From staff reports
In partnership with the Tabernacle Baptist Church, The Beaufort Inn is hosting a Garden Party Movie Night in Tabby Garden from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 22. Although the event is free and open to the public, donations are highly encouraged as proceeds are going toward the Harriet Tubman Monument.
Tabernacle Baptist Church has launched a campaign to honor Harriet Tubman with a monument for her services in Beaufort during the Civil War and for her role in a raid that freed hundreds of slaves in 1863.
A sculpture depicting Harriet Tubman’s heroic ventures will sit next to the 153-year-old church on Craven Street in downtown Beaufort. Tabernacle Baptist is also the burial place of Robert Smalls, who was born a slave in Beaufort and became a Civil War hero and Congressman. A bust of Smalls is also on the church grounds.
Craven Street is steeped in history. The old Beaufort Arsenal home of the Chamber of Commerce’s visitor’s center and the Beaufort History Museum is a block east of the church. To the west is the Secession House, site of many informal discussions and formal meetings during the 1850’s to discuss withdrawal from the Union.
The church is discussing the $500,000 project with renowned sculptor Ed Dwight, designer of the African American History Monument at the state capitol in Columbia.
The church will provide the land for the memorial and funding will come from the private sector.
For more information about the Harriett Tubman Monument contact Rev. Kenneth Hodges, Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, at 843-525-9006 or 843-524-0376. His email address is lybensons@aol.com.
Tabby Garden, located at 307 West Street, will open to the public at 7 p.m. University of South Carolina Beaufort History Professor Brent Morris will be leading 20-minute walking tours between 7 and 8 p.m., taking people by the future home of the Harriet Tubman Monument.
The U.S. National Park Service will also be on-site sharing information about the Reconstruction Museum and history.
There will be a cash-bar available. The movie will begin at 8 p.m.
Guests are welcome to bring their own chair or blanket for lounging during the movie.
For additional information and to register online for the event, please visit https://www.beaufortinn.com/harriet-movie-night/
