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.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
