Overview and Purpose
The Low Country Gullah Culture Special Resource Study (SRS) was authorized by Congress to determine whether or not the National Park Service (NPS) should have a role in preserving Gullah culture and if so, what that role might be. The enabling legislation for the SRS was introduced in 1999 by United States Congressman James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) and was authorized in the Interior Appropriations Act of 2000.
This act directed the NPS to determine the national significance of Gullah culture, as well as the suitability and feasibility of adding various elements of Gullah culture to the National Park System.
The study has been completed and was presented to Congress in May, 2006. The final document is available at the Resources page.
The primary goals of the SRS were:
- to analyze the multi-faceted components of Gullah culture (known as Geechee in Georgia and Florida) using the established criteria for the study of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System and;
- to evaluate the resources of the Gullah/Geechee people and cultural landscape for potential national significance and;
- to determine how these resources could be protected, interpreted, and used for the benefit of the Gullah/Geechee people and the general public and;
- to make recommendations to Congress based on those criteria.
Special resource studies generally focus on one site or tract of land that is being considered for protection. This study, however, focuses on the life ways and traditions of a living culture in the Low Country and Sea Islands, a semi-tropical area filled with palmetto trees and live oaks draped with Spanish moss that lies along the southeastern coast of the United States. The Sea Islands are situated just off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia and are separated from the mainland by a maze of creeks, gently meandering tidal rivers, and marsh lands. The influence of the ocean on the coastal plain extends about 30 miles inland with the flow of tidewater rivers. Boundary lines of many coastal counties, as well as the boundaries of this study, reflect this natural demarcation. Most of the rice plantations, and therefore the largest concentrations of Gullah/Geechee people, were within the tidewater river area.
Background on the Gullah/Geechee People
Gullah/Geechee people of today are descendants of enslaved Africans from various ethnic groups of west and central Africa who were brought to the New World and forced to work on the plantations of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Because of their geographic isolation and strong sense of community, the Gullah/Geechee were able to develop a distinct creole language and preserve more of their African cultural tradition than any other black community in the United States. Although many rural Gullah communities still exist, they are increasingly being threatened by encroaching development, lack of jobs, and diminishing population.
The isolation of Atlantic sea island communities stretching from southern North Carolina to northern Florida was crucial to the survival of the Gullah/Geechee culture. Within their rural communities, Gullah/Geechee people were able to maintain language, arts, crafts, religious beliefs, rituals, and foods that are distinctly connected to their West African roots. More recently, real estate development, changing job markets, and population shifts have forced many to leave their traditional family lands. Along with such change and decreasing isolation comes the threat of losing a unique culture that has survived since colonial times.
A Three-phased Approach to the Project
Phase One - Community Input:
Phase one of the study focused on a set of community meetings to solicit
public input on the scope and breadth of the study. The study relies on
research and testimony from the Gullah and Geechee people. One important
outcome from the community meetings resulted in adding the term "Geechee"
to the study. This term is used primarily in Georgia while "Gullah" is used in South Carolina.
Phase Two - Research and Data Collection:
Phase two determined whether resources associated with Gullah/Geechee
Culture have potential national significance consistent with the criteria
for National Historic Landmarks (36 CFR Part 65). The NPS solicited the assistance
of the academic community to conduct an ethnographic overview of Gullah/Geechee
culture. That effort was supplemented by an examination of major demographic
and economic trends over the last 50 years in target areas traditionally
inhabited by members of the Gullah/Geechee community. Additionally, the
team investigated land use trends in those areas to determine changes
in land ownership.
Phase Three - Management Alternatives and Environmental Analysis:
In Phase three, the NPS evaluated the feasibility and suitability of NPS
involvement in preserving and interpreting Low Country Gullah/Geechee
Culture. The NPS then prepared a set of conceptual management alternatives
outlining its role and the role of others. The NPS completed the development
of management alternatives during Fall 2002, and presented the alternatives
to project stakeholders and the public through a series of meetings and
community forums conducted throughout the study area that were completed
in early November, 2002. The public draft was released for review and
comment during Winter 2003-04. The culmination of Phase three was completion of
the final study and it's transmittal to Congress during Spring 2006.
The final document is available for viewing
and download at the Resources page.
Planning Team and Advisors
NPS SERO Division of Planning and Compliance
Rich Sussman, Division Chief
John Barrett, Planning Team Leader
Mark Kinzer, Environmental Protection Specialist
Alyssa Stewart Lee, former Outdoor Recreation
Planner
NPS Fort Sumter National Monument
John Tucker, former Superintendent
Michael Allen, Education Specialist
Historic Charleston Foundation
Cynthia Porcher, Principal Researcher
NPS SERO Cultural Resource Stewardship
Anthony Paredes, Ph.D., former Chief Ethnographer
Jonna Hausser Weaver, former Cultural Resources
Intern
Kareema Hunter, former Cultural Resources Intern
Advisors
This project was advised by many people with traditional cultural ties
to the site, scientists, scholars, and other agencies.
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