The Amelia Island Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project Committee will hold a ceremony at 11 am Tuesday to dedicate a marker honoring the memory of African slaves who were shipped to the United States. The ceremony will be at Fort San Carlos, located at the Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park (715 San Fernando Street).
The ceremony will formally honor and remember the two million Africans who died during the transatlantic voyage and the 500,000 who survived and disembarked on U.S. territory. The ordeal is known as the Middle Passage.
The historic marker at the site will focus on those who landed on Amelia Island. Along with the marker dedication, the ceremony will include a libation, traditional African tribute to the ancestors, a call of the African nations, and proclamations from community leaders. The public is encouraged to attend.
The Amelia Island location was identified as a Site of Memory by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Slave Route Project, and is one of 43 UNESCO documented U.S. Middle Passage arrival locations from New Hampshire to Texas.
Amelia Island will be the last of five sites in Florida to be completed with a marker and ceremony, thanks in part to the work of the Amelia Island Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project Committee, the Jacksonville Jaguar Foundation, the Amelia Island Museum of History, and the Amelia Island Convention & Visitors Bureau..
To learn more about the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project and the local impact of the Middle Passage, visit MiddlePassageProject.org.
Thank you for this article. This was a once in a lifetime event on Amelia Island.
Since this was about slavery, I find it difficult to learn that no descendants of slaves were recognized. Longest living survivor of a slave family is still a resident of Old Town & is probably oldest resident. Seems people who don’t know history of Old Town have changed the face of community & original residents are overlooked when it comes to gathering real history.
Being part of an African American family myself…Would be nice if we would start recognizing the accomplishments of people in our Black Communities instead of always focusing on slavery…or better yet just treat us like everyone else. We did have a civil war over slavery, does not it needs to be re-litigated and commemorated over and over. Now it just feels like everyone is pandering to our community and its become gratuitous.