The WeGOJA Foundation has received $25,000 in grant funding and support to capture the memories of people in Cordesville, South Carolina, who are associated with historic Taveau Church. The oral history project will take place in the late summer through fall of 2024, and complements a full-scale restoration of the 19th-century church led by Preservation South Carolina.
Providing funding and support are:
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The 1772 Foundation — $10,000.00
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Historic Charleston Foundation — $10,000.00
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South Carolina Humanities — $5,000.00
The funding will cover project management including research, interviews, recordings and other costs.
“We are grateful that our partners entrusted to us the responsibility of capturing and documenting these important stories,” said Dr. Larry Watson, chairman of the WeGOJA Foundation Board of Directors. “We hope to learn more about family, faith, and fellowship in the Cordesville community, and continue adding authentic African American voices to the state’s historical narrative.”
The final oral histories will become part of Historic Charleston Foundation’s Margaretta Childs Archive Collection for future generations to learn from. Copies also will be retained by the Taveau Legacy Committee.
Located within the Cooper River Historic District and listed in the National Register, Taveau is one of the oldest still standing African American churches in the state. It was built on the grounds of Claremont Plantation as a Presbyterian place of worship in the early 1830s for Martha Caroline Swinton Ball Taveau. At about that same time, more than 700 individuals from the plantation were sold away from their families and community during an estate sale from the Ball family’s five Cooper River Plantations. The enslaved people who were left behind after surviving this trauma eventually worshipped at Taveau.
Following Martha Caroline’s death in 1847, Taveau became the home of African American Methodist worship. It would remain an active congregation until the United Methodist Conference closed the church in 1974. In 2023, Preservation South Carolina acquired the church with a goal of restoring the structure and then returning it for use to the local community.
Taveau is a rare surviving rural, frame antebellum church, and a testament to the skilled enslaved craftsmen who built it. The exterior is marked by a modest cornice and a simple Doric portico that the National Register says adds “an air of sophistication seldom seen in rural church architecture.” The simplicity of the interior during its first decades of use fit an aesthetic that is both rural and evangelical. Taveau is the only site in Berkeley County associated with African American history that is listed on the National Register.
When the restoration is complete, the church will be a place of worship again, as well as a community cultural center that interprets the history of faith in this region and the Gullah Geechee traditions of the Lowcountry. This oral history project and other research will help inform the final interpretive programming at the site.
For more information, contact the WeGOJA Foundation at info@WeGOJA.org.
Dr. Andre S. Richardson joins Allen University
Allen University has appointed Dr. Andre S. Richardson the Vice President for Student Affairs. Dr. Richardson brings 27 years of dedicated service in education, with a robust background in both higher education and P-12 settings. His career has included significant contributions to education policy as a Program Officer at the University of North Carolina System Office and as an Education Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Education.
Prior to joining Allen University, Dr. Richardson also served in various influential roles at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Renowned for his expertise in “Establishing
a Culture of Care on College Campuses,” Dr. Richardson has presented widely at conferences, webinars, and various academic institutions. His insights and approaches to fostering supportive campus environments have made him a sought-after speaker in the field.
