Mother Emanuel breaks ground on Emanuel 9 Memorial

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Mother Emanuel AME Church broke ground Saturday on the Emanuel 9 Memorial, as well as dedicating their wholly restored pipe organ.

The memorial honors the nine victims and five survivors of the racist mass shooting that took place at a Bible study at the church on June 18, 2015.

The shooting claimed the lives of the church’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a state senator; Cynthia Graham Hurd, 54; Ethel Lance, 70; the Rev. DePayne Middleton, 49; Tywanza Sanders, 26; the Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74; the Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; and Susie Jackson, 87.

The forthcoming memorial will feature a courtyard with two fellowship benches facing each other. At the center of the courtyard, a marble fountain with the names of the Emanuel Nine will be featured.

Phase II of the memorial will include a survivors’ garden, with access by a pathway from the courtyard. It will be surrounded by six stone benches, symbolizing the five survivors as well as the church.

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