Our Mission
The Second Founding of America, an initiative of Reconstruction Beaufort, is a collaboration of scholars, teachers, public officials, visual and performing artists and community leaders whose common purpose is to uncover and teach the untold stories, and correct mistold stories, of the Reconstruction Era during and following the civil War.
Through collaborative efforts with the National Park Service it is a work of extraordinary scale but one that promises fresh insights into American History that can give us a greater understanding of our past and greatly benefit our future.
Our Advisors
Dr. Randy L. Akers | Executive Director, SC Humanities
Ms. Andrea Allen | Community Leader
Mr. Michael Allen | Retired National Park Service, Reconstruction Era Specialist
Mrs. LaTanya Allen | SES Program Manager, Supplemental Education Service Provider; Certified Facilitator, Carolina Youth Development Center; Behavioral Therapist
Mr. Allard Allston, III | Former Partner, Motley Rice LLC
Hon. Bruce Babbitt | Former Secretary, United States Department of Interior
Ms. Marie Banac | Branch Manager, St. Helena Branch Library, South Carolina
Mr. Thomas Barnwell, Jr. | Beaufort County Business Leader
Mr. Jack Bass | Author & Journalist, The College of Charleston
Hon. Stephen K. Benjamin | Mayor Columbia, South Carolina
Dr. David Blight | Professor of American History;Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University
Ms. Bridgit Brown | Director of Operations, Join for Justice, Boston, Massachusetts
Prof. W. Lewis Burke | Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina Law School
Dr. Vernon Burton | Professor of History, Clemson University
Dr. Emory Shaw Campbell | Gullah Historian & Author, President of Gullah Heritage Consulting Services
Mr. Kwadjo Campbell | President and CEO, Jeffers-Campbell Associates
Ms. Barbara Catenacci | Executive Director, Heritage Foundation
Ms. Christy Coleman | CEO, American Civil War Museum
Dr. Eric Crawford | Musicologist, Professor, Coastal Carolina University
Councilman Phil Cromer | Councilman, Beaufort City
Councilman Gerald Dawson | Councilman, Beaufort County
Dr. Bobby Donaldson | Professor of History, University of South Carolina; Director Center Rights Research & History
Ms. Vernita Dore | Former Undersecretary, EDA, US Department of Agriculture
Dr. Gregory Downs | Associate Professor of History, University of California-Davis; Co-Author "NPS Theme Study on Reconstruction"
Rep. Shannon Erickson | Representative, South Carolina House of Representatives
Mr. Amiri Farris | Artist
Mr. Michael Fernandez | Professor of Strategic Communication; U.S. CEO at LLORENTE & CUENCA
Dr. Eric Foner | Dewitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University, specializes in the Civil War & Reconstruction
Prof. Damon L. Fordham | Adjunct Professor, The Citadel
Mr. Rex Garniewicz | President & CEO, Coastal Discovery Museum
Dr. Henry Louis Gates | Alphonse Fletcher University Professor & Director Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University
Dr. Grant Gilmore | Director, Historic Preservation and Community Planning; College of Charleston
Mr. Darrin Goss | President, Coastal Community Foundation
Mr. Johnathan Green | Artist & Educator
Mr. David Grim | Author, Reconstruction History Novels
Ms. Bonnie Hargrove | Director, University of South Carolina-Beaufort Center for the Arts; Member of City of Beaufort Cultural Commission
Dr. Bobby Harley | Executive Director, South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation
Ms. Jannie Harriot | Chairperson, African American Heritage Commission
Dr. William C. Hine | Retired Professor, SC State University
Ms. Heather L. Hodges | Executive Director, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
Rev. Kenneth F. Hodges | Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church; former Representative SC House of Representatives
Mr. Larry Holman | President, Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Barbara G. Holmes | Director, Land Protection, Beaufort County Open Land Trust
Ms. Carole Ingraham | Principal, Beaufort Middle School
Mr. Al Jenkins | Regional Director, Office of Senator Tim Scott
Mr. Nathan Jenkinson III | Attorney, Jenkinson Jarrett and Kellahan P.A.
Dr. Faye Jensen | Executive Director, SC Historical Society
Mr. Juan Johnson | Consultant, Riley Diversity Leadership Institute, Furman University
Mr. Nathan Johnson | Park Manager, South Carolina Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism
Hon. Billy Keyserling | Mayor, City of Beaufort, South Carolina
Ms. Kaylan Koszela | Director of Community Outreach, Office of Congressman Joe Cunningham
Ms. Elisabeth Laney | Park Interpreter, South Carolina Department of Parks Recreation and tourism
Ms. Carol Lauvray | Member, Beaufort History Museum
Dr. Bob Lefavi | Dean, University of South Carolina-Beaufort
Ms. Lisa Lill | Public Affairs Officer, US Naval Hospital, Beaufort
Dr. Dan Littlefield | Professor of History, University of South Carolina; Author of Publications on Reconstruction Era and Slavery
Dr. Val Littlefield | Professor, History and African American Studies, University of South Carolina
Ms. Maxine Lutz | Executive Director, Historic Beaufort Foundation
Dr. Kate Masur | Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University; Co-Author of “NPS Theme Study on Reconstruction;” Published works on Civil War Black Politics
Dr. John McCardell | Vice Chancellor, University of the South, Sewanee
Mr. Joseph McGill Jr. | Founder, Slave Dwelling Project
Dr. Mae Mendoza | President, Beaufort County Historical Society
Dr. Page Putnam-Miller | Retired Professor of History, University of South Carolina
Gen. Mitch Mitchell | Retired, General United States Air Force
Mr. Richard Moe | Former President, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Mr. Michael Bouleware Moore | President and CEO, International African American Museum
Dr. J. Brent Morris | Department Chairperson and Professor of History & National Endowment of the Humanities Teachers Institute; Beaufort Reconstruction Institute, University of South Carolina-Beaufort
Ms. Megan Morris | Executive Director, Santa Elena History Center
Hon. Samuel Murray | Mayor, Town of Port Royal, South Carolina
Rev. Abraham Murray | Pastor, Brick Baptist Church
Mr. Jeremy Nesoff | Associate Director, Facing History and Ourselves
Dr. C.G. Newsome | Former President, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Mr. Brian O'Donnell | Former Director, Conservation Lands Foundation
Mr. John Parsons | Retired, National Park Service
Dr. Bernard Powers | Professor Emeritus, Center for the Study of Slavery, College of Charleston
Ms. Anita Singleton-Prather | CEO and Executive Director at Gullah Travelling Theatre, Inc
Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine | Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation
Ms. Marianne Rice | Musicologist, Storyteller, Author
Mr. Allen Robertson | Executive Director, South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
Ms. Alvesta W. Robertson | Vice President and Librarian, Mather School Alumni Association
Dr. Chris Robinson | Visiting Professor of Art, Department Chair, Department Fine Arts, Studio Art, University of South Carolina-Beaufort
Councilman Stu Rodman | Chairperson, Beaufort County Council
Dr. Lawrence Rowland | Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina-Beaufort
Mr. Bakari Sellers | Attorney and Political Commentator
Dr. Cleveland Sellers | Professor, Department of History, University of South Carolina
Mr. Jeff Shawd | President, Beaufort Arts Council
Dr. Marlena Smalls | Founder and Director Hallelujah Singers; Educator
Councilman Paul Sommerville | Vice Chairperson, Beaufort County Council
Ms. Denise Spencer | Former President and CEO, Community Foundation of the Lowcountry
Hon. Lisa Sulka | Mayor, Town of Bluffton, South Carolina
Ms. Althea Sumpter | Commissioner, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission
Ms. Lise Sundrla | Executive Director, Beaufort Area Hospitality Association
Hon. John Tecklenburg | Mayor, City of Charleston, South Carolina
Mr. Dalton Tresvant | Regional Director, Office of Jim Clyburn
Mr. John Wallin | Deputy Director, Conservation Lands Foundation
Mr. Ahmad Ward | Executive Director, Mitchelville Preservation Project
Rev. Elijah Washington | Director, Grand Army Hall of the Republic
Mr. Robb Wells | President and CEO, Beaufort-Port Royal Visitors and Convention Bureau
Mr. Donald West | Director, 54 Massachusetts Colored Troops Reenactors, Trident College
Dr. Eric C. Williams | Curator of Religion, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Dr. Stephen Wise | Museum Curator, Parris island Museum
Dr. Jim Wooten | Pastor, Baptist Church of Beaufort
Ms. Joyce Wright | Chairperson, Mitchelville Preservation Project