A ceremony on Saturday in South Carolina honored those buried in formerly mostly unmarked graves at the plantation site, where archaeologists and museum leaders say they’ve identified the burials of at least 481 people of African descent.
At the forested cemetery at Historic Brattonsville, a group of people with ancestral ties to the enslaved and the enslavers of the plantation gathered. They clapped their hands and sang as they paid tribute to the hundreds of people buried in the five-acre area.
Margaret Crawford Parson-Willins, from Rock Hill, discovered about 25 years ago that she was connected to the Crawfords, an enslaved family on the plantation. She said being a part of the ceremony brings up a range of emotions.
“I can’t find the adjectives to explain it. It’s exciting. Yet it’s sad," Parson-Willins said. "But it is also uplifting, and I’m so grateful that I can be a part of bringing these grounds back to life.”
In 2022, the Culture and Heritage Museums received a grant of about $40,000 to help study what is now known as the "Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground." The museum placed steel markers for those buried in the cemetery. The Historic Brattonsville site focuses on giving people an insight into 18th- and 19th-century life in the South.
The museum plans to host a grand opening of the cemetery to the public next month.
