The International African American Museum (IAAM) is a museum of African-American history in Charleston, South Carolina, located at a former shipping wharf where approximately 40% of the nation's enslaved persons disembarked. The museum opened June 27, 2023, [1] after 20 years of planning. [2]
The idea of the museum was initiated by former Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. [3] The city had previously sold the land to a restaurateur, but after construction on the site discovered traces of Gadsden's Wharf, Riley decided to repurchase the land. [4]
The construction budget of the museum is $75 million. Riley raised money for the project as a private citizen. The $25 million private donation goal was met in 2018. [4] The South Carolina General Assembly delayed a $25 million contribution to the project, which delayed construction of the 40,000-square-foot facility.
The city of North Charleston donated $1 million to the project. Keith Sumney, the mayor of North Charleston, stated that he hoped the museum would include an exhibit on Liberty Hill, a historically black neighborhood in North Charleston. [5]
The design architect is Harry Cobb, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, working in collaboration with Moody Nolan architectural firm of Columbus, Ohio; the exhibition designer is Ralph Appelbaum Associates and the landscape designer is Walter Hood, of Oakland, California. [6] The museum was built on the Cooper River, with a view towards Fort Sumter and out to the Atlantic Ocean. [3] [7] Its first CEO was Michael B. Moore. [8]
The museum opened in 2023 with presentations made at the dedication ceremony by former Charleston mayors Joseph P. Riley Jr and John Tecklenburg, Phylicia Rashad, Congressman Jim Clyburn, State Senator Darrell Jackson, State Representative JA Moore, gospel singer Bebe Winans, poet Nikky Finney, anthropologist Johnnetta Cole, former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, IAAM President Dr. Tonya Matthews and others. [9]
Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia and the county seat of Kanawha County. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charleston metropolitan area had 308,248 residents in 2020.
Charleston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had a population of 150,227 at the 2020 census. The population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was estimated to be 849,417 in 2023. It ranks as the third-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the state, and the 71st-most populous in the United States.
Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, this city had a population of 22,440, up from 20,425 in 2010. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains along the southeastern banks of Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River. Unincorporated areas known as Acworth extend into Bartow, Cherokee and Paulding counties.
Mableton is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. Voters of the unincorporated area of Mableton approved a referendum to incorporate on November 8, 2022, and six council members were elected on March 21, 2023, with Michael Owens elected as mayor of Mableton in the 2023 Mableton mayoral election. According to the 2020 census, the census-designated area Mableton had a population of 37,115; the city has more. Upon Brookhaven's cityhood in December 2012, Mableton was previously the largest unincorporated CDP in Metro Atlanta. With boundaries described in Appendix A of House Bill 839, Mableton is the largest city in Cobb County in terms of population and includes historical Mableton, along with the Six Flags area, areas of unincorporated Smyrna, and parts of unincorporated South Cobb.
Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. The 12,000-capacity Walter H. Cantrell Stadium is located in Powder Springs. It is used mostly for football and soccer matches.
Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,056 at the 2020 census, down from 5,947 in 2010. It is the county seat of Mississippi County and is home to the Southeast Correctional Center.
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Sampit rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year, while Charleston is the largest.
North Charleston is a city in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, North Charleston had a population of 114,852, making it the third-most populous city in the state, and the 248th-most populous city in the United States. North Charleston is a principal city within the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 849,417 in 2023.
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
Southwest is the southwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of the National Mall and west of South Capitol Street. It is the smallest quadrant of the city, and contains a small number of named neighborhoods and districts, including Bellevue, Southwest Federal Center, the Southwest Waterfront, Buzzard Point, and the military installation known as Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling.
James Island is a town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. It is located in the central and southern parts of James Island. James Island is included within the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metropolitan area and the Charleston-North Charleston Urbanized Area.
Joseph Patrick Riley Jr. is an American politician who served as the 60th mayor of Charleston, South Carolina from 1975 to 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1968 to 1974 and was the 44th President of the United States Conference of Mayors from 1986 to 1987. Riley's 40 years as mayor were the longest in South Carolina history at the time of his retirement and are the longest in Charleston's history.
Johnson Hagood Stadium, is an 11,500-seat football stadium, the home field of The Citadel Bulldogs football team, in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The stadium is named in honor of Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, CSA, class of 1847, who commanded Confederate forces in Charleston during the Civil War and later served as Comptroller and Governor of South Carolina.
Shelley Riley Moore was an American educator who served as the First Lady of West Virginia from 1969–1977, and from 1985–1989 during the tenure of her husband, former Governor Arch A. Moore Jr. and the mother of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
Waterfront Park is an eight-acre park along approximately one-half mile of the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina. The park received the 2007 Landmark Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This award "recognizes a distinguished landscape architecture project completed between 15 and 50 years ago that retains its original design integrity and contributes significantly to the public realm of the community in which it is located."
The following is a timeline of the history of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education. According to the Foundation Center, Bloomberg Philanthropies was the 10th largest foundation in the United States in 2015, the last year for which data was available. Bloomberg has pledged to donate the majority of his wealth, currently estimated at more than $54 billion. Patti Harris is the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The People's Building at 18 Broad St. was Charleston, South Carolina's first "skyscraper", erected in 1910 and 1911 at a cost of $300,000. It was designed by a Swedish architect, Victor Frohling of Thompson & Frohling, of New York and built by both Simons-Mayrant of Charleston and also the Hadden Construction Co. Construction began on December 7, 1909. The pile driving so weakened a nearby residence that the People's Building & Investment Co. had to buy it. The structure is a steel framed building with iron framing whose engineer was D.C. Barbot. Work continued throughout early 1910. The construction of the building became a popular spectacle for residents to watch. An American flag was placed atop the building's frame when it was topped out in late April 1910. The owners of the building considered installing a rooftop garden to take advantage of the superb views from the building.
Gadsden's Wharf is a wharf located in Charleston, South Carolina. It was the first destination for an estimated 100,000 enslaved Africans during the peak of the international slave trade. Some researchers have estimated that 40% of the enslaved Africans in the United States landed at Gadsden's Wharf. At one point, the wharf was the largest in America. The wharf is now home to the South Carolina Aquarium, the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center, and the International African American Museum which opened in 2023.
The William Moultrie statue is a monumental statue in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Located in White Point Garden, the statue was unveiled in 2007 and honors William Moultrie, a general in the American Revolutionary War.