Gullah Geechee Communities

Members of the Cosmo Historical Preservation Association Corporation presenting at the 2023 Kingsley Heritage Celebration.

NPS/Layla Neal

Who are the Gullah Geechee?

The Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and brought to the lower Atlantic states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to work on the coastal rice, Sea Island cotton and indigo plantations. Because their enslavement was on isolated coastal plantations, sea and barrier islands, they were able to retain many of their indigenous African traditions. These traditions are reflected in their foodways, arts and crafts, and spiritual traditions. They also created a new language, Gullah, a creole language spoken nowhere else in the world. Kingsley Plantation tells the stories of Gullah-Geechee traditions through it's archaeology programs. Learn More...

What is the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor?

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, and the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission established to oversee it, were designated by an act of Congress on October 12, 2006 through the National Heritage Areas Act of 2006. The Corridor runs from Pender County North Carolina to St. John’s County Florida. The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission is charged with helping to achieve the goals of the Corridor designation: to recognize, sustain, and celebrate the important contributions made to American culture and history by the Gullah Geechee; to assist state and local governments and public and private entities in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida in interpreting the story of the Gullah Geechee and preserving Gullah Geechee folklore, arts, crafts, and music; and to assist in identifying and preserving sites, historical data, artifacts, and objects associated with Gullah Geechee people and culture for the benefit and education of the public. Learn more...

What is Cosmo?

People who survived enslavement and maintained and morphed their traditions, languages, and beliefs settled in the areas around coastal plantations during the post-Civil War era. One such community, was named Cosmo. Building homes near the St. Johns River, founding Cosmo community members were riverboat pilots, farmers, and worked in commercial fishing. An early member of the Cosmo community was Easter Bartley, born on Kingsley Plantation. She and so many others found family, culture, and community in places like Cosmo.

Today, Freedom Park, located down the road from Fort Caroline National Memorial, helps to honor their history. Through community members actively protecting and sharing their stories and traditions, this culture lives on.

Learn more about Cosmo from the Cosmo Historical Preservation Corperation. The Cosmo Historical Preservation Corporation is dedicated to raising awareness about this historic Gullah Geechee community and the threats to its continued survival.

Videos below include Cosmo community members recording oral histories, and preserving culture through song.

 

Duration:

3 minutes, 6 seconds

Ranger Ted tells us about the Gullah Geechee communities in places like Kingsley Plantation. He explores their music traditions and the local Cosmo Gullah Geechee community performs.

 

Duration:

1 minute, 36 seconds

Cosmo Gullah Geechee descendant community performing "He Didn't Have to do it but He Did" in the picnic shelter at the Timucuan Preserve Visitor Center.

 

Duration:

2 minutes, 21 seconds

Learn about birds significant to the Gullah Geechee community with Isiah Scott as he tours Kingsley Plantation.

 

Duration:

1 minute, 43 seconds

Oral histories from the Cosmo community turned to memories of food and traditions including the "stew beef" like Gopher Tortoise meal.

 

Cosmo in the Civil War

Discover the stories of United States Colored Troops in Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve including history on some of the members of the Cosmo community, uncovered with the support of Cosmo Historical Preservation Corporation.

Read About USCT in the Park