2007 Gullah Heritage Series

Date: December 11, 2006
Contact: Carlin Timmons, [phone]

Celebrate Gullah Heritage! The National Park Service, in partnership with the Town of Mount Pleasant, is sponsoring a series of free cultural programs at Charles Pinckney National Historic site every Saturday at 2:00 pm during February and March, 2007.

Charles Pinckney, a principal author and signer of the United States Constitution, owned seven plantations. Enslaved Africans and African-Americans on Lowcountry plantations developed a unique culture known collectively today as “Gullah.” Gullah people made significant contributions not only to the Lowcountry plantation system but also to American culture in general. A remnant of his Lowcountry plantation, Snee Farm, is preserved today as Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.

These Gullah programs range from craft demonstrations such as quilting, cast-net making, ironwork and sweetgrass basket sewing to cooking, African drumming and story-telling, folk-tales, spirituals and other musical performances.

Feb 3
Carolyn “Jabulile” White, Sea Island storyteller
Thomas Mark Pinckney, poetry reading, Spoken Words for My Soul
Vera Manigault, sweetgrass baskets

Feb 10
Sharon & Frank Murray, rice production & Gullah tales
Joyce Coakley, lecture Gullah: Then & Now

Feb 17
Anita Singleton-Prather, “Aunt Pearlie Sue” Gullah Tales
Jeannette Lee, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Feb 24
Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers, spirituals
Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 3
Veronica Gerald & Jesse Gant, Gullah cooking demonstration
Alada “Muima” Shinault-Small, African tales
NIA Productions, African drumming & dance

Mar 10
Philip Simmons, master ironworker
Dorothy Montgomery, quilting
Elijah Ford, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 17
Vermelle & Andrew Rodrigues, quilting & toys
Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration
“Sista, Sista” stories & skits

Mar 24
Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers, spirituals
Charles C. Williams, cast-net making & woodwork
William Rouse, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 31
Anita Singleton-Prather, “Aunt Pearlie Sue” Gullah Tales

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, located at 1254 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant, is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Days.