For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2023
Contact:
Marie Cheek
Community Relations Coordinator
Culture & Heritage Museums
www.chmuseums.org
803.909.7312 mcheek@chmuseums.org
Culture & Heritage Museums receives prestigious Award of Excellence for exhibit “Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877”
McCONNELLS, S.C. – Culture & Heritage Museums of York County was selected as a 2023 Award of Excellence winner by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for “Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877.” Expanding Historic Brattonsville’s interpretation beyond the Revolutionary and Antebellum Eras, the exhibit details the Reconstruction Era and the fight for the newly recognized rights of African Americans. The Award of Excellence is part of the AASLH Leadership in History Awards, the nation’s most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation of state and local history.
As described on the American Association for State and Local History’s website, aaslh.org, Leadership in History Awards recognize projects that are rooted in “Good History.” AASLH award-winning projects exemplify ‘good history’ by “embracing difficult history, acting to build diversity and inclusiveness, cultivating an experimental and creative spirit, demonstrating the relevance of history, and attempting to be accessible to wide audiences.” Culture & Heritage Museums is honored to have earned national recognition for their work in ‘good history.’
“Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877” opened in November 2021 in Historic Brattonsville’s newly restored Brick House.
The exhibit tells the story of Captain James Williams, who was formerly enslaved on the Brattonsville plantation, and, after Emancipation, was appointed by the state as captain of a local militia in charge of protecting the newly recognized rights of African Americans. His efforts cost him his life at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan in March 1871. The exhibit’s narrative dispels myths and half-truths born of lost-cause ideology that often served as a justification for Williams’ murder. Collaborating with scholars, advisors and experts on the Reconstruction Era, including the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission, the NAACP, and descendants of James Williams, Culture & Heritage Museums ensured that the information presented in the exhibit, and in living history interpretation, is accurate, comprehensive, inclusive, and sensitive.
Culture & Heritage Museums’ award-winning exhibit at Historic Brattonsville examines the relevance between the fight for Reconstruction Era civil rights, the Civil Rights movement of the twentieth century, and historic issues still discussed today, including voter suppression, discrimination, and racially motivated violence. The exhibit details the Reconstruction history of the South Carolina Piedmont region along with important events that occurred state-wide, nationally, and internationally during this time. Presenting a narrative that considers gender, social class, and geography, the exhibit also builds diversity and inclusiveness.
“The history conveyed in the Liberty & Resistance exhibit, through its interpretive text panels and compelling visuals, is nationally significant. The events that occurred in Reconstruction York County had an impact on the greater struggle for civil rights in America. We are grateful that AASLH has seen fit to honor us with this prestigious award thereby bringing more attention to this important chapter in our nation’s history.” — Zach Lemhouse, historian for Culture & Heritage Museums.
Accessible to wide audiences, “Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877” is wheelchair accessible and appeals to different learning styles, abilities, and interests. As a participant in Museums for All, Historic Brattonsville, as well as all CHM sites, provides reduced admission for low-income families. CHM sites are also
Blue-Star-Museums and offer free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve from Armed Forces Day through Labor Day.
For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615-320-3203, or go to www.aaslh.org.
Historic Brattonsville is located at 1444 Brattonsville Rd., McConnells, S.C.
For hours and admission, go to chmuseums.org
Or call Visitor Services at 803.684.2327
IMAGES:
1. Descendants of James Williams preview “Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877” on November 2, 2021. The exhibit has received a 2023 Award of Excellence by the American Association for State and Local History.
2. Culture & Heritage Museums’ AASLH award-winning exhibit “Liberty and Resistance: Reconstruction and the African American Community at Brattonsville 1865-1877” is installed in Historic Brattonsville’s 180-year-old Brick House, which CHM restored to how it looked in 1871 to interpret the Reconstruction Era in York County. The exhibit was only able to be installed after stabilization and restoration work of the Brick House was completed. Image taken on November 2, 2021 as the descendants of Jim Williams preview the exhibit.
Images courtesy of Culture & Heritage Museums staff.
Contact mcheek@chmuseums.org for high resolution images.
About Culture & Heritage Museums:
Culture & Heritage Museums is a family of museums in York County: Historic Brattonsville in McConnells, the McCelvey Center, which includes the Historical Center, in York, and the Museum of York County and Main Street Children’s Museum in Rock Hill. CHM is a Smithsonian Affiliate and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. According to AAM, accreditation is “the ultimate mark of distinction in the museum field” and “signifies excellence and credibility to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies and to the museum-going public.” In South Carolina, there are only twelve museums or museum systems that have achieved this distinction.
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