Looking for a unique cultural experience? Why not learn more about the Gullah Culture of the Lowcountry, spanning from North Carolina to Florida. Today we are showcasing the Gullah Museums to Explore in the South. Do you have a favorite museum you would like to add to the list? Share it with us by email at michiel@blacksouthernbelle.com and we would be happy to include. Also, be sure to share images of your southern travels using the hashtag #blacksouthernbelle Happy Travels!
Gullah Museums to Explore in the South
Gullah Museum
Georgetown, SC,http://www.gullahmuseumsc.com, http://www.gullahmuseumsc.com
The Gullah Museum was founded by Bunny and Andrew Rodrigues to promote and preserve Gullah culture. We use Gullah and Low Country crafts, African artifacts and black collectibles to tell the story of the Gullah people and the part they played in the building of South Carolina and the United States.
Geechee Kunda: Riceboro, GA, http://www.geecheekunda.com
Geechee Kunda is one of the most impactful and meaningful cultural education facilities to be found anywhere, a true lifetime experience. Geechee Kunda is our way of dispelling the non-sense that ours is a dying, faltering culture, and to help insure that instead of being written out of history, be included in a true light. Included here are exhibit galleries, a gift shop, a family research center, and most importantly, an ongoing research and documentation effort.
Geechee Kunda was created as our means of contributing to efforts to preserve and perpetuate the knowledge of important elements of African Culture that exists in the United States. We are also interested in assisting in nurturing and perpetuating threatened cultural traditions elsewhere in the Americas and Africa itself.
Penn Center
St. Helena Island, http://www.penncenter.com/
Tucked in the heart of the South Carolina Sea Islands surrounded by glimmering marshes and nestled beneath the silvery moss-draped limbs of massive live oaks, is Penn Center. It is the site of the former Penn School, one of the country’s first schools for formerly enslaved individuals.
Penn Center is one of the most significant African American historical and cultural institutions in existence today. We are located on St. Helena Island, one of the most beautiful and historically distinct of the South Carolina Sea Islands, and at the heart of Gullah culture.
Pin Point Heritage Museum
Savannah, GA, http://www.chsgeorgia.org/phm
Pin Point Heritage Museum, located in the old A.S. Varn & Son Oyster and Crab Factory, is your chance to experience the Gullah/Geechee culture first hand. For nearly 100 years, the community of Pin Point was quietly isolated on the banks of the Moon River just south of Savannah. Now, you can explore the refurbished museum complex and experience multimedia presentations, exciting exhibits and unparalleled views of the marsh!
The Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island, SC, http://www.gullahmuseumhhi.org/
Since 2003, the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head, a 501(C)3 organization, has been committed to maintaining Gullah customs, traditions, language, stories, songs and structures on Hilton Head. Through the generous support of individuals and institutions the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head has successfully preserved its first structure “The Little House” and completed a documentary – “ Hilton Head Island Back in the Day: Through the Eyes of the Gullah Elders”.
Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center
St. Augustine, FL, https://www.lincolnvillemuseum.org
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization welcomes your support and involvement towards making this historical institution a hub of African American tradition and culture.
Comments
Michiel is a Black Southern Belle living a lowcountry life. I love all things fashion, home decor and southern! When I am not running around doing fun stuff for Black Southern Belle, I live in antique stores and have a minor obsession with historic homes :)
