2024 Weeping Time Commemoration
165th Anniversary
Thursday, February 29th - Sunday, March 3rd
On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest slave sale in recorded American history took place at the former Ten Broeck horse racecourse in West Savannah, Georgia when 429 men, women, boys and girls from the Butler plantations near Darien and St. Simons Island, Georgia, were transported to Savannah and sold. The sale took two days during which time families were separated and scattered throughout the American south; many never saw each other again.
During the entire course of the sale, it rained torrentially in Savannah, stopping only after the last enslaved person had been sold. African Americans call this traumatic event The Weeping Time because, they say, God must have been weeping.
The general public is cordially invited to participate in the in-person celebrations!
Itinerary
Thursday, February 29th
10:00am - 11:30am
The Weeping Time: Past, Present & Future
Georgia Southern University: Armstrong Campus: Gullah Geechee Center
13040 Abercorn Street, Savannah, Georgia 31410
Panel Discussion led by Dr. Kwesi DeGraft Hanson
Host: Dr. Maxine L. Bryant: Director: Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center
3:00pm - 4:30pm
The Weeping Time: Past, Present & Future
Savannah State University: Asa H. Gordon Library
2200 Tompkins Road, Savannah, Georgia 31404
Panel Discussion led by Dr. Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson
Hosts: Dr. Deborah Johnson-Simon: Scholar-In-Residence, and Friends of the Library
Friday, March 1st
11:30am - 1:30pm
Food as Commemoration, and Researching African American Genealogy
The Beach Institute African American Cultural Center
502 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401
Panel Discussion led by Ms. Kiplyn Primus: WCLK 91.9 FM: Clark Atlanta University: Atlanta
Host: Mr. Johnathan Winbush: General Manager: King-Tisdale Cottage Foundation
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Teaching the Future about The Past
Otis J. Brock III Elementary School
1804 Stratford Street, Savannah, Georgia 31415
Presenter: Dr. Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson
Host: Dr. Desma Patterson: Principal: Otis J. Brock III Elementary School
5:00pm
Twilight Ceremony: Light Up Butler Island
Butler Island Plantation
7777 Butler Island Road, Darien, Georgia 31305
Host: Queen Mother Eunice Moore; Elder Griffin Lotson; Councilman Dr. William Collins; Ms. Missy Brandt-Wilson; Darien & McIntosh County Community
You may bring a Solar Light to place on the paths of Butler Island in memoriam.
Saturday, March 2nd
(first day of the 1859 Weeping Time Slave Sale)
9:00am
Libations and Laying of the Wreath
Georgia Historical Society Marker
2053 Augusta Avenue, Savannah, Georgia 31415
Host: Dr. Brenda Roberts: Educator and Administrator: Savannah
10:00am - 12:00pm
2024 Weeping Time Commemoration Ceremony: Savannah
Otis J. Brock III Elementary School
1804 Stratford Street, Savannah, Georgia 31415
Keynote: Dr. Daniel Black
Professor of Africana Studies: Clark Atlanta University
You are encouraged to bring your Umbrella for the Moment of Silence, which will take place during the Ceremony.
Sunday, March 3rd
2:00pm - 4:00pm
2024 Weeping Time Commemoration Service: Darien
St. Cyprians Church
(built by Freedmen and Women; former Butler enslaved)
401 Fort King George Drive, Darien, Georgia 31305
Host: Ms. Clara Rowsey-Stewart & Mr. Arthur Stewart: St. Cyprians Church
5:00pm - 6:30pm
Gathering for Libations and Candle Lighting Ceremonies (TENTATIVE; Based On Interest)
Igbo Landing + Hampton Hampton Plantation: St. Simons Island
Host: Mother Amy Lotson Roberts; St. Simons Island Community; Elder Griffin Lotson; Ms. Delores Polite