John C. Calhoun statue in Marion Square

John C. Calhoun statue in Marion Square

Memorialization of Urban Slavery in Southern Coastal Cities

slavery; memorials

John C. Calhoun is notorious for being a defender of slavery and a supporter of the South's secession from the Union before the Civil War. This statue in his honor stands in Marion Square. Like the Confederate Defenders of Charleston memorial at High Battery, this statue was vandalized after the killings at Mother Emanuel, the graffiti referencing slavery and racism. Legend also has it that the Gullah people call Calhoun "Kill-houn," and that Calhoun's likeness is so high up on its pedestal because it was also vandalized when first erected.

This project was funded by Bernard and Anne Spitzer Travel Fellowship for research projects involving travel abroad and incorporating the study of architecture, landscape architecture, or urbanism.

My goal was to research, witness, and record how each of my chosen Southern port cities has dealt with its past in regards to urban slavery, and to begin making a record of this history. Although all of the locations I visited were major hubs of the American slave trade, these cities remain mostly lacking in admitting their full and complete history. The inaccurate and incomplete narratives, lack of memorials, and white-washed histories designed to appeal to the tourist industry do not tell the stories of the slaves in an unbiased and forthright way. So much of what I witnessed revolved around a very racially divided tourist industry, but I know that change is possible. The story of urban slavery is not just the story of African Americans in the United States, but the story of all of us, and the more we can understand this, the better off we all will be.

Whang, Maura

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Whang, Maura

Architecture and City Planning

T0532

Charleston, SC