Area author: Events happen for a reason 2/7/2010 11:43 PM
By RACHEL JOHNSON Staff writer
A celebration of African culture and heritage transported attendees to West Africa through dance, music and history.
The Center for African American History, Art and Culture drew nearly 100 people on Saturday to the Lloyd Kennedy School for a celebration of the past. The day featured lectures on topics ranging from the little known black history facts of Aiken to Buffalo Soldiers and the black cowboy.
North Augusta historian and author Wayne O'Briant discussed information he uncovered while researching his newest book to be published in the upcoming months, titled "The Exhumation of the Hamburg Incident."
Today a monument stands in North Augusta that was erected in 1916 but few realize the historical significance of the monument and the event for which it commemorates. The monument was erected in honor of the lone white man killed in the massacre that occurred on July 8, 1876, leaving six black men dead, as well. In recent years, the idea to erect a monument in honor of the six black men has been raised.
"After Emancipation, ex-slaves became the majority in the State House, including the mayor of Hamburg; however, after the Hamburg Massacre, political power was taken away, and the entire country shifted toward segregation. The country was headed in another direction," said O'Briant. "Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King were needed because of what happened in Aiken County at Hamburg. Events don't just happen, they are all connected."
As reported by The (North Augusta) Star Editor Phyllis Britt in 2008 in the Aiken Standard, according to an official report by S.C. Attorney General William Stone dated July 12, 1876, the massacre began on July 4 when the local federal militia, consisting of black freed men, assembled for either an Independence Day parade or to drill as a group. Two white farmers ordered the group to disperse in order to pass in their wagon.
Despite the wagon being allowed to pass without incident, the farmers went to the town court and requested the arrest of the militia captain who was ordered to stand trial for contempt of court. In the interim, General M.C. Butler deemed the issue of military a concern and decided to disarm the militia, aided by 100 local white men. The militia refused to disarm, and a fight broke out.
A cannon was brought, and, at dark, when the outnumbered militiamen attempted to run, one man was killed, and 25 of the militia were captured. The following morning, five of the captives were executed, and the property of many black townspeople was plundered. According to Stone's report, one of the men killed wasn't in the militia; he happened to be in the building when the fight began. Another man killed was an Aiken County commissioner. The account concludes that those demanding the arms did so without authority, but no one in the group was prosecuted.
"Even though the monument mentions Anglo-Saxon supremacists, the monument is needed to remember and understand that time," said O'Briant. "There is always something moving events to allow things to happen."
O'Briant also discussed the slave trade and its effect on the local area, including the digging of the railroad trenches, which eventually put Aiken on the map.
"The railroad company bought slaves to dig the railroad bed," he said. "When we celebrate Black History, we honor those people who will never be known, but we recognize their contributions."
He encouraged the audience to make a difference one person at a time, citing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who grew up around a missionary who had met Ghandi. He garnered an understanding of nonviolent resistance as a child.
"If this guy had never taken the time to tell Martin Luther King about it, he may not have had the tools he needed to lead the civil rights movement," O'Briant said. "You'd be surprised at the power of the individual."
After O'Briant spoke, musicians and dancers from ABATSU African Drummers and Dancers, based in Augusta, shared ABATSU dancing and music through an interactive session with the audience.
The Black History Month celebration offered a glimpse of the goal for The Center for African American History, Art and Culture.
"Today was excellent; we had to move to a larger room because we had so many people come," said Jo-Anne Saunders, development consultant for The Center for African American History, Art and Culture. "What we did today was just a snippet reflective of what we plan to do at the center."
Officials anticipate opening at the York Street location by early 2012.
For more information, call 649-2221.
Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.
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