The Combahee Raid Exhibit

Introduction

The Combahee Raid is one of the greatest (and least known) military adventure stories in American History.

On the night of June 2, 1863, under a full moon, Harriet Tubman and her team of spies and scouts guided Colonel James Montgomery and 150 African American soldiers to rescue more than 700 enslaved people in the Combahee River Raid during the Civil War.

This Exhibit will tell this story with multi-media elements from first-person accounts to contemporary art. It is a collaboration of The Gibbes Museum in Charleston, with Carnegie-Mellon historian Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, and artist J Henry Fair, both of whom have deep roots in the Combahee River region.

Please support this exhibit by making a tax deductible donation on our donation page. Your donation supports the production of the content of this exhibit, and will employ numerous Charleston artists.
So many thanks to The Coastal Community Foundation for acting as fiscal sponsors on this project!

This story, 150 years old, resonates today

The Exhibit will tell the story of the Combahee Raid with contemporary photographs, historic paintings / photographs, contemporary artwork inspired by Tubman and the raid, historic and contemporary maps, and video reenactments and narratives.

Combahee River

The river was both the setting, and a character, dictating the timing, design and details of the military operation.

The Cast characters include Harriet Tubman, James Montgomery and David Hunter.

How did Tubman gather the intelligence that was so essential to this incredible mission? What motivated Union Colonel James Montgomery, the military leader of the raid? How Did General Hunter put all these elements together?

The Team -

The Gibbes Museum of Art is among the oldest arts organizations in the United States. Opened to the public in 1905, the museum is a forward moving cultural institution with innovative exhibits, and the principal repository of the visual record of the Lowcountry.

-Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black Carnegie-Mellon Associate Professor of History
Books include: •COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War
•Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora
•Rice: Global Networks and New Histories

-J Henry Fair Artist
Books include: •The Day After Tomorrow: Images of our Earth In Crisis
•Industrial Scars: The Hidden Costs of Consumption
•On The Edge: Combahee to Winyah

Tax deductible donations can be made by check, payable to:
Coastal Community Foundation
Memo: Combahee Raid Exhibit

And mail to:
Nivia Collins
Coastal Community Foundation
1691 Turnbull Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29405

Thanks to the generous support from our partners.