, and tacky souvenirs that overflow from vendor stalls with a Charleston logo. Opened in 1841, the market’s covered sheds stretch four blocks. Dominating the market stalls, however, are locally made sweetgrass baskets, hand-woven using marsh grasses in distinctive patterns by native Gullah crafts people. It’s an African tradition stretching back for generations. As one artisan explained, they weave sweetgrass with the darker and courser bulrush, tied together with thin strips cut from palm leaves. The baskets have an organic grassy scent. “It’s the tradition from my great grandmama, my grandmama, my mom, and aunt. I have seven children, and I taught them how to weave the baskets, so we make the ones you see here now,” says artisan Ruth Wright. “My family’s been making them for over 300 years. We came from West Africa and found that Charleston had the same material.” If you’re an expert haggler, it might get you only a slight discount when purchasing one of these baskets which can range from maybe $30 for a very small basket to several hundred dollars for some of the bigger works of craftsmanship. The painstakingly slow weaving process and the increasing scarcity of local sweetgrass contribute to the surging prices. Opened in June 2023 and built along the very same shoreline where slave ships once docked, Charleston’s International African American Museum showcases the horrors of the Transatlantic slave trade as well
as the resilience of those forced into enslavement. Through artworks, artifacts, photographs and interactive digital exhibits, the museum traces the origins of the slave trade with deportations from West and West Central Africa from about 1501-1866. One exhibit reveals the staggering numbers: 12.5 million enslaved and transported overseas on voyages called the Middle Passage, with 1.8 million who didn’t survive the journeys. Another exhibit highlights how African names like Guntar, Congoo, and Quay were changed to such names as Moses, Nancy, and Sallie when reaching the Americas. The museum shares the truth of how Charleston was the most active North American port in the slave trade, landing about 40 percent of all those deported here. Most of those who stayed locally labored on rice plantations. Exhibits continue with oral histories, first person accounts and other documentation revealing plantation life and how the enslaved persevered and developed their own cultural traditions over time. The museum’s journey continues through emancipation, civil rights, and other modern day contributions and successes. The Old Slave Mart Museum adds to the sad chapter of Charleston’s slavery history, as it’s housed in an actual building that was part of the city’s last auction site. When a city ordinance stopped outdoor auctions in 1856, the process was moved indoors behind these walls and continued for seven more years. “There was a lot of disruption when the city had street sales, and that’s why the city eventually banned them,” says museum docent John Young. “This was the point of having indoor auction sites. You’re keeping the public out.” Inside the museum, displays reveal how the site was used to trade enslaved African Americans who were already here. Potential buyers could actually speak to them and assess skills and family connections. “You would find people here either selling or buying people,” adds Young. “Sadly, it was like what you might typically think of auctions. A lot of it was chasing where the next cotton boom was going to be.” As a history buff, I visit another must see attraction, the Confederate-manned submarine H.L. Hunley , the first sub to ever sink an enemy ship. The 40-foot-long vessel with its fragile outer shell now sits submerged in a holding tank north of the city center. Powered by eight crewmembers hand-cranking a propeller, the sub planted a spar torpedo onto the hull of the Union
Inside the International African American Museum
HISTORIC CHARLESTON
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE FALL 2025 | 13
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online