IN THE BLACK DIASPORA
IN THE BLACK DIASPORA
We Ought to Visit
( Photo by : Norris P . West )
MITCHELVILLE : FOR MANY , IT ’ S WHERE FREEDOM BEGAN
By NORRIS P . WEST
Cora Miller used to wonder why she experienced a spiritual sensation whenever she visited the wooded area on the northern edge of Hilton Head Island in South Carolina . She was unaware of its historical significance and went there only to seek its peace and solitude .
“ I would come here because it was a tranquil place , and then I would get very emotional ,” Miller said as she stood among towering live oak trees in what has become an outdoor museum . She looked past the salt marsh field to brackish Port Royal
Sound in the distance . “ I would say , ‘ What is it about this place that brings me to tears all the time ?’ When I found out what this place was , I said , ‘ Ok , now I understand .’ ”
Miller understands more than almost anyone now .
Since 2011 , she has served as a docent for Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park , which covers 32 acres of the original 333 acres of land where the first self-governing town of formerly enslaved people in the United States was created .
Before Mitchelville , plantation owners enslaved Black people on the land to grow cotton and other crops . In November 1861 , seven months after the start of the Civil War , the U . S . Navy and U . S . Army launched an amphibious attack , taking control of much of the area and its 35 South Carolina barrier islands from Confederate forces and fleeing plantation owners .
Months later , under the protection of the Union Army , Black men , women and children were freed to make a life for themselves in this stretch of land
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