Leaked database reveals 'Bench by the Road' at Fort Moultrie among SC materials flagged by NPS staff
Image from Fort Sumter National Monument a database uploaded to two public websites taken at South Carolina’s National Parks.
National Park Service/ProvidedThe sign that hung above a water fountain outside the visitors center was gone on March 4.
Other exhibits flagged included a wall of quotes about slavery, from both abolitionists and supporters, and an excerpt from the diary of Mary Boykin Chestnut about children borne by enslaved women to White plantation owners.
Image from a display at Liberty Square from a database uploaded to two public websites taken at South Carolina’s National Parks.
National Park Service/ProvidedSeveral books sold in the gift shops at Fort Sumter and Liberty Square were flagged for review, along with a Juneteenth postcard and an African doll.
A panel about the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which ruled that U.S. citizenship—and federal protections—did not extend to enslaved people, was marked for review. That exhibit also included a quote from Abraham Lincoln, which echoes the sentiment.
Other images staff had flagged, like the Scourged Back, a drawing that depicts an enslaved man’s whip-scarred back, are still up at the Liberty Square Visitor Center.
Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island
In the back corner of the Fort Moultrie Visitor Center, an exhibit called “African Passages” details the history of slavery, Sullivan’s Island’s role in the slave trade and the inhumane conditions Africans experienced when they were kidnapped and brought to the Americas.
The exhibit includes a panel about Olaudah Equiano, who was captured from Nigeria as a boy and eventually bought his own freedom. Equiano was an abolitionist and author. His memoir is offered in the park gift shop.
Image Fort Moultrie Visitor Center from a database uploaded to two public websites taken at South Carolina’s National Parks.
National Park Service/ProvidedA site bulletin titled “Lowcountry Slavery and the Middle Passage” explains the transatlantic slave trade and the experiences of Africans in the Lowcountry after they were brought to South Carolina.
These exhibits and bulletins were flagged for review by park staff, along with the “Bench by the Road” on the park grounds.
Staff asked that these materials be reviewed for compliance with Trump and Burgum’s orders. They also provided context for why the information is featured in the park.
They referenced the park’s foundational documents from when Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie were upgraded from National Monuments to National Historical Park in 2016.