Frankly Charleston Black History Tours

Frankly Charleston Black History Tours earns near-universal praise from visitors and locals alike for offering an unfiltered, research-backed counter-narrative to Charleston's typical tourist storytelling. Founder Franklin Williams, who launched the operation in 2015 after two decades in the city's tourism industry, is consistently described as a passionate scholar who covers Gullah/Geechee culture, the lives of enslaved and free Blacks, and colonial African contributions that mainstream tours routinely omit. The main practical caveat reviewers flag is pacing — the tour moves quickly and photo stops can be limited — and heat can push some sessions into the van rather than on foot.