Free & Equal (F&E) is an audio and augmented reality journey exploring a key moment in the history of Civil Rights. Using GPS, the app guides you from site-to-site through the National Reconstruction Era Historical Park in Beaufort, South Carolina. This area was home to the Port Royal Experiment, in which 8000 formerly enslaved people were armed, funded, trained, and empowered to build their own society 3 years before the end of the Civil War. This story reveals a small, often-forgotten moment in American history in which recently-freed-people owned their former plantations, literacy was spreading like wildfire, the Freedman’s bank was open to all, formerly enslaved people were elected to US Congress, and military power was firmly in the hands of African Americans.

The story is best heard walking and driving through Beaufort, SC, where you will find clues and hidden artifacts in this incredible story. But if you can’t make the trip, the app can be listened to as a highly-engaging podcast that comes to life in your living room via Augmented Reality.