Tybee Island commemorates 2nd Annual Lazaretto Day

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - People on Tybee Island took the time Saturday afternoon to commemorate the 2nd annual Lazaretto Day, a day dedicated to the enslaved people who died while being quarantined on Tybee Island.

The group fell victim to the transatlantic slave trade and Saturday, the community gathered in Memorial Park to commemorate them.

People who died while being quarantined were sometimes buried on Tybee Island, or their bodies put in the ocean.

Those who survived, were brought to Savannah to be sold.

It’s a dark history that organizers of the commemoration say, is important to recognize.

“We as a family, we’re coming together as a human race talking about something that happened that was egregious. But it did happen. And so we talk about it, how do we move past it, how do we get to be one people and appreciate each other,” said Julia Pearce, co-founder of Tybee MLK.

The Lazaretto Day commemoration was put on by Tybee MLK.

Pearce says their next big event is their Juneteenth celebration.

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