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ANNOUNCEMENT: REGISTRATION FOR ASWAD CULTURAL EXCURSIONS
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Dear Colleagues,
We are looking forward to seeing you in Charleston in November for our 8th biennial ASWAD conference! As you know, there will be two cultural excursions during the conference and both trips require advance registration.
Please click on the links below to sign up for each event. Space is limited and registration will only be available until
Friday, October 16, so sign up right away! Please note that each ticket has an additional processing fee of $1-2.
DRAYTON HALL
Wednesday, November 4-10:30am-1:30pm
Drayton Hall, built in 1738, is the oldest preserved plantation house that is open to the public. Following seven generations of Drayton family ownership, the house remains in nearly original condition and has never been modernized, providing an unmatched look at colonial living. Drayton Hall is also home to one of the country's oldest African American cemeteries and the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust is dedicated to telling the stories of both the Europeans and the Africans who lived and labored on the plantation. At its height, the Drayton Hall plantation encompassed over 350 acres, and it served as the hub of the Drayton family's massive commercial empire. The family eventually owned 100 different plantations totaling approximately 76,000 acres across South Carolina and Georgia where generations of enslaved Africans and Native Americans grew rice and indigo for exportation to Europe and reared cattle and pigs for shipment to the Caribbean sugar islands.
This excursion is $25 and includes transportation, lunch, and a discussion with Professor Margaret Washington, author of
"A Peculiar People:" Slave Religion and Community Culture Among the Gullah, who is a renowned specialist in early African American history and Gullah culture in the Lowcountry.
SULLIVAN'S ISLAND
Historians estimate that 40% of Africans who were brought to North America between 1619 and 1808 arrived through the port of Charleston. Sullivan's Island, located just off the Charleston coast, served as a site where many Africans were held before making their final entry into the city. This painful history makes Sullivan's Island an important gateway through which many African Americans can trace their entry into the Americas.
During this excursion, conference participants will experience a Remembrance Ritual to honor the Africans who passed through Sullivan's Island. This ritual will include a drum and dance procession, libation, and sacred words from local Yoruba priestess, Iya Helen Phillips.
Participants are encouraged to wear white and bring small offerings for the ancestors including fruit and flowers. The ritual will include time for guided and silent mediation and words from those gathered about the importance of the occasion. This event also includes a stop at the Denmark Vesey memorial statue.
The fee is $8 and it includes transportation as well as a box lunch. If you require a vegetarian meal, please send an email to:
[email protected]
Please note that the final draft of the program is listed on our website and we invite you to visit it at your convenience: http://www.aswadiaspora.org/
Sincerely,
ASWAD 2015 Program Committee
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