Freedoms Gained and Lost: Reinterpreting Reconstruction in the Atlantic World

In partnership with various local, national, and international cultural heritage organizations, academic institutions, and historic sites, the Carolina Lowcountry and the Atlantic World Program (CLAW) hosted a conference entitled “Freedoms Gained and Lost: Reinterpreting Reconstruction in the Atlantic World” on March 16–17, 2018. The conference featured panels and presentations germane to the larger topic of gaining and losing freedoms.

During the conference, the College of Charleston Libraries opened an original exhibit curated by historians and archivists showcasing the documentary heritage of Reconstruction and the post-emancipation era in South Carolina and the Atlantic world. Including cultural heritage objects from repositories across the region, the display offers the public the opportunity to engage with sources that inform the (re)interpretation of the freedoms gained and lost by African descended peoples during the Reconstruction era.

The exhibit includes materials from the South Carolina Historical Society; College of Charleston Special Collections; the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture; the South Carolina Department of Archives and History; the Charleston Museum; and the Gibbes Museum of Art. It will be on display until December 2018.