Old Slave Mart Museum

Old Slave Mart Museum, Charleston, SC

Explore Charleston’s past at the Old Slave Mart Museum as part of this group bus tour. Located on the cobblestone street of Chalmers in Charleston, South Carolina, the Old Slave Mart was one of the many marts built to sell slaves during the inter-state slave trade. Known as the last surviving slave auction gallery in South Carolina, today the Old Slave Mart Museum is registered on the National Register of Historic Places, recounting the history of Charleston during the inter-state slave trade with focus on the history of the building, site and slaves sales that occurred on the site.

Visiting Old Slave Mart Museum

During your visit to this former slave auction building, explore the role Charleston played as an urban slave-trading center during the domestic slave trade. Exhibits that chronicle the history of the institution of slavery with a particular focus on the role Charleston played are brought to life with artifacts from the Old Slave Mart Museum’s Rebecca R. Hollingsworth collection and pieces from the personal collections of local sweetgrass basket artist Jeanette Gaillard-Lee and blacksmith Philip Simmons.

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Old Slave Mart Museum Exhibits

Orientation Area

Start your visit to the Old Slave Mart in the orientation area of the museum, offering an overview of the domestic slave trade within the greater historical context of slavery in the United States and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Additional displays in the orientation area explore the systems, mechanics of domestic slave operations and the major social, political and economic impact that trade had on society during the time.

Main Exhibit Area

Take a closer look at the daily process of slave sales at the Old Slave Mart in the main exhibit area as you learn about historically documented buyers, traders and enslaved African Americans who passed through the Old Slave Mart. Personal letters, oral histories, documents, audio, video and artifacts from the individuals who shaped the history of the domestic slave trade bring the main exhibit area to life. Accounts of the contributions of the individuals involved in the outcome of the domestic slave trade are also explored.

Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery

Don’t miss Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery in the museum’s upstairs gallery. Created by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library and the UNESCO Slave Route Project, Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery examines the cultural, political, economic and social practices that enslaved Africans developed through panels that reflect the experience of slavery. Panels explore topics including slave labor, slave systems in the Americas, the struggle against slavery and its abolition and triumph over slavery.

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Travel Tips

- The Old Slave Museum is ADA compliant.

- If time permits, visit the Old Slave Museum’s gift shop. Books and other literature related to Charleston, South Carolina history are available for purchase.

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