Year: 1700

Who: Enslaved Men, Women, and Children​

Where: Charleston, SC​

What: The fingerprints left in bricks by enslaved laborers offer a connection to the lives of those who built much of the architectural landscape of Charleston and the American South. These unintentional imprints, preserved during the drying process, serve as signatures of individuals whose contributions have often been marginalized in historical narratives. These fingerprints underscore the skill, expertise, and humanity of enslaved men, women, and children, who worked in the demanding process of brickmaking. From extracting clay to molding and firing bricks, their labor was integral to the plantation economy, with brickmaking providing up to a third of a plantation owner's profits.

The significance of these fingerprints lies not only in their physical prescence but in the stories they reveal about the contributions of enslaved artisans. Historically, enslaved individuals were often dismissed as imitators of their owners' skill, yet material evidence and archival records challenge this view. Skilled laborers like John Williams, who contributed to construction projects like the Pinckney Mansion in Charleston, demonstrate the intellectual and technical expertise that enslaved artisance brought to their work.

Today, these preserved imprints provide a meaningful opportunity for interpretation and education. Museums like the Museum of Charleston have begun to showcase bricks with fingerprint evidence as artifacts that invite reflection on the lives of those who created them. As visitors walk through Charleston, noticing the fingerprints in the brickwork transforms buildings from static monuments into human stories, honoring the contributions of enslaved individuals whose legacies endure in the very walls that surround us.​

Sources:

Websites:

• Charleston Museum. (n.d.). Charleston Bricks and Fingerprints of the Enslaved. https://www.charlestonmuseum.org/news-events/charleston-bricks-and-fingerprints-of-the-enslaved/

Journal Articles:

• Momon, T., & Gatson, T. (2020). The spatial geographies of skilled Black labor: The creation of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive. The Southern Quarterly, 58(1), 62-67.https://blackcraftspeople.org/