Last month, our cameras captured the moment when the powerful story of Mitchelville entered a new chapter, with the groundbreaking on the new Archaeological Research Facility and Auditorium. Following music from Marlena Smalls and a blessing from Rev. Dr. Barbara Ling Terry, a slew of speakers took to the podium.
Once completed, the 2.8 million, 4000 square foot facilty will become the center of further archeological exploration of the historic site of Mtchelville, where enslaved people of the South first experienced freedom.
Sharing the dais were Board Chair Lola Campbell, Executive Director Ahmad Ward, Councilwoman Melinda Tunner, Mayor Alan Perry, Mayor Pro-Tem Alex Brown, SC Parks Recreation & Tourism’s Director Duane Parrish, Sen.Tom Davis and community leader and board member Shirley “Peaches” Peterson.
Ahmad Ward, Executive Director of Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park
Their words helped lend context to the historic moment. Campbell, who can trace her story back through eight generations of native islanders, spoke to the crowd of how this new facility will give her and her son “connection and space to feel and stretch our roots here on the island.”
And that connection is exactly what the new space at Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park will offer —a chance for stories to be told of the families that built Hilton Head Island.
A generous grant by the Mellon Foundation was acknowledged at the groundbreaking ceremony.
But just as much as it honors the history of Mitchelville and the families that called it home, this new facility will serve future generations of native islanders by keeping their stories moving forward and giving them greater connection to land they’ve lived on long before the cumyahs arrived. “If (Gullah families) cannot remain, then our culture risks becoming a museum piece instead of a living, breathing inheritance,” said Brown. “It risks going from culture to artifact.”
Once completed, the $2.8 million, 4,000-square-foot facility will become the center of further archeological exploration of the historic site of Mitchelville, where enslaved people of the South first experienced freedom and our neighboring communities. Plans are also in the works for historical reconstruction of freedman’s homes and an 18,000-square-foot interpretive center.
From left: Sen. Tom Davis, Board Chair Lola Campbell, Mayor Alan Perry and Councilman Alex Brown were in attendance.
