Brewing on Books: Gullah Spirituals

4831 O'Hear Avenue,North Charleston SC 29405

08 September, 2021

Description

Musicologist Eric Crawford joins us to discuss the history of Gullah Geechee spirituals from origins in West Africa through the 20th century Join us for a community discussion on the Common Ground with Commonhouse Aleworks as part of our new event series, Brewing on Books: A Community Book Club. This series will focus on local topics of interest for community members. For our September meeting, we will discuss Eric Sean Crawford's new musicology focusing on Gullah Geechee spirituals from South Carolina's St. Helena Island. Gullah Spirituals uses fieldwork, personal recordings, and oral interviews to build upon earlier studies and includes an appendix with more than fifty transcriptions of St. Helena spirituals, many no longer performed and more than half derived from Crawford's own transcriptions. Books are available from Itinerant Literate:Gullah Spirituals: https://bit.ly/3hPWKq9 Food & Drink SpecialCommonhouse will be offering a special deal on a themed appetizer and beverage available to attendees of this event. Details on the discount code for the special will be available prior to the event. About the BookGullah Spirituals : The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea IslandsIn Gullah Spirituals musicologist Eric Crawford traces Gullah Geechee songs from their beginnings in West Africa to their height as songs for social change and Black identity in the twentieth century American South. While much has been done to study, preserve, and interpret Gullah culture in the lowcountry and sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia, some traditions like the shouting and rowing songs have been all but forgotten. This work, which focuses primarily on South Carolina's St. Helena Island, illuminates the remarkable history, survival, and influence of spirituals since the earliest recordings in the 1860s. Grounded in an oral tradition with a dynamic and evolving character, spirituals proved equally adaptable for use during social and political unrest and in unlikely circumstances. Most notably, the island's songs were used at the turn of the century to help rally support for the United States' involvement in World War I and to calm racial tensions between black and white soldiers. In the 1960s, civil rights activists adopted spirituals as freedom songs, though many were unaware of their connection to the island. Through this work, Crawford hopes to restore the cultural memory lost to time while tracing the long arc and historical significance of the St. Helena spirituals. About the AuthorEric Sean CrawfordEric Sean Crawford is the director of the Charles W. Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at Coastal Carolina University and holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the Catholic University of America. Crawford served as musical consultant for the Amazon series Underground Railroad and is featured in Henry Louis Gates's miniseries, The Black Church. At Itinerant Literate, we offer new books and friendly recommendations on the go in Viola the bookmobile and seven days a week at the Bookstop, our flagship store in Park Circle. Visit the Bookstop for a curated variety of fiction, nonfiction, children's, young adult, graphic novels, comic books, cookbooks, and gift items. Find the bookmobile at breweries, restaurants, parks, and schools around town for your next literary discovery!