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more than two decades ago.
And tomorrow, the International
African American Museum in
Charleston becomes the reality.
And today we're going to take
you inside for a look at some
of what you can expect to
see when you visit the moment
you walk into the International
African American Museum in Charleston.
You will know that this is going to be
unlike anything you've ever seen before.
Museum director Dr.
Tanya Matthews takes us through
exhibits that will leave
visitors with a mix of emotions,
as personal experiences will color the
way each individual sees the exhibits.
Where you are right now is
the Gullah Geechee Gallery.
Now, I would argue that every
American History Museum ought
to have a little bit of go.
But here, of course in Charlestn
and in the heart of the Low Cou,
we are still arguably the hub of
this culture and this community.
And so it allows us to create
essentially a living history gay
and tell the story about the
incredible influence of this particular
community of African Americans
that's still here and thriving,
that really was able to hold on
to our W African roots and has
infused through everything thate
now refer to as Southern cultur.
You don't have to go into the mm
to learn about some of the darkt
moments of history in South Carolina.
Even the land it sits on holds
historical significance.
The building stands 13
feet over Gadsden's Wharf,
the port of arrival for almost half of
all enslaved Africans brought to America.
The historic record tells us thn
the early 1800s a particularly d
winter came through and there we
upwards of 700 souls being held simply
waiting for their price to go u,
and they died waiting.
Our storage house was one of the
spaces where individuals were kept and
perished waiting for their price to go up.
But the way we decided to intert
that space is there's a A1
dimensional brick outline that s
you where the storage house was.
And then cutting across that brick outline,
you've got 2 black granite wall,
the interior polished so smooth,
you can see your reflection in the walls.
There's a series of hunch kneelg
figures within those two walls,
obviously representing those that we lost.
But as those figures get closer
and closer to the water,
they appear to be emerging
out of the concrete.
And then on the outside of that space,
we've inscribed the Maya Angelou poem,
And still I rise.
So it's always all woven in there together,
never just one emotion when
it comes to our stories.
The museum began as a vision and
former Charleston Mayor Joe Ril,
State of the City address 23 years ago.
It took us a long time to get h.
The vision and the themes that you see now
is not. Not actually
how we started out.
That started out because we had
conversation after conversationd
talked to community after commu,
and that's how the picture got
bigger and bigger and bigger ane
still of course can't tell at a.
You cannot fit an entire cultur.
Inside any History Museum, even if you
are the second largest of your d
in the country. So we have a gallery.
South Carolina Connections.
You know, the International Afrn
American Museum is a national
African American History Museum
with an international lead.
But we understand who the home team is.
And the more I read, the more I learn,
the more I also realize that may
of the stories that I know have
roots right here in South Carol.
We of course have modern living
history and Congressman Jim
Clyburn, though some folks forgt
just how much history he made
at the beginning of his term.
So we put him in there.
But then we have Althea Gibson,
we have Dizzy Gillespie.
We have Ronald McNair.
These are stories that people k.
Names are familiar.
Familiar with, but may not quite
understand that their roots
are here in South Carolina.
The museum is home to 12 permant
exhibitions that include nine galleries.
That was just a snapshot of
what there is to see now.
According to the museum,
tickets for the grand opening ae
sold out tomorrow as well as Tuesday.