Gullah Heritage Series 2008

Date: January 7, 2008
Contact: Carlin Timmons, [phone] x 14

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 2008.

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 2

• Carolyn “Jabulile” White, Sea Island storyteller
• Thomas Mark Pinckney, poetry reading, Spoken Words for My Soul
• Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Feb 9

• Anita Singleton-Prather, “Aunt Pearlie Sue” Gullah Tales
• Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration  

Feb 16

• Sharon & Frank Murray, rice production
• Paul & Loretta Hromoga, indigo dyeing

Feb 23

• Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers, spirituals
• Jeannette Lee, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 1

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

Mar 8

• Vermelle & Andrew Rodrigues, quilting & toys
• Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration            
• “Sista, Sista” stories & skits
• Charles C. Williams, castnet making & woodwork

Mar 15

• Philip Simmons, master ironworker, documentary & book signing
• Dorothy Montgomery, quilting
• Elijah Ford, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 22

• Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers, spirituals
• William Rouse, sweetgrass basket demonstration

Mar 29

• Anita Singleton-Prather, “Aunt Pearlie Sue” Gullah Tales
• Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration

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.