Excursion Synopsis
South Carolina’s Black experience stretches way beyond the “first settlers” of the New World in 1619. There is documented history of an African presence on these shores dating back to the 1500’s during Spanish exploration of the State. In the next century, the Charleston harbor would soon turn into one of the major ports of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Depending on the scholarship, somewhere between 25 to 40% of all African Americans can trace their lineage back to this state and especially Charleston and the Lowcountry. The rich history of this area, full of triumphant freedom stories, pillars of strong Black leadership, such as Denmark Vesey and Robert Smalls, as well as a keen emphasis on education for the formerly enslaved, makes the coastline of South Carolina an landmark location in American History. There is not enough time to chronicle all of the places that make this area great, but the Association of African American Museums (AAAM) Excursions Committee has curated powerful experiences for the attendees to the 2025 Conference. Please plan your schedule to include one or more of these excursions during your time in Charleston.
PLEASE NOTE: Space for excursions is limited.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 (approx. 10am – 1pm)
Downtown Charleston: Local Tour
Bus tour of Historically African American Communities in the Charleston area, stops at the Avery Research Center and the Denmark Vesey Statue in Hampton Park. For those curious to learn more about the fight for Civil Rights in the Lowcountry, we will visit the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture for a self-guided tour and mini workshop exploring Avery’s archival collections. During this excursion, visitors will learn about freedom fighters in Avery Research Center’s archival collections. After the workshop, visitors can take a self-guided tour of our permanent exhibition documenting Avery’s history and Averyites’ roles in civil rights movements, as well as our newest exhibition, Bending to Justice, which centers Charleston on the civil rights map.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 (approx. 10am – 1pm)
Lincolnville: Local Tour
Nestled among Live Oak Streets and long needle pine trees, Lincolnville is the oldest African American Town in South Carolina. A magical place of living history dating back to 1832 when the first railway carrying the first steam engine locomotive in the US was built through the center of town, to 1867 when Rev. Richard H. Cain, the founding pastor of Emmanuel AME Church and one of the first African Americans to serve in congress founded the Town of Lincolnville. Incorporated in 1889, Lincolnville remains self-governed” 157 years after its founding. In 2022, Lincolnville became a part of the National Park Service Reconstruction Era National Historic Network as well as a descendant community of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Participants will tour the living repository of untold stories from pre-Civil War, Civil War, Reconstruction, and Civil Rights eras and learn about the first woman preacher in the South, the first African American public school principal in the US and about Black political leadership from Reconstruction to Civil Rights. Moreover, participants will experience the unfolding progress of the development of a 21st Century Renaissance town deeply interwoven with United States, South Carolina and Lowcountry history. Lunch will be provided.
Saturday, July 26, 2025 (approx. 9am – 5pm)
Penn Center/Hilton Head
Located on beautiful St. Helena Island, at the heart of Gullah culture, surrounded by shimmering marshes, and nestled beneath the silvery, moss-draped limbs of massive live oaks… is the Penn Center. The campus of the former Penn School, one of the nation’s first schools for formerly enslaved people, is one of the most significant African American institutions in existence today. This historic and cultural institution is a National Historic Landmark District and comprises two of the four sites within the Reconstruction Era National Park. Participants will take part in the “Gullah/Geechee Famlee Day” hosted by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (ov) and features native Gullah/Geechee painters, presenters, craft artists, chefs and business owners. Lunch will be provided. Participants will then take a bus tour to Hilton Head Island with Cultural heritage chief executive and author Emory Shaw Campbell. The bus tour will end at Historic Mitchelville.
Mitchelville
Established in 1862, historic Mitchelville became the first town of self-governing formerly enslaved people in the United States. An “experiment in citizenship” and a “model for reconstruction,” historic Mitchelville succeeded, yet virtually faded from history. Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, Inc. (HMFP) is a non-profit South Carolina corporation whose mission is to preserve, promote, and honor Historic Mitchelville. HMFP envisions that Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park will become an imaginative and exciting place celebrating the American spirit through the story of this historic community and how that story informs and strengthens the fabric of our shared American heritage. Participants will tour the grounds and learn of the rich history of Historic Mitchelville; meet with HMFP archaeologist, Dr. Katherine Seeber and interact with Mitchelville artifacts; hear from descendant voices from the Island and hear behind the scenes details for future Park development.