Here's how the Mitchelville Preservation Project is linking the past and the present
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article misstated the amount of money secured for the Mitchelville Preservation Project's master plan. That amount has been corrected.
As an archaeological dig continues to unearth secrets of Mitchelville's past, Mitchelville Preservation Project director Ahmad Ward looks to the future.
From "Blues and BBQ" in March to the fourth annual Juneteenth celebration in June, the project has merged entertainment and education to showcase the history of Mitchelville, the first self-governed settlement for freed African slaves, and the culture that began and survives on Hilton Head Island to this day.
The organization secured $250,000 for a master plan of events and educational content that Ward said will come to life as the work continues.
Looking back
In May, the project launched "Griot's Corner" as part of a program that used the art of storytelling to promote literacy and the oral traditions of the native islanders.
Ward said the kindergarten through third grade program reached about 300 students.
He also said the buzz from last weekend's Juneteenth celebration is still going. The two-day event featured food, art and a chart-topping band, but it also taught guests about the religious traditions in African-American communities like Mitchelville through praise music.
Archaeologists from Binghamton University have been working for a project at the Mitchelville Freedom Park site. They were at the Juneteenth celebration to talk about their work, which entails looking for the footprint of the settlement's original praise house.
"[The praise house] was the center for all community and life in Mitchelville," Ward said. "If we can find out exactly where that was or at least have an idea of where it was, it's going to help guide everything we're doing with the actual master plan."
The archaeologists have to analyze the artifacts they pull from the ground on a microscopic level to determine if they came from the same place the praise house could have been.
Archaeologist Katie Seeber said colonoware, a ceramic material used by African-Americans on South Carolina's coast, is the team's most exciting discovery. While some ceramics and glassware found may have been used by most people in the Reconstruction period, colonoware was specifically an African good.
"It's very on target with the history that we're looking for," Seeber said. "[Colonoware] was produced and used by African-Americans, and that tradition was passed down."
Ward said it has been "getting easier to get people on board" with the preservation project. He said finding the praise house could help promote the story the project aims to tell, especially with people visibly working on the site.
"People like to see stuff. When people can actually see the progress, then it goes a long way for us," Ward said.
Between its celebratory events, the Mitchelville Preservation Project have met these priorities in 2018:
- Participated in the National Summit on Teaching Slavery at James Madison's Montpelier.
- Coordinated the site's name change from Fish Haul Creek Park to Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.
- Secured $250,000 from the Beaufort County natural resources committee for master plan.
Looking ahead
Ward said the preservation project is gearing up for a major fall event: the anniversary forum.
On Oct. 20, the project will host "Freedom Isn't Free," a forum that "seeks to examine the push for freedom in [America] and the notion that the struggle continues today."
The event, an all-day symposium set for the Westin hotel on Hilton Head, will touch on what African-Americans endured to "obtain and maintain" freedom from the Reconstruction era onward to current life as Americans.
"We'll be able to look at civil rights, voting rights, immigration, just some of the key things that are happening now," Ward said, "And relating it to ... why freedom is such an important thing that we have to ensure that it's available for American citizens."
November will see a digital town hall for members, or "citizens," of Mitchelville to connect and vote on "town business" proposals. Details have not yet been announced.
Entertainment and education will merge once again at the end of the year for the project's holiday kickoff in December.
"The best part about it, really, is how close we are to getting this master plan started," Ward said. "That's really going to get us into a launch point ... to be able to show actual drawings and have the vision in a way where we can lay it out in front of people."
This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Here's how the Mitchelville Preservation Project is linking the past and the present."