Anson Street African Burial Ground
Site Brief:
Founded: 1760s
Location:
Additional name(s): N/A
Affiliate group(s): Anson Street African Burial Ground project
History:
The African Burial Ground on Anson Street in Charleston, South Carolina, was rediscovered in 2013 during construction activities. Archaeological investigation revealed the graves of thirty-six children, women, and men of African descent who were buried there between the 1760s and 1790s. Although no documentary record of the burial ground has been found, the archaeological evidence speaks powerfully: the ancestors were laid to rest with care by their loved ones, some dressed in clothing, some wrapped in shrouds, and some interred with personal belongings. Isotopic analysis indicates that at least six individuals were born in West and West Central Africa, survived the Middle Passage, and spent their final years in Charleston.
The site is significant to both the local community and Black history as a rare and sacred testament to African presence, resilience, and cultural continuity in one of the principal ports of the transatlantic slave trade. In May 2017, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg invited the grassroots Gullah Society, led by Dr. Ade Ofunniyin, to guide the memorialization and reburial process. Over the next two years, the organization engaged community members through arts programming, education initiatives, DNA research, and the development of memorial designs. During a Yoruba Naming Ceremony on April 27, 2019, the ancestors were given honorary African and Gullah Geechee names, restoring identity and dignity. They were reinterred on May 4, 2019, in the sacred ground where they were originally laid to rest. On December 14, 2025, a permanent memorial was dedicated to honor their lives and the countless African ancestors buried in Charleston’s soil.
Resource links:
https://www.asabgproject.com/
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24149
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/dead-have-been-awakened-in-the-service-of-the-living-activist-communityengaged-archaeology-in-charleston-south-carolina/D782A8664892926DC569803BA1FECD3B
BCN Contact Information:
Joanna Gilmore
asabgproject@gmail.com