♪ ♪ >> Hi, and welcome as we start a new season here on "Connections."

I'm P.A.

Bennett.

South Carolina is a relatively small state, but we are huge on history, especially when it comes to the history of Africans forcibly brought to these shores and their descendants.

That's because for almost 200 years, historians tell us that Charles Towne, now Charleston, was the primary port of call for slave ships, and more enslaved Africans passed through Charles Towne than any other city in the English colonies.

In fact, for a time, Africans were the majority population in parts of the Lowcountry.

So with those facts in mind, it's understandable that there are African-American historical sites throughout the state that you may not know about.

On this edition of "Connections," we'll travel from the coast to the upstate visiting these sites, and to help us with the journey are Miss Jannie Harriot, the vice chairperson of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission, and Mr. Damon Fordham, an author and historian.

Guys, thank you so much for being with us today.

>> Harriot: Well, thank you.

>> Fordham: You're welcome.

>> P.A.

: This is gonna be a fun show and an informative show.

I know, Jannie, as vice chair of the commission, you all have lots of information about different sites throughout the state.

>> Harriot: Yes, we do.

We really do.

Because we're connected to the Department of Archives and History, which publishes a book, "African American Historic Sites in South Carolina," we're always looking for those places that are significant to our history.

>> P.A.

: And Damon, as a historian, you look at a lot of history here in South Carolina.

Does a particular site stand out for you?

>> Fordham: Well, there are a number of them.

One of them that I like is the Avery Research Center, formerly the Avery Institute in Charleston because it used to be a school that was formed by former slaves in 1868, and it was about to be torn down.

However, the people who went there decided to save it, and now they've turned it into a museum as well as a research center for African-American studies, and it's a very proactive way of doing things that I hope inspires other people.

>> P.A.

: Absolutely.

There are interesting sites throughout the state, and we visited a couple of those.

These first sites are located throughout the state, and one man is making it his business to sleep in as many of them as possible.

I'm talking about tiny, bare-bone houses where enslaved Africans were forced to live.

♪ They were usually out back of the main house, unassuming little structures designed merely to shelter.

After long hours of backbreaking work, this is where the enslaved went for rest.

But not all of the cabins were hidden in the back.

These brick cabins on Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, are seen even before you see the big house.

Joseph McGill has slept here too.

McGill is also a Civil War reenactor.

He wears the uniform of the 54th Massachusetts regiment.

>> McGill: It's titled the Slave Dwelling Project, and what it is, is an attempt to bring attention to slave dwellings throughout the United States.

I'm a program officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and with that, it affords me the opportunity to help people save places.

And usually the places that I help people save are those iconic places--the house on the hill, if you will-- and a lot of times I come across plantations and houses with outbuildings, these outbuildings that used to be dwellings of slaves.

But I've found out that there are not a lot of attention paid to these places, and a lot of times these places have been destroyed, sometimes willingly, sometimes with malice in an attempt to erase that part of the history.

But there are those that are still on the landscape.

Some have been restored, but there are even more out there that need to be restored.

And this Slave Dwelling Project is just to bring attention to those that have done the right thing and restored these places and interpret them as such, but more importantly to identify those that can use some help in restoration.

I've slept in 27 to date, actually 26 since Mother's Day of last year.

About ten years prior to that, I slept in my first at Boone Hall Plantation as a part of a History Channel documentary.

But more recently, I was a part of project at Magnolia Plantation, where I'm also employed part-time.

They restored their cabins, and they brought in a team of experts to evaluate the work, and I was a part of that team.

Evaluating those dwellings as they were being restored gave me the idea to blow the dust off this idea I once had of sleeping in slave dwellings.

I sought permission, and they said yes.

Well, the feeling is serenity.

You know, you think about the people who actually spent time in these places and about the toil that they had beyond the walls of the slave dwellings, and you know that within these walls, that was probably the easiest part of their lives, although that could be interrupted at the will of the slave master or the slave owner.

But at least within this wall, the intent was that they could at least lay their head and get some rest.

>> P.A.

: McGill's project is bringing attention to the cabins, many in need of care and restoration.

>> McGill: Yes, it is about preservation because, with the preservation, you can attach the stories to it.

You can talk about the people that inhabited these places.

But without the place, you're lucky if you can get a sign that says, "Here once stood."

I know a lot of people think that maybe it's better that we forget this.

I don't come from that line of thinking.

I say the more that we remember, the more that we tell the story or fill in the blanks, or tell that story that has not been told up until this point, or not told correctly, I think the better off we as Americans can be, because when we tell the story about the slave dwellings, we can move forward and talk about those other places that can help African Americans tell our story beyond slavery.

We were a part of this American-- we helped build this place, and telling that story of us building America, what better place to start than these slave dwellings?

>> P.A.

: Talking with Mr. McGill on his experience sleeping in the enslaved persons quarters, I got the impression that he experienced something emotionally.

Do you hear people talk about that, or have either of you visited the slave cabins?

>> Harriot: I've visited several of them, specifically the ones over at Francis Marion University, and then Joe was sleeping at one down in Lower Richland County, which he ended up not sleeping in because he was just not gonna sleep there, and I was there for that one.

But this is a personal thing for him.

It's very personal.

Joe is from Williamsburg County, and of course he's a historian, so this is very near and dear to his heart.

>> P.A.

: You said you visited the ones at Francis Marion.

Did you have any kind of emotional connection as an individual or a historian?

>> Harriot: You know, I keep telling people I'm really not a historian.

I fell into this work quite haphazardly.

And I really didn't.

I also visited the cabins on the plantation where Michelle Obama's grandfather lived, and they said that they weren't sure, but they felt that the one that they took us to might have been the one that he lived in.

>> P.A.

: Really?

>> Harriot: Yes.

And I don't know.

You know, I'm a child of the '60s, so I'm one of those rebels.

The whole thing just kind of turns me off, to see how people actually lived.

So I guess emotional in terms of anger might be what I felt, 'cause I'm sometimes a very angry person.

[laughing] >> P.A.

: What about you, Damon?

Have you visited any of the cabins?

>> Fordham: I used to give tours at the ones at Boone Hall about ten or so years ago, and I worked at Drayton Hall, where they did some renovation work on the remains of those.

And I think what Mr. McGill is doing is a very healthy thing, for us as a people and as a country, because for many years African Americans refused to acknowledge such things and to go to these sites for precisely the reason of not wanting to feel anger and so forth.

But you see how in Europe the Jewish people are going to Dachau and Buchenwald and the concentration camps and so forth, and other groups are going to the sites of their former oppression, so I think it's important that African Americans do that to help us heal and become whole as a people.

>> P.A.

: All right, let's move on.

We're about to fast-forward in history to the 1930s, a time in South Carolina when Black people were not allowed on the beaches where Whites frequented.

So a group of Black men got together to purchase some South Carolina oceanfront property.

It was an opportunity for Blacks, be he judge or janitor, to enjoy one of God's greatest gifts.

♪ >> Female speaker: I think that when you listen to the stories from the old-timers, which is really very special to do, you hear a lot of wonderful and fun stories about how lively the beach was at that time, that you could hear the music of the day drifting all over the beach.

There were hotels, restaurants.

It was a lively place to be.

They would talk about how the farm trucks would come with laborers on the back being dropped off for the weekend, and all dressed up to come to the beach.

>> P.A.

: For Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, development, like what you see on other parts of the Grand Strand, is in the distance.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The leaders here say that while they are working hard to kick-start development, they are determined to preserve the uniqueness, the essence of Atlantic Beach.

>> Starting back in 2001, we got the landowners together to talk about what was their vision for Atlantic Beach.

They were clear that they wanted it to remain an independent municipality.

They wanted to embrace its Gullah-Geechee history and to really bring the life back: small businesses, unique businesses along the Grand Strand, a piece of heritage and culture that doesn't exist on the Grand Strand that would be unique and one of the most positive aspects of our culture.

>> Male speaker: You can have what we call controlled development.

You don't have to have a runaway development.

In fact, we are very fortunate because we can see what happened to the rest of the Grand Strand, the north and south end of the Grand Strand, so we can be very, very cautious of that.

>> We're open to any developer who can bring to the table what complies with our comprehensive plan or our desire here to make facilities available for our people that have not been made available.

>> P.A.

: Atlantic Beach, the Black Pearl, has only about 500 year-round residents and four through streets.

But this small oceanfront town represents big history.

It was the only beach Black people could go to for generations before integration here in South Carolina.

It was chartered as a town in 1966, but came into being much sooner.

>> Approximately ten men who came together back in the 1930s and established Atlantic Beach, most of them were either presidents of one of the HBCUs, medical doctors, and one laborer named George Tyson.

They came together and began to acquire land piece by piece, and very quietly, until they had put it together: two beaches, Atlantic Beach and Pearl Beach.

>> P.A.

: Benny Webb is the interim city manager for Atlantic Beach.

He says... >> Atlantic Beach, at this present moment, is in a state of flux.

We are transitioning from a government in which, years ago, had pretty much many of the resources to operate to a government now that is barely, barely making it financially.

We don't get the tourist dollars that our neighboring municipalities get.

We don't get the federal money that some of the neighboring towns get.

And we don't have the property tax and other revenues coming in because of our lack of commercial development, our lack of residential development.

So we're in a state of flux, a state of transition.

I think the next year or two will be make it or break it for Atlantic Beach, which was known and still is known as the Black Pearl.

>> P.A.

: Atlantic Beach is mostly residential with few businesses.

I asked Mr. Webb what's here to attract tourists today.

>> I think the biggest draw to Atlantic Beach is it has one of the most beautiful ocean views on the Grand Strand.

If you go down 30th or 31st or 32nd and even 29th Avenue, you will see some of the most beautiful water and ocean areas.

The second draw is the history.

What happens to a people is when they forget their history, they're doomed to repeat it.

And Atlantic Beach history is so rich, so rich because of what it stood for and what it stands for.

For years, it was the only beach in South Carolina that African Americans could go to, the only beach, and I think just from a historical perspective, those people who came here in the '40s, '50s, '60s, and even the '70s ought to have a vested interest in Atlantic Beach surviving and not only surviving, but prospering.

Now, to me and to most of the people that came here in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, it's very important.

It's very important because of what Atlantic Beach stood for, especially when you think about the soldiers that were coming back from World War II and wanted to go to the beach.

They could go to no other beach in South Carolina but Atlantic Beach.

When you think about the young African Americans and even older African Americans who wanted to get the ocean experience, to put their feet in the water and run down on the seashore and walk under the patio, Atlantic Beach was the only place that African Americans could come.

>> P.A.

: Atlantic Beach, the Black Pearl, can it hold onto its illustrious past and move successfully into a vibrant future?

It's a work in progress.

>>> You know, from talking with people down in Atlantic Beach, we see that Atlantic Beach is still transitioning.

It's still trying to come into its own as a commercial entity, but they still want to keep their own uniqueness, if you will.

What can you say, Damon, about the history of Atlantic Beach and where it is today?

>> Fordham: The history of it is extremely important.

I was involved with a project with a Miss Sherry Suttles down there in 2002, to do oral histories with the people there, and I learned a lot of fascinating things.

I learned, for one thing, that Sam Cooke was there shortly before he was shot in 1964, the great, socially conscious entertainer of his time, and I learned that he was making some plans on doing some pretty big things there and also that Esau Jenkins, the man who many consider to be the Martin Luther King of South Carolina, he owned a number of properties there as well as a hotel he leased to people and such.

So Atlantic Beach historically is important because it showed what the people could do once they got together and put their minds to it at that time, and it's important that the young people today, who may not be aware of that legacy, be aware of it to understand their full potential.

>> P.A.

: It's a beautiful spot, and I really hope all the residents there can pull together and get it going the way they want to.

All right, he's a superstar when it comes to educators, having impacted the lives of many great people, including Martin Luther King.

He was born in South Carolina, and now his hometown is recognizing him as a hero.

Come with us to Greenwood, South Carolina, the birthplace of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

♪ Greenwood, South Carolina, located in the northwestern part of the state, is almost equidistant between two of the state's largest metropolitan areas, Greenville and Columbia.

Greenwood has laid claim to having the widest Main Street in the U.S. Now, I don't know if that's proven to be a tourist draw, but now they may just have something.

Did you know that famed educator Benjamin E. Mays was born in Greenwood, South Carolina?

>> Male speaker: For Benjamin Mays to have come out of South Carolina and to have given intellectual birth not only to Martin Luther King, but Lerone Bennett, Maynard Jackson, there was a whole generation of Morehouse men that changed America because of the teachings and preachings of Benjamin Elijah Mays.

>> P.A.

: The cabin where Mays was born has been lovingly restored and prominently placed.

It's decorated with many period pieces.

Old tools, even an outhouse, and a cotton field cover the grounds.

>> Dr. Mays was born in Greenwood County.

He went to school down at South Carolina State in high school.

But he walked to a one-room school, like the school that we have here.

He left here and went to South Carolina State, and from there, he went to Virginia Union University and then up to Bates College in Maine.

Dr. Mays was one of my mentors, and he came to Spartanburg and dedicated a school, Benjamin E. Mays High School, and I felt so inspired.

There was something that he said about anybody can be nobody, but everybody can be somebody, and that was something that's been driving me for almost 70 years.

>> Dr. Mays really revolutionized higher education as he brought a focus not only on cultivating intelligence, but cultivating character and leadership.

And the students at Morehouse who learned under Dr. Mays, from Martin Luther King and Julian Bond to so many others, they helped to transform America, and all that, one man and his vision and his stature.

Mays became president in 1940 at Morehouse.

Young Martin Luther King arrived in 1944, so Mays had only been president for four years.

And young Martin King was only 15 years old when he arrived at Morehouse.

There was an early-admission program because so many young men had been drafted and were serving in the military, fighting the war.

And so they admitted younger students, and so there was young Martin Luther King at an impressionable period of his life really regarding Mays as a role model.

>> Young: Dr. Mays had picked him and sent him up to Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields.

He figured if you were gonna lead people and help the world, you had to understand the least of these, God's children, and you had to know and respect working people.

>> P.A.

: Dr. Joseph Patton played a prominent role in the restoring and relocating of the Mays homesite.

>> Patton: It will be a national attraction.

Thousands of young men have come through Morehouse College under his tutelage, and they will bring their children and their sons to see where Dr. Mays came from.

Also, I think it'll be here for the folks from Atlanta, because look what a giant Atlanta received from Greenwood County.

>> P.A.

: Dr. Mays is such an inspiring figure, and I don't think a lot of people really know an awful lot about his life, and especially that he was born right here in South Carolina.

What do you know about him, Jannie?

>> Harriot: I don't know that much about Dr. Mays, except his educational work.

What I do know is that there was a big push on by Miss Molly Hart, who was a member of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission.

Her husband was at the time the mayor of Ninety Six, where the house was originally, sitting in a field, all covered up.

The owners didn't want anything to do with it, and Molly Hart almost singlehandedly worked with the community and other agencies to help save that piece of history.

And I also know that Emory Campbell, who was the former director at the Penn Center, was very close to Dr. Mays.

And when he retired from Penn Center, I presented him with a drawing, a print, of the Benjamin E. Mays house, not knowing his connection to Dr. Mays, and right there in front of all those people, he cried, because he didn't know that I didn't know his connection.

But Benjamin Mays is a testament to education in this state and abroad as far as African Americans are concerned.

>> P.A.

: He touched a lot of people's lives.

Damon, you are obviously impressed by the man.

>> Fordham: Yes, I wrote a chapter about Dr. Mays in my second book, "Voices of Black South Carolina," and the most inspiring thing is that when Benjamin Mays was four years old, in 1898, he witnessed the race riot known as the Phoenix Massacre in South Carolina that year, of 1898, and he witnessed some Night Riders force his father to bow down in front of them.

And as a child, he said he wanted to grow up to do something about those conditions.

Well, the irony of ironies is that when he was the president of Morehouse College and also a professor there, he talked about these things with a young man who was very inspired by him, and that young man turned out to be Martin Luther King himself.

So I think that the irony of that is one of the most inspiring things about Dr. Benjamin Mays.

>> P.A.

: Absolutely, absolutely.

So Damon, just being a historian, do you think that South Carolina is indeed a hotbed of African American historical sites?

>> Fordham: Most certainly it is, but there are a number of problems with that.

One of the main problems is that the best stories often known to humanity are often forever lost to the graveyards because history is a very incomplete science in that so much that has happened has not been recorded.

And it was especially true with African Americans in the state because, for so long, the people were just basically dealing with day-to-day survival so much that a lot of them just simply did not see the importance of going back to the past, which in many places was just too painful for them to deal with.

So we're just now realizing the importance of this, and while there are still people, like Miss Harriot, who have seen such things, that we get these things down before another generation of great stories becomes forever lost to the graveyards.

>> P.A.

: Absolutely.

Guys, thank you so much for being with us today.

Fun facts, if you will.

History is always eye-opening, lest we forget, right?

>> Harriot: That's right.

>> P.A.

: And we really want to hear from you.

Our address is... Well, that's our show.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Remember, stay connected.

I'm P.A.

Bennett, and I'll see you next time, right here on "Connections."

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