When Anthony Griffin rides his bike through Galveston's Strand Historic District, he can't shake the feeling he's seeing ghosts.

His mind's eye wanders 180 years in the past. He imagines the slaves who passed through this thriving commercial corridor in chains, marched from the harbor from ships that carried them across the Atlantic from Africa. In his new memoir and history book, "The Water Cries," Griffin, 70, found that many of the slaves were sold into bondage at an auction house on the same block where a 5,000-square foot mural memorializes that slavery ended here on June 19, 1865.

Anthony Griffin, of Galveston, TX talks about the research he did for his new book, “The Water Cries,” which explores the historic locations of Galveston’s slave auction houses.

Anthony Griffin, of Galveston, TX talks about the research he did for his new book, “The Water Cries,” which explores the historic locations of Galveston’s slave auction houses.

It's one of 20 auction houses he discovered over the course of four years of research during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. History is a second career for Griffin. He gave up his law practice in 2015. His celebrated legal career included defending the First Amendment rights of Michael Lowe, the grand dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan, in 1993. He also won a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against organized prayer at Santa Fe ISD football games. He grew up in Baytown, but has lived in Galveston since the 1970s. Over time, he became obsessed with the city's often overlooked role as one of the largest slave ports west of New Orleans.

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