Page 121 - 1619 Project Curriculum

8 SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019

Low Country basket, 19th century.

Memory and

Place-Making

ENSLAVED BLACK people came
from regions and ethnic groups
throughout Africa. Though they
came empty-handed, they carried
with them memories of loved
ones and communities, moral
values, intellectual insight, artistic
talents and cultural practices,
religious beliefs and skills. In their
new environment, they relied
on these memories to create
new practices infused with old
ones. In the Low Country region
of the Carolinas and Georgia,
planters specifically requested
skilled enslaved people from a
region stretching from Senegal to
Liberia, who were familiar with the
conditions ideal for growing rice.
Charleston quickly became the
busiest port for people shipped
from West Africa. The coiled or
woven baskets used to separate
Stock Certificate
rice grains from husks during
harvest were a form of artistry and
technology brought from Africa to
the colonies. Although the baskets
were utilitarian, they also served as
a source of artistic pride and a way
to stay connected to the culture
and memory of the homeland.

Photographs by Erica Deeman for The New York Times. Objects from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.