Course Description

Instructor: Althea Sumpter, DAH

Gullah Geechee culture retains ethnic traditions from West African groups who were enslaved on coastal plantations to grow rice, indigo and cotton. Class participants learn about the culture from an insider who grew up Gullah Geechee on St. Helena Island, SC. Cultural traditions have been passed down through language, agriculture and spirituality – but the dwindling creolized culture along the South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida coasts is faced with encroaching resort development and an increasingly disconnected younger generation. Learning about Gullah Geechee culture helps participants achieve a greater understanding of a people engaged in an effort to survive.

Course fee: $50 member/$70 non-member.