The Gullah Geechee are a unique population of African slave descendants from widely separated regions of Africa, who today reside in isolated areas along the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Through their geographic and cultural isolation and strong sense of identity, they are said to have preserved more of their African heritage than any other group in the United States. They are distinctive by their creole language, their African style arts, crafts, and music, and their spirituality.
Discover more about the culture, lifestyle, and history of the Gullah Geechee in this presentation by Dr. Eric Crawford, the Director of The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies. Participants will have a chance to ask questions during the Q & A session.
About Eric Crawford
Eric Crawford is the Director of The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at Coastal Carolina University and the organizer of the annual International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from The Catholic University of America, and his research focuses on the rich tradition of Gullah music. Beginning in 2007, he conducted extensive field recordings on Saint Helena Island, site of the historic Port Royal Experiment, and his transcriptions are held at the Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
In 2013, he participated in the Saint Helena Island Gullah Spirituals project, which was a collaborative effort among scholars and students to preserve and foster the study of the earliest recorded Negro spirituals. In 2014, The Atheneaum Press released a CD of his field recordings and accompanying booklet to the general public. Crawford is currently working on his book on the Saint Helena Island spirituals entitled De Ole Sheep Done Know De Road: In Search of the Gullah Spiritual, and he is conducting field recordings on historic Sandy Island, South Carolina.
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TAGS: | Guest Lecture | Culture |
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