Coming Through : Voices of a South Carolina Gullah Community from WPA Oral Histories

by Chandler, Genevieve W.

• ISBN13: 9781570037214
• ISBN10: 1570037213
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Pr

Summary

"Coming Through marks the first complete publication of these interviews with former slaves and their descendants living in the Waccamaw Neck region of South Carolina as collected by Genevieve W. Chandler in the 1930s as part of the WPA Federal Writers' Project. Between 1936 and 1938 Chandler interviewed more than one hundred individuals in and around All Saints Parish, a portion of Horry and Georgetown counties located between the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Ocean. Her subjects spoke freely with her on topics ranging from slave punishment to folk medicine, from conditions in the Jim Crow South to the exploits of Brer Rabbit." "Coming Through consists primarily of interviews with forty-nine Gullah-speaking African American informants sharing life experiences with Chandler. The subjects range in age from 9-year-old George Kato Singleton to 104-year-old Welcome Bees. A biography of each subject accompanies the interviews. Collectively these interviews form an intimate portrait of a fascinating subculture of the Carolina coast and the Sea Islands as shared with a remarkable woman who had special access to converse with the people of this traditionally insular world. Moreover they provide an unparalleled firsthand account of the African American experience in South Carolina in the words of those who lived it."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Foreword: Something More Precious: Genevieve Willcox Chandler and Carolina Folk Culture	p. xi
Introduction	p. xvii
Welcome Bees	p. 1
Will Bees	p. 11
Hagar Brown	p. 13
Louisa Brown	p. 37
Sam Brown	p. 40
Margaret Bryant (Granddaughter)	p. 42
Margaret Bryant (Grandmother)	p. 44
Reverend Albert and Ella Carolina	p. 49
Martha Cox	p. 56
Will Deas	p. 58
Ellen Godfrey	p. 61
Matthew Grant	p. 70
Loney "Noonie" Heywood	p. 73
Mariah Heywood	p. 76
Monday Samson Holmes	p. 85
Ben and Stella Horry	p. 88
Bobbitt Horry	p. 113
Alex Johnson	p. 117
Andrew Keith	p. 119
Addie Knox	p. 121
Lillie Knox	p. 125
Minnie Ladson Knox	p. 198
Richard Knox	p. 205
Thelma Knox	p. 236
Zackie Knox	p. 238
Cinchy Lance	p. 266
Gabe Lance	p. 274
Mike Maybank	p. 276
Jim Moody	p. 280
William Oliver	p. 283
Maude Esther Lee Pickett	p. 287
Reverend Aaron Pinnacle	p. 290
Fred Poinsette	p. 299
Carrie Pyatt	p. 301
Hackless Riley	p. 303
Sabe Rutledge	p. 308
John Simmons	p. 318
Reverend Cato Singleton	p. 320
Claude Singleton	p. 326
George Kato Singleton	p. 328
Boss Skinner	p. 332
Ella Small	p. 335
Lewis Small	p. 339
Liza Brown Small	p. 341
Rebecca Washington	p. 345
Lula White	p. 348
Willis Williams	p. 352
Martha Wright	p. 356
Appendixes
Memo from Mabel Montgomery	p. 359
Memo from Folklore Department	p. 363
Memo from Henry Alsberg	p. 365
Second Memo from Henry Alsberg	p. 367
Index	p. 375
About the Authors	p. 392
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