The Great Hurricane of 1893

Caroline Grego, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Queens University of Charlotte, talks to almost 100 people about how Clara Barton and the Red Cross organization she helped create helped the survivors of the Great Hurricane of 1893 after it crashed ashore just south of Savannah, Ga., on August 27, 1893. The slow moving Category 3 storm with a 15-foot storm surge killed an estimated 3,500 people in coastal S.C. Those that survived the storm, mostly Black farmers and hired hands of the Gullah/Geechie community, had rescue efforts thwarted by Jim Crow laws covering most of the South during Reconstruction. Barton and The Red Cross helped the survivors with survival rations. Most politicians and business people of the day saw the Red Cross’ efforts as an attempt to undermine their authority over the Black community. Photos by Bob Sofaly/The Island News