The International African American Museum (IAAM) is set to open near the former slave dock in Charleston, S.C., Gadsden’s Wharf.
According to The Art Newspaper, IAAM is scheduled to open within view of Gadsden’s Wharf in January 2023. The former dock, one of the largest slave ports in America, was reportedly the first destination for approximately 100,000 enslaved Africans during the international slave trade’s peak.
“What a museum like this can bring is context—an understanding of the historical context of racism,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum’s president and chief executive. “Charleston, in particular, is the right place to have these conversations. It’s a place where African Americans pushed forward—but it’s also where we were pushed back.”
The Art Newspaper reported that IAAM “will provide a comprehensive overview of the cultural, socio-economic and psychological history of slavery, and the ways it continues to impact today.” It’ll have nearly 150,000 square feet of space and include nine galleries–one temporary–as well as a genealogy center where visitors can find out if their ancestors came through Gadsden’s Wharf.
Segments at the museum will also reportedly focus on The Great Migration and Black art throughout several eras. There will additionally be a garden with plants linked to West Africa, the Caribbean and South Carolina.
The $100 million project has been in the works for over 20 years, The New York Times reported.
“We were part of how Gadsden’s Wharf was coming into community recognition and community conversation,” Dr. Tonya Matthews told the news outlet. “We weren’t actually talking about what that history was…We are clearly in a period of acceleration in our conversations around African American history, the African American journey, race and racial justice — and the museum is in the middle of that.”
The museum is a huge step towards progress as racial tensions still run rampant in Charleston. One of the most disturbing examples within the past decade is the famous Charleston church massacre, in which white killer Dylan Roof gunned down nine Black congregation members back in 2015.
