Little-Known Black Ellis Island

Sullivan's Island, an idyllic beach town on the coast of South Carolina, just across the bridge from Charleston, is widely considered the "African-American's Ellis Island" among historians.  The island is an exclusive neighborhood of pre-civil was cottages that served as the summertime get-away for wealthy Charlestonians.

During the era of slave trade, the island's Fort Moultrie was the first US stopping point for slaves who survived the dangerous Middle Passage from West Africa. The slaves spent weeks at Fort Moultrie quaranteened in "pests houses" before they were taken to be sold at markets. This summer at Fort Moultrie,  National Parks Service and the non-profit Toni Morrison Society unveiled the first installation of the "Bench by the Side of the Road" project which memorializes the hundreds of thousands who served their lives in slavery.

Also on the island is the historic African-American cemetary which holds the remains of some of Sullivan's Island's original Islanders, people whose history parallels that of the Island.  Buried here are carpenters, cooks, oystermen, laundresses, nursemaids, house keepers, midwives, soldiers and sailors who helped build the palmetto log fort prior to the Revolutionary War.

For more sight seeing in the Charleston area related to African-American Heritage, visit

International African-American Museum

Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture