The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was the site of a mass shooting that killed nine members of the church during the closing prayer of a Wednesday night Bible study on June 17, 2015. A memorial to the Emanuel Nine opened Saturday. (Photo
A memorial eight years in the making opened Saturday to honor the nine people gunned down by a self-avowed white supremacist during a Bible study at a historically Black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
Big picture view:
The marble memorial, located next to Mother Emanuel AME Church, features an outdoor courtyard and tribute spaces. It is anchored by the Fountain of Grace, a shallow basin that bears the names of the nine people killed in the June 17, 2015, mass shooting in the church’s basement.
Two fellowship benches with curved backs flank the fountain. The memorial also includes a cross of hope that designers said symbolizes redemption in the wake of suffering.
RELATED: Charleston church memorial unveiled in honor of the Emanuel Nine and survivors
Michael Arad, who was also behind the 9/11 memorial, designed the space.
A garden to honor the survivors of the massacre is also planned for the memorial, which is located next door to the historic church. Plans call for five trees and six benches to honor the five people at the Bible study who survived the shooting. That sixth bench represents the church, which was also a survivor of the shooting.
The nine parishioners killed that night included the church’s lead pastor and South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Cynthia Graham Hurd, 54; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethyl Lance, 70; the Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74; and Susie Jackson, 87.
What they're saying:
The Rev. Eric Manning, the church’s current pastor and the co-chair of the Mother Emanuel Memorial Foundation board, told the Associated Press that he hopes it will mean something to everyone who visits.
"I was actually standing out there the other day," he said. "Just for a moment, a peace came over me."
Alana Grant, the granddaughter of Simmons, told the AP that she thinks that for the survivors, living with its memories is "nothing short of heroism."
"There are not a lot of spaces where you get to see the survivors. We as Black people have survived so much," Grant said.
Dig deeper:
Mother Emanuel AME Church, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the South, first unveiled plans for the space in 2018, saying the final design was the result of conversations between architects and grieving family members.
Arad said he drew on the story of the church as inspiration for the design.
"Throughout its 200-year history, it has endured slavery, discrimination and racism. When worship and assembly were banned, the church resisted and provided a place of fellowship and sanctuary," he said in a statement. "The Emanuel Nine tragedy marks another dark moment for the church, though faith helped to heal and bring light into the darkness."
The price tag for the memorial’s construction and permanent endowment of the campus reached $25 million. Fundraising efforts brought together the community and sponsors. A groundbreaking took place in 2023.
The man convicted in the killings told investigators he intended to kill people to stoke racial tensions and was sentenced to death.
The church was founded in 1816 by a group of free and enslaved Black Charlestonians.
The Source: Information for this story came from the Associated Press, Mother Emanuel AME Church, the Emanuel Nine Memorial website, the College of Charleston and previous FOX News reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.