Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Month
Did you know that October is Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Month?
The Gullah-Geechee people are a unique group of African Americans descended from enslaved Africans who lived on the sea islands of the Atlantic coast, between Wilmington, NC and Jacksonville, FL. African traditions, language and myths were better preserved along the sea islands, as those who were enslaved on the island plantations were allowed greater self-sufficiency and were relatively isolated.[i] This allowed them to retain their cultural memory longer and throughout many subsequent generations, fusing it with the other cultures of the Southeast to become Gullah-Geechee.
Gullah is also a language spoken throughout the sea islands of the coastal Southeast. Considered a creole form of English, the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation mix elements of West African languages and English.[ii]
The contributions of the Gullah people have had a lasting impact on Beaufort County’s local culture and history. Sweetgrass baskets are a famous Gullah art form and common sights at farm stands and craft markets in the Lowcountry. Foods like red rice, gumbo, okra, and benne wafers are Carolina favorites that come from Gullah cuisine. Aspects of Gullah spirituality are also well known, like praise houses and spirituals, and even more so root doctors and hoodoo.
Gullah culture is not just tied to local history, but to national history as well. For example, the Penn School was established in 1862 to educate the formerly enslaved residents of St. Helena, many of them Gullah. 100 years later, Penn School became an important site in the Civil Rights Movement as a retreat for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It is even said that Dr. King wrote much of his "Where Do We Go From Here" speech there.[iii]
The Beaufort County Library celebrates our local Gullah-Geechee community and promotes their unique culture throughout the year through our collections and programs.
As Wilbur Cross noted in his book Gullah Culture in America, Beaufort County Library “has one of the South’s largest collections of materials on the Gullah language and the sea island culture.” The Beaufort District Collection is home to an extensive Gullah-Geechee historical collection of books, manuscripts, pamphlets, vertical files, videos and more. St. Helena Branch Library has a reference collection of Gullah-Geechee materials on-site in addition to a small Reconstruction Era reference collection. Hilton Head Branch Library has its own South Carolina Room which also has a section of Gullah-related resources. And, of course, every BCL branch library (including bookmobiles) has a Local History section where you can check out books on a variety of historical subjects. Here are some new Gullah-related titles that can be found in a Local History section near you!
Descended: Searching for my Gullah-Geechee Roots by Keith Rushing (2025). Motivated to uncover the history of his family after learning the Gullah origins of a name, Rushing set out on a journey that led him through time to Hilton Head Island.
Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess by Kendra Y. Hamilton (2024). Hamilton documents the impact of Gullah culture on the Harlem and Charleston Renaissances.
Gullah Culture in America by Wilbur Cross (2008). This title meticulously explores the history of the Gullah, from the arrival of African slaves in the New World to 21st century Gullahs traveling to West Africa to uncover their heritage.
Gullah-Geechee Diasporas, edited by Muhammad Fraser-Rahim and Elizabeth J. West (2026). In this anthology, writers and scholars explore the African roots of the Gullah and their historic and contemporary impacts on American culture.
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[i] Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. (n.d.). The Gullah Geechee people – discovering legacy of African cultures. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/the-gullah-geechee/
[ii] Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. (n.d.). The Gullah Geechee people – discovering legacy of African cultures. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/the-gullah-geechee/
[iii] Power, J. T. (1993). I will not be silent and I will be heard: Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Penn Center, 1964-1967. South Carolina Department of Archives & History.
Note: This post is based on the introduction to “Gullah Culture: A Selective List of Links and Materials” written by former BDC manager Grace Cordial, using material written by former BCL Staff members Dennis Adams, Hillary S. Barnwell and Fran Hayes.
