Black Geographies and Placemaking through Brush Harbors and the Rural Black Church

Abstract: The purpose of this project is to complete fieldwork and continue writing about placemaking through brush harbors and brick and mortar churches. In this project, I prioritize the placemaking practices of rural Black churches who are inland, an area of the state that has received less attention in research with and about Black South Carolinians. I add to theorizations on Black geographies of the U.S. South, amplifying the significance of South Carolina in these discussions as the largest slave port in the United States. The enslaved established brush harbors often in the forests of plantations to practice their spirituality and religion. Newly freed Black people also established brush harbors when they did not have the monetary resources to build more permanent structures. Brush harbors are documented via W.P.A. surveys, and I will also investigate geographic tools like remote sensing to locate them. I will also research and write about the Black laborers who built Black churches, including Black construction workers, and Black brick masons through archival documents and interviews with their descendants. The final product of this research will be a book manuscript and a sustainable digital archive for the churches I work alongside.