There are so many important little details tucked into this chapter (and so much that ended up on the cutting room floor). We invite you to dive deeper into the history here!
Historical Context
Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church
The McFarland family church, Mother Emanuel AME Church (founded in 1816) is one of the oldest Black churches in the South and has long been a symbol and a sanctuary of resistance to racism. In 1822, it was burned to the ground by white supremacists after a planned slave uprising organized by one of its founders, Denmark Vesey, was suppressed. Tragically, in 2015, the church was again the target of white supremacist terrorist violence when nine church members were murdered during a Bible study. Their names were Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson.
Oblate Sisters of Providence
Undated photo of Oblate Sisters in Charleston, SC
Father William C. Burn subject files
courtesy of the archives of the Diocese of Charleston, Charleston, SC
All but one of the McFarland children attended Immaculate Conception School, a Catholic school for Black Charlestonians run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. The Oblate Sisters, founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange in 1829, are an order of women religious founded by Black women for the education of Black children. You can listen to Arthur reflect on the Oblate Sisters, and on his mother’s appreciation for them, here.
To learn more about the origins of the Oblates, check out Diane Batts Morrow’s groundbreaking history Persons of Color and Religious at the Same Time (UNC Press, 2003).