Slave grave markers of any form are extraordinarily rare. Typically, slave graves were not marked or noted in any manner. Recent academic and archeologic research has authenticated burial sites containing marked slave graves that remain extant in various areas of the South. These graves remain designated by the placement of rocks, use of pipe, and even slave chain links.

The clay slave grave markers offered here were used in the Milledgeville, Georgia, area; Milledgeville was the capital of Georgia from 1804 through 1867. The symbols present on the markers -- the star (or sun with diamond) and the double cross --harken from the slaves' West African religious and cultural beliefs.

The Middle Passage Museum was the dream of Jim and Mary Anne Petty of Mississippi as well as that of an anonymous Georgian benefactor who had together compiled a collection of slave artifacts numbering over 15,000 pieces and who had hoped to find a permanent site in Mobile, Alabama, for their museum. While they formed a non-profit organization to raise funds for their hoped-for museum, their dream was never realized.

In a 2003 statement, Jim Petty remarked, "The importance of the exhibit of these artifacts is to understand the harshness of what slavery and segregation was all about. The items in the exhibit remind us of the terrible heinousness of slavery. Viewing the collection can be very emotional, but it is a tool through which we can understand, honor and respect a great culture. We want to realize that out of slavery, a great culture emerged, and carried on, and continued to strive for a better life regardless of the adverse conditions that were placed upon them."

One photo shows these very Slave Grave Markers on exhibit in February 2003, at Millsaps College, Mississippi, when the Petty's were still hopeful that their dream of a permanent Middle Passage Museum would be realized.