Events 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 p.m. during March 2013.

Charles Pinckney, a principal author and signer of the United States Constitution, owned seven plantations.  A remnant of his Lowcountry plantation, Snee Farm is preserved today as Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. 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 plantation system but also to American culture in general.

These Gullah programs range from craft demonstrations such as quilting, cast-net making, wood-working and sweetgrass basket sewing to cooking, African drumming and story-telling, folk-tales, spirituals and other musical performances.

• March 2
  Veronica Gerald & Jesse Gantt, Gullah cooking demonstration
  Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration
  Alada “Muima” Shinault-Small, African tales
  NIA Productions, African drumming & dance   

• March 9
  Lincoln Middle High School, steel drums
  Carolyn ‘Jabulile’ White, Sea Island storyteller
  Vermelle & Andrew Rodrigues, quilting & toys
  Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration

• March 16
  Stall High School, steel drums
  Anita Singleton-Prather, ‘Pearlie Sue’ Gullah Tales
  Elijah Ford, sweetgrass basket demonstration

• March 23
  Sharon & Frank Murray, rice production
  Dorothy Montgomery, quilting
  Vera Manigault, sweetgrass basket demonstration
  Charles C. Williams, castnet making

• March 30
  Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers, spirituals
  William Rouse, 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.  For more information, call (843) 881-5516 or visit us on the Web at http://www.nps.gov/chpi.