Africa to Carolina

The North Carolina African American Heritage Commission's Africa to Carolina initiative serves to identify, acknowledge and mark each site in the state where enslaved Africans disembarked directly from the African Continent. 

Sites

AAHC staff worked closely with the NC Office of Archives & History and the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker Project to identify the following disembarkation sites. Sites are listed in alphabetical order. 

  1. Port Bath
  2. Port Beaufort
  3. Port Brunswick
  4. Port Currituck
  5. New Bern 
  6. Port Roanoke
  7. Wilmington

"Africa to Carolina" Advisory Board

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Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies is an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at UNC Chapel Hill. 

Ramona Bartos is Director of the Division of Historical Resources in the NC Office of Archives and History.

Tracey Burns is Assistant Secretary for Diversity and Cultural Inclusion in the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Ann Chinn is the Founder and Executive Director of the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit.

Jaki Shelton Green is a renowned and decorated writer, poet and arts advocate. She was recently appointed as the ninth North Carolina Poet Laureate.

Karen Hayes is the Manager of Somerset Place State Historic Site (Crewsell, NC). 

Mike Hill is Research Supervisor of the NC Office of Archives and History.

Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson is the Mott Distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of Africana Women’s Studies at Bennett College for Women. She also serves as Chair of the NC African American Heritage Commission.

Michelle Lanier is the Director of the NC Division of State Historic Sites and Properties. Before taking on this role, she served as the Founding Executive Director of the NC African American Heritage Commission. 

Charles "Chuck" LeCount is the Deputy Director of North Carolina Historic Sites.

Jim McKee is the Manager for Brunswick Town/Ft. Anderson State Historic Site (Winnabow, NC).

John Mintz serves as the State Archaeologist in the NC Office of State Archaeology.

Dr. Nora Reber is Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at UNC Wilmington.

Dr. Melissa Stuckey is an Assistant Professor of History at  Elizabeth City State University.