“We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The…living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

– Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 1863

 

Welcome to America’s Hallowed Ground – A Project of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University

About Our Project


“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” – Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address

Conceived in the spirit of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, America’s Hallowed Ground project seeks to honor sites of past struggles, conflicts, and sacrifices that are significant to American history, particularly its history of racial inequality. Many of these sites and their historical connection are not widely known today.

We are artists, documentarians, designers, anthropologists, historians, and ethicists dedicated to the belief that all are created equal, and to the hope that our nation of pain and promise, may live up to its ideals and experience a new birth of freedom. Believing that we must come to terms with all our past, our project strives to listen to and learn from the voices of hallowed grounds calling out for recognition, truth, and reconciliation. We know we cannot hallow ground, as Lincoln said, but we can listen for the voices of those who have.

We dedicate our work to all United States citizens, new immigrants, and anyone living beyond our borders whose family members, friends, or loved ones have suffered and died in the unjust struggles of, by, and for this nation, especially those who have suffered because of America’s failure to live up to our ideals of liberty and justice for all. We dedicate ourselves to collaboration with local communities and descendants. Together we seek to amplify the voices of those who have struggled and died on sacred grounds.

For questions regarding America’s Hallowed Ground, please complete our contact form below.

The Sites

Work has already begun on the first site: Wilmington, N.C., where white supremacists staged a violent coup in 1898 to suppress the growing political power of African Americans. The team will research additional sites, which could include points along the Trail of Tears, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, sites of The Japanese Internment camps and more.

Please watch this space for the official launch of America’s Hallowed Ground and as the website expands to document the team’s work in Wilmington and beyond.

Our Partners


We appreciate the support and funding from our partners in this work.

duke_u_rev
Kenan

The Co-Directors


The project will be co-directed by Mike Wiley, actor and Kenan Institute for Ethics Artist in Residence, and Charlie Thompson, Duke University Professor of the Practice of Cultural Anthropology and Documentary Studies and Kenan Senior Fellow.

Get In Touch