Seminar on Civil War-era Mitchelville on SC coast

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Scholars from across the country are gathering on Hilton Head Island to discuss the history of Mitchelville, established on the island in 1862.

The seminar on Saturday focuses on the community of freed slaves created after Union troops took the sea islands along the southern South Carolina coast early in the Civil War.

Six years ago, a group on the island organized the Mitchelville Preservation Project to preserve what remains of the area as an historic site.

They plan to create the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park that will interpret what happened in the town and include a memorial that recognizes Union Gen. Ormsby Mitchel, who conceived the town.