Project will place 10 benches at sites linked to black history

The Fifth Biennial Conference of the Toni Morrison Society will launch a community outreach initiative titled the Bench by the Road in which 10 benches will be placed across the United States at sites related to African-American history.

Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island was chosen for the first Bench by the Road placement since that venue was a major point of entry for enslaved Africans who entered North America during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The bench, a black, 6-foot steel structure, will be secured by the National Park Service at Fort Moultrie and will be accessible to all who visit Sullivan's Island.

Toni Morrison and her family will join conference attendees and members of the public for the dedication of the first Bench by the Road at 3:40 p.m. July 26 at Fort Moultrie.

The bench, which will have ribbed backing and be specially coated to withstand the salt air, will have a bronze plaque mounted on the back. Another bronze plaque describing the significance of the site will be placed on the concrete foundation to which the bench is mounted.

Carolyn Denard, a co-founder and chairwoman of the Toni Morrison Society, says the title of the project originated in an interview given by Morrison in 1989 concerning her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Beloved."

In the interview, Morrison reportedly said, "There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves. ... No suitable memorial, or plaque or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. ... There's no small bench by the road."

Denard said a wreath also will be tossed into the water as a memorial to all of those who died on the long ocean voyage. The event is free and open to the public.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postand courier.com.