Free "Making Gullah" Lecture on November 8, 2019

We are grateful for all the folks who help us bring enlightening, illuminating and informative local history programs to you. Since June, we've collaborated with Beaufort Branch, Beaufort County Historical Society, Beaufort History Museum, Hilton Head Branch, and the Pat Conroy Literary Center on a wide range of topics from bootlegging to teaching kids; from colonial life to Beaufort County in the 1970s; natural disasters and disasters made by humans (Civil War) - and through all those time periods, there were African American people who endured and affected that history. We are delighted to collaborate with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, Penn Center, and the St. Helena Branch Library to offer another program about the Gullah people  to you. 

"Making Gullah: Reflections on Finding Gullah Folk in the American Imagination" by 
Dr. Melissa L. Cooper | BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library,  6355 Jonathan Francis, Sr. Road | Friday, November 8, 2019 at 2 PM

Melissa L. Cooper, PhD specializes in African American cultural and intellectual history, and the history of the African Diaspora. She is an Associate Professor in History at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Cooper's book, Making Gullah: A History of Sapelo Islanders, Race, and the American Imagination (University of North Carolina Press, 2017) is an intellectual and cultural history that examines the emergence of "the Gullah" in scholarly and popular works during the 1920s and the 1930s. Using Sapelo Island, Georgia as a case study, Cooper's manuscript explores the forces that inspired interest in black southerners’ African heritage during the period, and also looks at the late twentieth, and twenty-first century legacies of the works that first made Sapelo Islanders famous. She is the author of Instructor's Resource Manual--Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2013) and a contributor to Race and Retail: Consumption Across the Color Line (Rutgers University Press, 2015).  

Please join us for this free lecture being held as a component of Penn Center's 37th Annual Heritage Days Festival. 

Also, we do hope that you have reserved your seat at "Guns of the Big Gun Shoot" as registration is required.The link is https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3552471.  Registration is closed once room capacity is met.

As of this writing, there are still seats available for Jim Alberto's Daufuskie Daze Author Book Talk at Beaufort Branch on November 15th: https://daufuskiedaze2.bpt.me.

Looking ahead: The Library system will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2019 for Veterans Day.

Programs in November - and Registration?

Frequent readers of this blog understand that the special local history collection and archives unit of the Beaufort County Library provides some programs on its own as well as co-sponsors others on a one-time or recurrent basis through time. At present, the BDC is coordinating two local history series with other organizations on a regular and recurrent basis: Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library local history series and the new "Historically Speaking" series with the Beaufort County Historical Society. Since August we have also held programs alone and in concert with the Beaufort Branch Library and will soon do one or more with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, Penn Center and St. Helena Branch Library. Some of our partners have reservation software; some of our partners do not; and the Beaufort District Collection does not. Thus, some of our programs request registration, some require registration and others are simply first come, first seated. In other words, be sure to read the details per each program in which you are interested.

Registration is required to attend lectures in the Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library local history series. Reservations often go quite quickly. If there are any no-shows the day of the lecture, Museum ushers seat stand-by customers at 5 minutes to lecture start time. Registration for "Guns of the Big Gun Shoot" with Dave Smoot opens Thursday, October 24th on the Beaufort History Museum website http://www.beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3552471.
Registration is requested to attend the Author Book Talks with Jim Alberto, co-sponsored with the Pat Conroy Literary Center. There are two sessions:

• Friday, October 25 at 2 pm at Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road https://daufuskiedaze1.bpt.me
• Friday, November 15 at 2 pm at Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street https://daufuskiedaze2.bpt.me

There is no reservation process at all for "Making Gullah: Reflections on Finding Gullah Folk in the American Imagination." We want everyone who is interested in Gullah culture to be able to attend this free lecture by Dr. Melissa Cooper. The BDC is happy to collaborate with the St. Helena Branch Library, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and Penn Center to bring this  Author Book Talk to our community as part of Penn Center's 37th Annual Heritage Days Festival. The Festival runs from November 7 - November 9, 2019. Dr. Cooper's lecture will be held at 2 pm on November 8th in the St. Helena Library's large meeting room. This lecture is a first come, first seated program.

We finish up BDC local history programs in late November with another "Historically Speaking" lecture in concert with the Beaufort County Historical Society.

"'Not Just Gossip:' Who Dwelt in Beaufort's Historic Houses?" 
with Maxine Lutz
Thursday, November 21, 2019 | 2 pm | Beaufort Branch Meeting Room

At present, the BDC has no programs scheduled for December 2019. That could change, of course, so be sure to check the Library's calendar https://www.BeaufortCountyLibrary.org/calendar for program details and updates.

We hope that you take advantage of one or more of our upcoming programs to increase your understanding and appreciation of Beaufort District's long and storied history.

Tracing Your Gullah Geechee Roots Workshop Filling Up - Seating is Limited

Join the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission,  the Center for Family History at the International African-American Museum and the Beaufort County Library for a FREE genealogy workshop on St. Helena Island. As of this writing, there are about 20 seats left for this session, so do not delay, register today if you plan to attend.

To register, send an e-mail to info@gullahgeecheecorridor.org or call 843.818.4587.

The workshop is designed to teach you how to find more of your Gullah Geechee family members and to learn why understanding aspects of Gullah Geechee culture (such as kinship-based living patterns and other customs, traditions and beliefs - some retained from their West African origins) can help to inform your research and deepen your understanding of your family's history in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

You will also be introduced to the many resources that the Beaufort County Library has on Gullah Geechee history and culture. Special guests, Kimberly Morgan and Akosua Moore will share their experience researching the Binyard and associated families of Edgerley Plantation on the Marine Corps Air Station.

 

This program will take place on the beautiful Sea Island of St. Helena - a community rich with important Gullah Geechee heritage sites like its storied praise houses, the historic Brick Church and the Penn Center - one of the U.S.'s most important education and cultural institutions.

If you want additional information about the workshop, please contact the GGCHCC at info@gullahgeecheecorridor.orginfo@gullahgeecheecorridor.org or call 843.818.4587.

Please mark your calendars to reflect that all units of the Beaufort County Library will be closed on Wednesday, October 3rd for Staff Work Day. Regular hours resume on October 4, 2018. 

Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for two BDC co-sponsored programs. Based on past experience, we expect that slots will be claimed quickly. Please don't miss out. Register as soon as you know that you will be able to attend.  

1) The Beaufort History Museum / Beaufort County Library Season 3 opening lecture about the Yamasee Indians with one of our very most favorite archaeologists, Dr. Eric Poplin is on Sept. 11th at 2 pm:   

Register through the BHM website: http://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/events
Closed when full. 

2) A workshop about how to begin and uncover your Gullah Geechee family history happens on the first Saturday in October at our St. Helena Branch Library:

Register through e-mail info@gullahgeecheecorridor.org or through the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/380539399090450. You can even call to reserve a spot: 843-818-4587.

A reminder: 

Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, September 4. We trust that everyone will have a safe and enjoyable holiday.