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The past few weeks have got me thinking about ways to expand public awareness of slavery. One way can be to highlight how the history of slavery touches a wide variety of locations throughout the U.S., especially where not immediately obvious. #twitterstorians #publichistory 1/?
To show how this can be done, I& #39;ll take the example of Kolomoki Mounds State Park in Georgia, the site of Native American mounds dating from 350-600 C.E. 2/? https://gastateparks.org/KolomokiMounds ">https://gastateparks.org/KolomokiM...
I& #39;ve visited Kolomoki on many occasions, as my local church group held summer camps there. For me, however, the site bears a more personal significance as it is also the former home of my 4x-great-grandfather and his family. Here I am in front of their graves. 3/?
Despite my grandmother having done extensive genealogical research for 15+ years, it was only a few months ago that I found out that my ancestor enslaved persons at the site of the state park. 4/?
The 1850 slave schedule lists my 4x-great-grandfather G.W. Mercier as enslaving twenty-eight persons. The 1860 slave schedule lists forty-seven enslaved persons. 5/x
Again, I did not know any of this until a few months ago. I highly doubt anyone at @GaStateParks knows this either, because it was never mentioned anywhere in the park AFAIK. I haven& #39;t visited for a number of years, so they may do so now. 6/x
Oh, and one more thing, just FYI: while it& #39;s unproven, it is possible that my ancestors are buried on top of one of the Native American mounds. 7/x
This is just an example, but I am sure there are other places like Kolomoki where the history of slavery has gone unnoticed and untold. 8/x
I& #39;m sharing this not only because it& #39;s a part of my family history but because I think people should know that slavery intersects with so many facets of U.S. history. 9/x
I personally think Kolomoki is a compelling example because of the intersectionality it reveals: Native American, white settlers, and enslavement of African Americans all in one place. 10/x
