Polite: My family’s link to West Africa is told in IAAM exhibit

Six months after the International African American Museum (IAAM) opened, I stepped inside the museum for a surreal experience where my family’s history is among other important events in this nation’s history.

I knew it made my ancestors proud that their story will be shared in the IAAM’s Center for Family History for generations to come. It is difficult to put into words the emotions my husband, Antawn, our daughter, Faith, our son, Martin, and I felt that day.

My family’s story in America began in 1756 when the New England-based slave ship Hare left Sierra Leone that April 9 carrying 84 enslaved Africans, including children. Only 71 of them disembarked in Charles Town, a sign that 13 may have died during the three-month voyage.

Berkeley County rice planter Elias Ball purchased at least five young Africans from that vessel, including a girl, about 10 years old, who he later named Priscilla.

Edward Ball, author of Slaves in the Family, traced his family’s plantation record of people his ancestor enslaved. Ball’s research brought him to my father, Thomas Martin of Charleston.

Priscilla is my seventh-generation grandmother. Our story first appeared in Ball’s book and now it is on display in the IAAM. Standing before the museum exhibit showcasing my family’s history and my photograph, a profound bewilderment washed over me. Yes, that is my picture in the exhibit. (See photo at right.) It was a struggle to believe I am the unexpected bearer of my ancestors’ story.

Priscilla’s narrative lives through meticulously preserved records and artifacts enriched that day by the presence of her descendants.

We marveled at the curated artifacts, including records from the slave ship, documents showing Priscilla’s purchase, and her presence on the Ball plantation. The display even holds her death record.

Each document serves as a portal to the past, offering glimpses into the unimaginable hardships Priscilla endured.

In that room, I imagined her long walk from a village in Sierra Leone to the sea port followed by the harrowing Middle Passage and the brutality on a South Carolina rice plantation.

Despite it all, Priscilla has an enduring legacy that Faith and I especially carry as females in our family. Seeing her name etched in history wasn’t merely an academic exercise but a profound affirmation of our existence.

In 2005, my family had the opportunity to meet the wonderful people of Sierra Leone via an invitation by the country’s president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah during a national event dubbed “Priscilla’s Homecoming.”

American anthropologist Joseph Opala, who uncovered the slave ship records of Priscilla’s arrival in Charles Towne, arranged the visit with Kabbah. The museum exhibit includes a picture of my meeting with Kabbah.

Since then, my family has told our story in the documentary Priscilla’s Legacy.

Leaving the IAAM, we carried a profound sense of gratitude and the hope that other African American families might also make a similar connection with an African ancestor.

If they did, they might discover that intersections of history, identity and resilience serve as poignant reminders that, even in the face of unspeakable atrocities, the human spirit has the capacity to endure, reconnect, and build anew.

Thomalind Martin Polite is a North Charleston speech language pathologist.