Events

The Charleston Museum to Debut a Special Exhibit Honoring Isaac Nimmons in Celebration of Juneteenth

Published

2 years ago

June 15, 2023

Credit: Sharedhistory.org

The Charleston Museum, located at 360 Meeting Street in downtown Charleston, will celebrate Juneteenth with the unveiling of a limited-time exhibit in honor of South Carolina freedman, Isaac Nimmons. The exhibit, which will be on display from June 17th, 2023 through July 23rd, 2023, will include family portraits and photographs related to Isaac Nimmons, and a scale model of a century-old Nimmons farmstead. To kick off the opening of the exhibit, the Museum will host close to 200 of the descendants of Isaac Nimmons for their 2023 Family Gathering over Juneteenth weekend in Charleston.

Isaac Nimmons was a descendant of Revolutionary War patriots, William and Andrew Nimmons. When Andrew passed away, his estate sold the enslaved Isaac Nimmons to A.R. Govan, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina. Leaving South Carolina to start a plantation in Mississippi, Govan sold Isaac to Barnwell County planter, Nash Roach, father-in-law of the noted 19th century American writer, William Gilmore Simms. Simms managed Roach’s Woodlands Plantation, and Nimmons became Simms’s body servant and coachman.

At the end of the Civil War, Isaac gained his freedom and was granted power of attorney for 24 other formerly enslaved individuals. He obtained large acreages of land through the South Carolina Land Commission, which was created by the South Carolina Constitution to provide land to freed African American people. During the Reconstruction Era, Isaac along with other freedmen, established a thriving farming-community called the Middle Place, in what is now Bamberg County. He was an active member of the African American community, donating land to build the Middle Place School, making loans to local farmers, and engaging in commerce with them. His descendants now live across the country and around the world.

“We are so pleased to celebrate Juneteenth with this special exhibit which honors the incredible life of Isaac Nimmons and his impact on South Carolina history,” said Carl Borick, Director of The Charleston Museum, and primary author of The Charleston Museum: America’s First Museum. “To have so many of his descendants joining us makes it even more special, and we look forward to celebrating with them and learning more about their family.”

Learn more about Charleston Museum’s exhibits and special events here.