World's Apart: Slave Memorial for Mepkin Abbey

Mepkin Abbey is a contemplative community of Cistercian monks in South Carolina. It is located on a former plantation overlooking the West Cooper River which flows into the Atlantic. The plantation was originally owned by Henri Laurens of Charleston; Mr. Laurens was a rice planter. Rice growing is an intensely manual labored crop, and Mr. Laurens supplied this manpower via a large slave community. Laurens not only kept slaves, he was the leading slave importer into the American colonies. There is a small family cemetery for the Laurens on the monastic property. The slaves, however, lie in unmarked graves, scattered about the grounds. The monks have wanted to make amends. Their intention is to create a memorial to the former slave community. As an architect, I have worked with the monks of Mepkin Abbey to design and realize a slave memorial on the former plantation grounds of Henri Laurens, major colonial slave importer. This paper proposal is to elaborate on the thinking, purpose, elements and meaning of the slave memorial. The memorial purpose is to trace African, American, southern, and Native American legacies lying on this site. Thus, it is an intersection, and a place of questions. It will be a third order contact space that confronts one with memory, pilgrimage, darkness, hardship, loss, and eventually hope.