Denmark Vesey’s Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Cradle of the Confederacy

Abstract

In the wake of Dylann Roof’s murders at a Charleston church and another death during the violence at the Lee Monument in Charlottesville, a public debate over taking down Confederate monuments has intensified. The resulting discussion of the meaning of the Confederacy and the use of Confederate symbols can help Americans better understand their racial past. In coming to terms with that past, however, it may be even more important to address how Americans remember and present the history of slavery. If so, Ethan J. Kytle’s and Blain Roberts’ fascinating study of how one city, Charleston, South Carolina, remembered slavery becomes particularly timely and important.