Staff reports | There will be a big community send-off at 10 a.m. Thursday to honor a Charleston legend who will be part of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture that opens this week in Washington, D.C.

The Thursday event at Gadsden Wharf at the Charleston Maritime Center will honor the life work of the Esau and Janie B. Jenkins family, the surviving members of whom will make a special private visit to the museum prior to its grand opening. Other family members, friends and Sea island residents also will travel to the nation’s capital for the museum’s grand opening celebration.