You can’t understand the South without trying to understand Charleston, South Carolina.
Tourists know it for the pretty houses and five-star restaurants. Some white Southerners revere the Citadel and the Civil War sites.
But for Black Americans, Charleston was Ellis Island rewritten as a horror story – the primary port through which slaves came into this country.
Now, on a wharf in Charleston Harbor, the International African American Museum is rising to tell that story. It’s scheduled to open in 2022.
And Elijah Heyward III, a son of that South Carolina coast, is the museum’s chief operating officer.
In some ways, it’s a job he has prepared for his whole life.
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Show notes:
- The museum's website
- A profile of Heyward from the UNC graduate school magazine
- Another profile from the Yale Divinity School
Other music in this episode:
- Jahzzar, "In the Museum"
- Josh Woodward, "Ships"
New episodes of SouthBound come out every other Wednesday. Subscribe:
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SouthBound is a production of WFAE. Our host is Tommy Tomlinson. Our audience engagement manager is Joni Deutsch, and our main theme comes from Josh Turner.
