Free! - Gullah Heritage Celebration Every Saturday in March at 2pm at the Charles Pinckney Historic Site

The National Park Service, in conjunction with the Town of Mount Pleasant, is sponsoring a series of free cultural programs celebrating the Lowcountry's Gullah heritage every Saturday in March at 2:00 pm at the Charles Pinckney National Historic site


View Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in a larger map
 
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.

The Gullah Heritage programs feature craft demonstrations such as: quilting, cast-net making, wood-working and sweetgrass basket sewing. There will also be cooking demonstrations, dancing and story-telling featuring folk-tales. Musical performances round out every Saturday, with African drumming, steel drums and spirituals with the incomparable Ann Caldwell & the Magnolia Singers on March 30th.

The March 2013 lineup is:

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
Jeanette Lee, sweetgrass basket demonstration

The Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, located at 1254 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant (near the entrance to Boone Hall Plantation, 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.