African American History Monument
State Capital Grounds
Columbia, SC

This Monument was commissioned by the State of South Carolina. It depicts the history of African Americans from slavery to the present.

It features a central obelisk as it's focus, with an entry element that includes of a map of the "Middle Passage" where forty percent of the slaves went directly to Charleston, SC. The entry features four "Rubbing Stones" from the four main geographical areas that were the source for slaves: Sierra Leone, Senegal, the Congo and Ghana.

Circular, granite elements rise on either side of the obelisk and contain twelve bronze panels that present a chronological history of the African American experience from the auction block, to slave labor, to the civil war, to emancipation, to the reconstruction, and to the emergence of African Americans as astronauts, judges, business persons and political leaders. The monument was unveiled March 29, 2001.