By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Apr 10, 2026 | 7:24 AM
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Direct descendants of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima join
ceremony participants, Mayor Dan Gibson and Alderwoman Valencia Hall at the new
historical marker on Silver Street. The marker was dedicated Wednesday, April
8, 2026. Photo by Michael Wilson (Click on image to enlarge.) |
NATCHEZ, Miss. — The City of Natchez unveiled a
historical marker honoring Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima (1762–1829) on
Wednesday, April 8, 2026, on Silver Street. The marker stands near the site
where he arrived as an enslaved man in 1788 and later departed Natchez as a
free man with his wife, Isabella, on April 8, 1828.
“This marker ties into the larger story of Natchez, a
river city that embraces its full history, even the shameful periods, for the
purpose of enlightening its residents, visitors, and tens of thousands of
tourists annually,” said Shelia Byrd, guest speaker for the ceremony. “This
marker is a reminder to all that a rich history is undoubtedly complicated,
complex and uncomfortable.”
Byrd is a former Associated Press reporter who now serves
as deputy director of Programs and Communication Division at the Mississippi
Department of Archives and History. “Nearly 200 years after he sailed from a
dock here, we’re gathered to unveil a lasting marker so that, perhaps, in
another 100 years, future generations will know the story of Prince Ibrahima,
his escape from slavery, and of Natchez Under the Hill,” she said.
Ibrahima was a Muslim prince from Timbo in the Futa
Jallon region of present-day Guinea, West Africa. He was captured in battle in
1788 and sold to slave traders. He endured 40 years of enslavement on Thomas
Foster’s plantation near Natchez, before gaining his freedom.
Byrd discussed his history through the lens of family and
legacy and how it fits into the broader story of Natchez and the United States.
“Prince Ibrahima’s story is unique, but in many ways
ubiquitous,” she said. “Though he was an educated man, who was multilingual, he
was stripped of any material regality in Natchez, where he was made a laborer.
He was among the tens of thousands enslaved in Mississippi at that time.”
Despite his subjugation, Byrd said, “Prince Ibrahima was
a husband and a father, who provided stability for his family – as much as
possible under the circumstances. When we think about slavery and its many
destructive elements, we must remember the extreme toll exacted on Black
families.”
In opening remarks, Mayor Dan Gibson said it is good to
live in a city like Natchez “where we are not afraid to tell our whole story.”
He said there was a time when the whole story was not told here and that even
today it is not told in many places across the United States.
“But here in Natchez, we know that this is a story that
must be told, because it is a story about a people, and about today, a
particular individual who absolutely helped build Natchez,” he said.
Gibson suggested Ibrahima is someone to admire for many
reasons. He noted his “brilliant upbringing,” his royalty and education,
including his multilingual abilities and leadership.
“The story is the story,” he said. “I’m not here to
repeat that story. My job is to say we are telling that story. Not just today
but every day, and it’s not just the story of one prince, it’s the story of an
entire people.”
Gibson said there is good and bad in Natchez’s history,
“but it is our history.” He added:
“It is unconscionable to stand right here on this
beautiful river in this oldest city on the mightiest bluff on the mightiest
river and to ignore those and their ancestors who came before us and built this
city. In fact, it is unconscionable that we would ever fail to recognize those
across our country whose ancestors built so much of this country and on whose
backs much of this country was established.”
The program included remarks by David Dreyer, local
historian and genealogist. He said, “This marker acknowledges the 40-year
impact of slavery on one man’s life and family over 200 years ago, but the
story remains to be told about the complexities of his family’s attempt to
recover from the American experience of slavery and to rectify its injustice
and inhumanity.”
Other participants in the day’s program included Vickie
R. Green, Mistress of Ceremonies; Rev. Dr. Joan Gandy, who presented the
Invocation; Tony Fields, who sang special selections; and Rev. Clifton Marvel
Sr., who provided the Benediction.
Ainsley Dupre, student at Adams County Christian School,
and Halle Stamps, student at Cathedral High School, both members of the Mayor’s
Youth Council, read excerpts from Dr. Terry Alford’s book, “Prince Among
Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American
South” (Oxford University Press, 1977).
The Silver Street marker is the second one erected in the
Natchez-Adams County area honoring the prince. The first, funded by the Natchez
Historical Society, was unveiled in October 2025 on Highway 61 North near
Historic Jefferson College and focuses on Ibrahima’s 1807 meeting with Dr. John
Coates Cox. The new riverfront marker highlights his West African roots and the
site of his departure to freedom.
See more here: https://listenupyall.com/2026/04/10/natchez-unveils-second-prince-ibrahima-marker-on-silver-street/
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