Former Charleston mayor's museum mission: 'I can't rest until I've done my duty'

In the late 1980s, then-Charleston Mayor Joe Riley was proud when the city bought a small museum housed in a downtown building where slave auctions once were held.

His son, Bratton, had a different perspective: "He said, 'you know Charleston should do something more profound because of its history,' which I was really unaware of," Riley said.

A decade later, Riley read "Slaves in the Family" by Edwin Ball. The award-winning book traces in painstaking detail the lineage of slaves owned by Ball's ancestors on their plantations near Charleston.

"I for the first time was really confronted with the enormous role that Charleston played in enslaved Africans coming to our country," he said. 

Inspired by his son's comment and the book, Riley made a bold promise during his 2000 inaugural address: A world-class museum would be built in Charleston to highlight the experiences and contributions of Africans brought to America against their will.

More:African American museum will stand where 100,000 slaves took first steps on American soil

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Eighteen years later, Riley is still working to fulfill that promise. Now 75 and no longer in the political limelight, he thinks he can finally see the finish line, even though some might say his quest remains uncertain.

The retired mayor has led an effort to raise $75 million for the museum, which he hopes to soon see rise on a grassy waterfront tract that was formerly part of Gadsen's Wharf, the infamous landing point for more than 40 percent of the nation's slaves. Michelle Obama, the former first lady, and 15 million other African Americans have an ancestor who arrived there.

The city of Charleston, which donated the land for the museum, and Charleston County have agreed to give a total of $25 million for the project. The goal is to raise $25 million in private contributions, with the final $25 million coming from the state of South Carolina.

Donations have poured in from organizations, everyday residents, and notables from all over the country. Riley said the museum is now about $5 million shy of reaching its private donation goal and he anticipates more contributions soon.

The state's funding, however, is more tenuous. South Carolina has allocated $14 million to the project. But last year, state officials refused to give more because they said the museum's supporters needed to raise more private money.

Since then, the museum has collected a $17 million in private donations.

Yet as of now, the General Assembly, which is in session through May, hasn't proposed giving the museum any money again.

And state leaders seem divided on whether they should.

Gov. Henry McMaster supports the museum, said his spokesman, Brian Symmes. 

"But as is the case every year, there's a limited amount of funds that can be spent on worthy projects like this one; as the governor says, 'we have a six-foot-long bed and a four-foot-long blanket,'" Symmes said in an email.

Some legislators, including state Rep. Brian White, a Republican from Anderson, and Rep. Jonathan Hill, a Republican from Townville, share similar sentiments. 

"It is not a state project and we have a lot of state needs right now that far outweigh a municipality's request," White said. "There are higher ed institutions that need money that are state priorities. There are state armories that need money. So we are going to fund those first, not local municipal projects."

Others, including Sen. Karl Allen, a Democrat from Greenville, said the state needs to keep its commitment to the museum, which he described as an institution of statewide and national importance.

"To view it as a local project is tunnel vision," Allen said.

Bakari Sellers, a former Democratic state House member who is now a CNN contributor, said the reluctance of some lawmakers to fund the museum shows "they can never see beyond their next election."

"This ain't a black project. This ain't a Charleston project. This is an American project," Sellers said during a recent visit to Anderson.

Those working with Riley and some contributors say the significance of the land and the state's role in slavery is too important to walk away from.

The museum "will tell and preserve many important stories about the contributions of Americans of African descent to our national life," said Chris Coble, vice president of religion for the Indiana-based Lilly Endowment, which gave the museum a $10 million gift last year.

In December, the museum also received a total of $1 million from five national and international foundations. Other contributions have included $500,000 from Michelin North America, which is based in Greenville, and $250,000 from the TD Bank Charitable Foundation.

Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who tried last year to sway other lawmakers to give more to the museum, said Riley's recent success in private fundraising should improve its chances of securing more state funding this year.

"That is a significant hurdle they have crossed," said Kimpson, whose Senate district includes the site of the museum.

Kimpson believes the museum would represent a tangible step in promoting better race relations in South Carolina. It would surpass the symbolic gesture of removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds after nine people were slain at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston in June 2015, he said.

If elected officials don't provide additional money this year, Riley said they will delay plans to start construction this summer. 

For Riley, the museum effort is the culmination of a career promoting diversity and equality.

"I grew up in a segregated time," he said. "None of the schools that I attended were integrated. Grammar school, high school, even The Citadel when I graduated in 1964 had no African Americans.

"I remember white-only fountains in department stores and balconies in theaters and so much more," he said.

When he was elected to the state House in 1968, Riley said, "I found myself gravitating and wanting to be engaged in issues to advance racial progress. It was just natural."

He introduced the state's first legislation to "declare a day of honor" for Martin Luther King Jr., a proposal that Riley said his critics viewed as a confirmation of their suspicions about him.

"They always figured that I was a Communist and now they were certain," he said with a smile.

With strong support from the city's black voters, Riley was elected as Charleston's mayor in 1975, a post he held until two years ago.

Riley is credited with revitalizing the city's business district and guiding Charleston's recovery from Hurricane Hugo. But his greatest passion is the museum that will highlight the integral but overlooked role that slaves played in state and national history.

"It is my duty. I have a duty to get it built," he said. "I can't rest until I've done my duty."

Top private donors to International African American Museum:

Lilly Endowment — $10 million
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina — $1.1 million
Anita Zucker — $1 million
Blackbaud — $1 million
Darla Moore Foundation — $1 million
Bank of America — $600,000
Carolyn Hunter — $500,000
Michelin North America — $500,000
Gilder Foundation — $500,000
Mason Holland and Shawn Jenkins — $500,000
Spaulding-Paolozzi — $500,000
Wells Fargo — $500,000

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM and email him at kirk.brown@independentmail.com