Gullah Geechee Corridor Newsletter

The National Park Service — Sea Community Gullah Geechee

Cultural Heritage CorridorÂŽ V O LU M E 1 S E R I E S 1, 2013

C E L E B R AT I N G 500 Y E A R S O F F LO R I D A

A Travel, History & Culture Series

Photo Credit: Diedra Laird, NC, Charlotte Observer Vera Manigault, Sweet Basket Maker

Cultural Heritage Corridor®

Photo Credit: NPS Old Slave Plantation

Gullah Geechee is a Unique African American Culture.

Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is home to one of America’s most unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from Africa and continued in later generations by their descendants.

Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor he Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, North Carolina in the north to St. Augustine, Florida, in the south. The corridor is one of 49 National Heritage Area (NHA), and the only NHA that deals with African American history. It includes roughly 80 barrier islands and continues inland to adjacent coastal counties, defining a region 30 miles inland throughout the Sea Island Low Country. The Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor is home to the Gullah people in the Carolinas and the Geechee in Georgia and Florida — cultural groups descended from enslaved peoples with the largest concentration coming from West and Central Africa. The Gullah and Geechee share similar linguistic, artistic and societal traits that have remained relatively intact for several centuries due to the geographic isolation of the region. The cultures represent the many ways that Africans in the Americas maintained their homeland roots while simultaneously assimilating aspects of new cultures they encountered during and after enslavement.

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The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is managed by a federal commission made up of local representatives who collaborate with the National Park Service, Community Partners, Grass Root organizations and the State historic preservation offices of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Through research, education and interpretation, the corridor aims to preserve and rise awareness regarding the Gullah Geechee, among America’s least-known and most unique cultures. Visitors to the southeastern coast of the country have the chance to experience Gullah Geechee heritage through historic sites, local tours, traditional foods, cultural events, and art galleries.

Slave Cabin, Lincolnville, FL Photo Credit: Derek Boyd Hankerson

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Cultural Heritage Corridor

February 2014 — The Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor Commission will meet on February 21st in Fernandina Beach.

March 2014 — Bike Florida Tour March 22-28 Sea Community Armstrong Breakfast March 22 .

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History and Culture The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of enslaved Africans from various ethnic groups. Brought to the New World due to their agricultural expertise and others skills and forced to work on the plantations of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. The Gullah Geechee people retained most aspects of their African heritage due to the geographic barriers of the coastal landscape and the strong sense of place and family of Gullah Geechee community members and relative isolation from Plantation owners.

Today, the cultural and linguistic umbrella of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, NC to St. Augustine, FL. People who identify as Gullah or Geechee represent the many ways that Africans in the Americas have held on to and amalgamated the traditions of Africa with the cultures they encountered both during and after enslavement.

The isolation of these sea island communities from outsiders was vital to the survival of Gullah Geechee community cultures.

Although Gullah Geechee people traveled to and from the mainland and to nearby islands, outsiders seldom came into their communities, especially after the Civil War. The isolation of Gullah Geechee people which began in colonial times in response to tropical fevers later became an isolation of choice. People chose to come back to their homes, their families, their language, and their way of life- a slow-paced life among majestic trees, tidal marshes, and dirt roads traversed by ox and mule carts- places where small boats, horses, mules and feet were the primary forms of transportation. Thus, within these rural communities, people were able to maintain their language, arts, crafts, religious beliefs, folklore, rituals and food preferences that are distinctly connected to their African roots. The islands were accessible only by boat until the first bridges were built around 1950.

People African-Americans who reside under the cultural umbrella of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor have retained their African heritage to a strong degree. This heritage is reflected within their naming traditions, linguistic patterns/African vocabulary, worldview, philosophy, African religious syncretism, ring-shouts, sweet grass basket weaving, mortar & pestle use, diet/cooking methods, carving traditions, fishing methods (net making and casting), quilting patterns (African symbolism), rice cultivation, and storytelling traditions.

Gullah Geechee Cooking, SC. Photo Credit: NPS

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National Significance of the Gullah/Geechee People and Their Culture The Gullah Geechee people of the Low Country and Sea Islands of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina are a distinctive people. They are also the only African American population of the United States with a separate, long-standing name identifying them as a separate people.

They are distinct among African American peoples in this development of a tradition that depends as much upon maritime resources as upon land resources. Historically they are speakers of the only true African American creole language of the continental United States.

Gullah Geechee people are the most African of African Americans in physical type, language, and culture; yet they are a uniquely American cultural type formed by the fusion of African cultural heritage and American experience. Through the diffusion and expansion of their population, the Gullah Geechee people have become the source for many elements noted in other African American cultures. Of all African American cultures in the United States, the folk customs, oral history and literature, crafts and arts of the Gullah Geechee people show the strongest continuities with indigenous cultures of Africa. The Gullah Geechee culture also bears strong similarities to creole and maroon cultures of the Caribbean.

In many respects the Gullah Geechee cultural region directly parallels that of the Afro-Carib Garifuna people of Belize. The “cultural space” of these Garifuna people was selected in 2001 by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a

distinction for which the Gullah Geechee people themselves might qualify (Global Garifuna Network, Electronic Document; UNESCO, Electronic Document). Thus, Gullah Geechee cultural heritage, eating habits, cooking styles, music, language and traditions have made significant contributions, not only to the lives of southerners but also to all Americans. Recognizing the pivotal place that Gullah Geechee people, language, folklore, and culture have occupied in African American scholarship.

Management The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is managed by a Federal Commission. Commissioners work in partnership with the National Park Service and the state historic preservation offices of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The commission consists of fifteen members; five cultural resource experts and 10 state representatives.

There are also 10 alternate positions.

Expert Commissioners and Alternates There are five expert positions on the Commission nominated by the National Park Service- two from SC and one each from Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. State Nominated Commissioners and Alternates There are ten positions on the Commission nominated by the State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) — four from South Carolina and two each from Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

Gullah Geechee in the Southeastern United States

Plan your visit The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, a National Heritage Area and unit of the National Park System, stretches from Wilmington, NC to St. Johns County , FL. The corridor includes coastal lands and offshore barrier islands in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that all are connected by Interstate 95, which runs through, or near much of the heritage corridor. For additional information, visit the National Park Service Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor website or call 843-881-5516. Directions and a map can be found on the National Park Service website. For additional information, visit the National Park Service Cumberland Island National Seashore and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site websites. www.gullahgeecheecorridor.org Reservations for tours of the Historic District Penn Center can be made by calling 843-838-2432.

Kingsley Plantation, FL Photo Credit: Derek Boyd Hankerson

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Rice plantation farming and slavery in Lowland South Carolina are the subjects of an online lesson plan, When Rice Was King. The lesson plan has been produced by the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places program, which offers a series of online classroom-ready lesson plans on registered historic places. To learn more, visit the Teaching with Historic Places homepage.

Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor H C r速

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What a great catch!

THE INCLUSION OF ST. JOHNS COUNTY IN THE GULLAH GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR TURNS OUT TO BE A BOON. hen the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution banned slavery in 1865, most of the African and American-born slaves along the southeastern coast remained in the region that had come to be their homes. Life on the barrier islands was quite isolated from that of the mainland and few outside visitors ever made contact with the newly freed communities. Because of this geographic isolation and a strong sense of cultural connection amongst the people, the African Americans who today self-identify as Gullah Geechee retained their African heritage to a strong degree.

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Most of the Gullah Geechee still live in rural communities of low-level, vernacular buildings along the Low Country mainland coast and on the barrier islands. Towns, such as Armstrong, FL, once were often dotted with dirt roads and traversed by oxen, mules, and horses. The Gullah Geechee are the speakers of the only AfricanAmerican Creole language that developed in the United States — one that combines elements of English and over 30 African dialects. Oral traditions, folklore, and storytelling are cultural traditions that have gone largely unchanged for generations. Religious ceremonies such as ring shouts, artisan crafts like sweet grass basket weaving, and culinary traditions such as “hoppin’ john” and sweet potato pone are all preserved as part of the lifeways of the Gullah Geechee.

Recently life has changed for the Gullah Geechee. The barrier islands were accessible only by boat until the building of the first bridges starting in the early 1950s. Since that time, many traditional Gullah Geechee communities on the islands have been altered by

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cultural infiltration from mainlanders, or been lost entirely to real estate development. The advent of air-conditioning transformed the hot, humid islands into desirable, ocean-side property bringing outsiders into what was once solely Gullah or Geechee territory.

Despite recent losses, the Gullah Geechee people remain a testament to the power of human adaptability and cultural survival even in the face of outside pressures from the modern world.

Because of the nature of the Gullah Geechee culture and its associated corridor, many aspects of the area’s heritage are intangible and cannot be experienced through a solitary site.

Local institutions and organizations thus offer regional tours and assistance. Both The Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society in Georgia, and Gullah Tours out of Charleston, South Carolina provide boat tours that focus on Gullah Geechee culture, language, music and storytelling. Carolina Food Pros also offers an extensive culinary tour of coastal South Carolina featuring traditional Lowland and Gullah cooking. Please call 843-723-3366 for scheduling.

Freedom Road Trail also offers tours of Kingsley Plantation, Fort Mose and other northeast Florida history to include the 500 year history of Africans and African American involvement in settling of the New World, formation of Maroon communities, forts, Militia’s that protected Florida and relationships between Natives and other groups out of St. Augustine, Florida, and the Civil Rights movement. They offer groups tours please call (904) 377-3465 for tour information or visit www.freedomroadtrail.org.

Photo Credit: Diedra Laird, NC, Charlotte Observer Charles Williams, Sea Island Net Maker

North Carolina Self-taught and visionary artist, Minnie Evans, was born and raised in Pender and New Hanover Counties, the northenmost points of the Gullah Geechee corridor! The Cameron Art Museum of Wilmington, N.C. houses the the Minnie Evans Study Center, a central repository for archival material regarding the life of Minnie Evans. In addition, the lands around the Cameron Art Museum once witnessed the Civil War “Battle of Forks Road,” in which U.S. Colored Troops played a critical role.

In Winnabow, N.C., the St. Philips Church at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson occupies land once cultivated by enslaved workers in the long leaf pine-based naval stores industry and on lower Cape Fear River rice plantations. This land also witnessed the liberation of former slaves as it served as a camp for black refugees in 1865.

Another site, St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church, of Wilmington, N.C. represents the fortitude and innovation of African Americans in the northern section of the Gullah Geechee Corridor.

The church sits on Campbell Square, on land designated for “the Negro population of New Hanover County,” since 1845. In May of 1865, not even one month after the close of the Civil War, “642 Negroes joined the African Church,” under the leadership of Rev. W. H. Hunter, an African American chaplain with the Union Army.

In 1866, the Wilmington Board of Alderman passed an ordinance rededicating Campbell Squere to the use of “colored people,” specifying that four churches and a school should occupy the land.

St. Stephen is one of those churches.

Visitors interested in plantation history may also enjoy another unit of the National Park System, the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The site interprets one of the authors and signers of the United States Constitution. In addition to the c.

1828 Farmhouse, the site focuses on plantation life and agricultural history on the 28 preserved acres of the original 715 acre property. This includes regularly scheduled Gullah heritage celebrations and a Gullah film festival. One of the most notable historic places to visit within the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is the Penn School Historic District on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The district is a National Historic Landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The 47-acre area contains 18 historic buildings dating from the mid 1800s. Brick Church, the oldest building still standing, was constructed in 1855 by by slaves for early Baptist planters in St. Helena. It was later used as a church, community center and school for both black and white abolitionists during the Reconstruction Era and is one of the earliest schools for the newly freed slaves. Missionaries constructed the other buildings on the island when they came there to assist former Gullah slaves with their newfound freedom after their owners abandoned the island during the Civil War. In addition to the early school and missionary buildings, the district also includes Gantt Cottage where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Leadership Conference often met during the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Locals showcase the Penn School Historic District, or “Penn Center” with pride, and visitors are welcome to attend annual Gullah festivals and community events. The York W. Bailey Museum interprets the history and culture of the island and is open Monday through Saturday, from 1:00am to 4:00pm. More information is available on the Penn Center website.

South Carolina and Georgia The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor protects, bolsters, and showcases the traditional Gullah Geechee culture that remains in the region, and its relation to the overall history of slavery, plantations, abolition and emancipation in the South. Several cultural and educational institutions interpret this heritage for visitors. Geechee Kunda is a museum and community education center in Riceboro, Georgia, which features exhibits, galleries, classes and events about Geechee culture, a gift shop, and a family research center. For more information, call 912-884-4440. The Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture in Charleston, South Carolina focuses on Gullah heritage in the Low Country as well as the wider theme of the African Diaspora in America.

Photo Credit: Diedra Laird, NC, Charlotte Observer

The center offers exhibits, public programming, tours, and an extensive archival collection. Call 843-953-7609 for upcoming events and information.

In addition to museums, visitors to the heritage corridor have the chance to experience the area through many federally recognized historic places. The National Park Service administers Cumberland Island National Seashore. Cumberland Island is Georgia’s largest, southernmost barrier island, with four major historic districts and 87 structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The island is still home to Geechee descendants of slaves who worked the plantations there through the mid 1800s. Park interpretive services include guided ranger tours and a museum with exhibits on the history and culture of the area that is open on Sundays from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

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Florida Florida’s connection to the Gullah Geechee culture and heritage corridor is rooted in the longest standing tradition of black freedom.

Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose or Fort Mose in Saint Augustine is not only located in the nation’s oldest city but also is recognized as the oldest sanctioned free black community in the United States.

In the 17th century, Spanish control in the southern region was threatened with the establishment of English colonies in South Carolina. In 1687, Spanish officials reported the first runaways from the nearby English settlements. The Spanish crown, interested in maintaining control in the southeast, began to encourage runaways to abscond from English settlements and colonies. In 1693, an edict was issued granting freedom to all runaway slaves from English settlements. In 1738, Spanish authority issued a charter to create Fort Mose and as early as 1739, fugitive slaves inhabited Fort Mose.

Blacks agreed to help defend St. Augustine from outside European invasion in exchange for certain liberties. The protection served three primary functions: to maintain a social and strategic relationship with the Spanish, to maintain the Spanish foothold in St. Augustine, and to advance Blacks within Spanish society. The Spanish provided food until the first crops were harvested, a priest for religious instruction, and established a military unit. In time, Fort Mose was considered the first line of defense for Saint Augustine.

Today, Fort Mose historic state park is a National Historic Landmark.

Visitors enjoy both the ecological treasures and historical past of Fort Mose. The museum and interpretive center is open on Thursday to Monday from 9:00am to 5:00pm On the last Saturday of each month, living history re-enactors provide visitors with a glimpse of the past. For more information, please contact the Fort Mose Park Office at 904-823-2232 or visit the park website.

Old Slave Market and Museum, Charelston, SC. Photo Credit: NPS

Wellness Tourism in Spuds, Elkton, and Armstrong (SEA Community)

Connecting Armstrong, St. John’s County and Fl to Maine through 3 Bike Trails.

Rails to Trails, Sea Island Loop & East Coast Greenways (Fl to Maine) Photo Credit: Derek Boyd Hankerson

Sea Community Center

Produced & Published by:

www.freedomroadproductions.org Contact: Derek Boyd Hankerson Director, Writer & Producer Freedom Road Productions dhankerson@freedomroadtrail.org 8

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Partners & Production PARTNERS:

PRODUCTIONS:

Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker MPCPMP brings together many individuals who are motivated to share information regarding enslaved Africans and their descendants who profoundly shaped the Western Hemisphere and Europe. http://www.middlepassageproject.org

2012 Film Production 1. The Florida Channel Underground Railroad http://thefloridachannel.org/video/floridas-underground-railroadsouthern-route-to-freedom/ Film completed October 2012

National Park Service a. Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, North Carolina in the north to St. Johns County, Florida in the south. It is home to one of America’s most unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendants. http://www.gullahgeechee.org b. Underground Railroad Network to Freedom The National Park Service has implemented a national Underground Railroad program to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate local historical places, museums, and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories. www.gullahgeecheecorridor.org

2013-14 Film Productions a. Fort Mose (Film Short) b. Florida Agriculture Museum and The Black Cowboys (Film Short) c. A Day in the life of Florida Agriculture Museum (Production) d. Armstrong Promotional and Bike Trails (Post Production) e. The Holocaust Story (Ethiopian Jew)

VISIT FLORIDA VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, serves as Florida’s official source for travel planning to visitors across the globe. VISIT FLORIDA is not a government agency, but rather a not-profit corporation created as a public/private partnership by the Florida Legislature in 1996.

VIVA 500 Viva Florida 500 is a statewide initiative led by the Florida Department of State, under the leadership of Governor Rick Scott, to highlight the 500 years of historic people, places and events in present-day Florida since the arrival of Juan Ponce de León to the land he named La Florida in 1513. While Florida’s Native American heritage dates back more than 12,000 years, Spain’s claim in 1513 began a new era http://www.vivaflorida.org/ St. Johns Cultural Council The St. Johns County Cultural Council is the designated Local Arts Agency for St. Johns County. We are a clearinghouse of information for artists, arts organizations, businesses, and the general public. http://www.stjohnsculture.com/

Venues Cinema Paradiso, FL Fall 2013 Grand Bahama Island, FL Fall 2013 Broward Community College, Brevard County, FL Fall 2013 St. Augustine, FL, Fall 2014 Ft. Lauderdale 2013 Local 1. 26th and 27th Annual Lincolnville Festival National 2. 2011 National Park Service Gullah Geechee Annual Conference, Lincolnville, Florida a. Tour of Northeast, Florida (Nassau, Clay, Dual, St. Johns) 3. 2012 National Park Service Underground Railroad Conference, St. Augustine, Florida a. Tour of Northeast, Florida (Kingsley, Fort Caroline, the Ritz, St. Augustine and Lincolnville 4. 2013 Black Travel and Tourism Event, Jacksonville, Florida 5. 2013 Middle Passage Ceremonies and Pork Marker Project 6. 2013 Association for the Life and Study of African American History a. Tour of St. Augustine, and Lincolnville 7. 2014 NPS GGCHC Annual Conference, Fernandina Beach, FL Regional 8. 2013 Jacksonville Gullah Geechee Nation CDC Annual Festival, the Ritz Jacksonville, FL 9. 2013 WJCT/PBS Teacher Training Keynote Speaker, Many Rivers to Cross Film Series w/Dr. Gates the Ritz Jacksonville, FL Radio and Rack Card Display: 1. African and Native Radio spots through VISIT FLORIDA Minority Grant 2. African and African American travel and culture spots VISIT FLORIDA Minority Grant 3. Display Cards – VISIT FLORIDA Welcome Centers (5) a. Highlights the “Did you know” series b. Highlights three sites in St. Augustine and three events held in St. Augustine

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3BJMT UP 5SBJMT 'FTUJWBM Honoring our Military Veterans Past & Present Pearl Harbor — World War II December 7, 2013 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm "SNTUSPOH 1BSL t )BSWFZ "WF t &MLUPO '- Join us for a Fun Walk and Bike Ride on the Trails. Bring your family, bikes and walking shoes and invite your friends!

Entertainment by Willie Green Blues Singer and others Vendor Booths Available for Rent. NEEDED: Sponsors, Volunteers, Cyclists, Walkers

For more Information, contact: Malinda Peeples 904-806-3939 Kathy Taylor 904-824-5314 Margaret Murray 904-692-3561

Join us at Armstrong Cemetary at 9:00 am for recognition of our U.S. Veterans