CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Five months after nine black parishioners were gunned down at a Charleston church, volunteers continue the laborious job of sorting and cataloguing the thousands of letters, mementos and gifts that poured in after the tragedy.
For weeks following the June 17 shootings, the sidewalk in front of Emanuel AME Church became a shrine with flowers, cards, letters, balloons and candles.
A small group of archivists has been working free of charge helping the church sort through such material. If all the letters were put in a stack, it would be an estimated 1,000 feet high. And the church has received about 400 quilts and shawls.
The material is being catalogued on computer and the church envisions a permanent memorial to the shooting victims.
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