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Slave child's life traced in museum exhibit |
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Monday, 11 February 2008 |
 The precise number of African people transported to North America as part of
the slave trade is unknown, but estimates range from 6-10 million.
Once sold,
these men, women and children ended up living and dying in obscurity. It is rare
to be able to pick out the thread of one slave's life from this human tapestry
and follow it down through history to the present day, even more unusual when
that slave is a child.
Beginning Feb. 15, the story of one slave child's life
and the family tree she founded will be the subject of a new exhibit, Finding
Priscilla's Children, at the South Carolina State Museum .
In 1756, Priscilla,
a 10-year-old girl from Sierra Leone, was sold at auction to Elias Ball, a
wealthy rice planter in South Carolina.
Priscilla's story is told through a
document trail that goes back 256 years beginning with her trip from Sierra
Leone on the Rhode Island slave ship Hare and tracing her life on the Ball
plantation. Dying in slavery at age 65, she was survived by 10 children. Edward
Ball, a descendant of Elias Ball, discovered Priscilla's history while
researching his own family tree. This discovery allowed the seventh generation
of Priscilla's descendants to be reunited with her fellow countrymen in Sierra
Leone.
"When I saw the exhibit at the New York Historical Society, I was
struck by the fact that it was about a child," Curator of History Elaine Nichols
said. "Since children are a part of all families, Priscilla's story has broad
appeal as a personal story about connections and associations."
In
conjunction with the exhibit, the State Museum will offer a genealogy workshop
on Feb. 16 to guide African-Americans in researching their own personal family
heritage. Noted genealogist and scholar, Alexia Helsley will conduct the
workshop.
Finding Priscilla's Children can been seen at the State Museum Feb.
15 through May 11. For more information contact Nichols at 803-898-4953.
TheTandD.com
| Slave child's life traced in museum exhibit
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