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6 Chalmers St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
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This museum offers a profound and sobering exploration of America's history of slavery. On my way out, I’ve picked up an excellent book(Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery) that reveals extensive involvement of northern states in this grim history. The banks, insurance agencies, and cotton mills in the North were complicit in the exploitation of enslaved individuals. While the experience at The Old Slave Mart Museum can be heavy and challenging, it is crucial for fostering a more comprehensive understanding of American history. The exhibits significantly deepened my understanding of ongoing impact of slavery on contemporary society and how institutions beyond the southern plantations were integral to the mechanics of slavery.
A must see in Charleston! After a walking tour of the city this was my favorite thing I saw here. Museum is a manageable size, very affordable, and incredibly well done. Informative and powerful but in a completely plain, simply factual way - no dramatization or embellishment. Starting on the second floor it moves you chronologically through the history of slave trade. Simply standing in the place where so many lives were changed and torn apart for over 100 years is sobering. Nearly 150,000 kidnapped Africans—over 40% of all enslaved Africans trafficked to North America—arrived through Charleston Harbor. Therefore, many Black Americans have at least once ancestor who were trafficked through the city. This is an important story to tell. The rest of the city’s sighs and beautifully preserved history fail to acknowledge the wealth and historic and cultural treasures of this beautiful city stem from the slave trade. If you visit South Carolina, a colony originally founded by plantation owners in the British West Indies, without stopping here you will have missed an important part of our history and story. Lots of signs, pictures, explanations and diagrams. Some artifacts and models but overall less interactive (young kids would be bored). I read basically everything, listened to the firsthand account recording and spent a little under 2 hours here. You could certainly spend less if you’re pressed for time or less into reading all the signs. Staff were friendly, knowledgeable and able to provide good recommendations. 10/10 recommend.
If you think you know what slaves went through, you're probably wrong. But this place will open your eyes to what you didn't know. I recommend doing both museums ( slave mart and dungeon ). You won't regret it, if you like history.
History is very rarely just the roses, it’s the thorny stems also, and here is a testament to the thorny part of US history…slavery. Yes people were actually sold in this building. Their lives stolen from them, their families stolen from them…as you walk and read and see the inhuman treatment of fellow humans, depicted in this building,may it help you understand what truly happened and how to never repeat such atrocities again.
A very historical place to learn about the slave trade and progression through time. Priced reasonable for how small the museum is. Would recommend if in the area and want to learn more about how slavery shaped the area and our country.