In 2021, the Historical Review Taskforce recommended the formation of the Committee on Commemoration and Landscapes (CCL). The CCL's mission is to present complete and accurate information about the College that communicates its commitment to 21st-century values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Under the leadership of co-chairs Julia Eichelberger, director of Southern studies, and Valerie Frazier ’91 (M.P.A. ’94), associate professor of English and director of the 1967 Legacy Program, the CCL has completed several important initiatives.
The College of Charleston campus is situated on lands that were once occupied by Indigenous American groups like the Etiwan, Kiawah, and Wando peoples. British colonists claimed control of the region in the 1600s, with Charleston as the hub of a society designed to enrich those who controlled land and profited from enslaved labor and human trafficking. The College of Charleston was conceived in the colonial era by leaders of this slaveholding society, dedicated to the education of the elite. From its beginnings until the twentieth century, the College was not much bigger than Cistern Yard and sometimes had only a handful of faculty and students. Surrounding that campus were houses of worship, schools, cemeteries, businesses, and residences, many on individual properties that the College now owns. Our campus and surrounding neighborhoods were occupied by many individuals and groups—enslaved and free, rich and poor, welcomed by the College and excluded from it--whose lives are not immediately visible in the monumental columns of Randolph Hall. All their stories and contributions are worth rediscovering and remembering.
Are you interested in working on these projects with the CCL? If you wish to join other faculty, staff, and students in our ongoing work, please contact one of the co-chairs: eichelbergerj@cofc.edu or frazierv@cofc.edu.
