"Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect"
by Lorenzo Dow Turner

Initially published in 1949, this groundbreaking work of Afrocentric scholarship opened American minds to a little known culture while initiating a means for the Gullah people to reclaim and value their past. The books presents a reference point for today's discussions about ever-present language varieties, Ebonics, and education, offering important reminders about the subtleties and power of racial and cultural prejudice.

The Charleston "Freedman's Cottages" : An Architectural Tradition
By Lissa D'Aquisto Felzer

Charleston's "Freedman's Cottages" are some of the most understudied and undervalued vernacular buildings in the city, found as far south as Council Street and as far north as North Charleston. Though these cottages have long been associated with African American history and culture, they in fact extend much further into the history and development of Charleston and deserve to be studied and understood. ($20.00)

"A Gullah Guide to Charleston: Walking Through Black History"
by Alphonso Brown

"All de tings dem Buckra 'n people from "off" want for kno' 'bout Chaas'stun, but bin 'fraid tuh axs."

Join Alphonso Brown, owner and operator of Gullah Tours, Inc., on three accessible walking tours and a bonus driving tour through the places, history and lore relevant to the rich and varied contributions of black Charlestonians.

Visit Denmark Vesey's home, Catfish Row, the Old Slave Mart and the Market; learn about sweetgrass basket makers, the Aiken-Rhett House slave quarters, black slave owners and blacksmith Philip Simmons. Brown's distinctive narration, combined with detailed maps and vibrant descriptions in native Gullah, make this a unique and enjoyable way to experience the Holy City. ($13.00)

"Fabric Crafts: 15 Creative Projects and Home Accents You Can Make"
by Zelda Grant

Add some global style to your home today. It's quick. It's easy. It's fabric!

Noted fabric artist Zelda Grant offers step-by-step instructions for 15 stylish projects: one-of-a-kind home accessories and gifts, including: greeting cards; journal covers and bookmarks; covered boxes, picture and mirror frames; decorative baskets; wall hangings; table runners; place mats, lampshades; art pillows and much more. ($15.00)

"Coming Through: Voices of a South Carolina Gullah Community from
WPA Oral Histories"
Collected by Genevieve Chandler

Collected by Genevieve Chandler as part of the WPA Federal Writers Project, Coming Through is the first complete publication of WPA interviews with former slaves and their descendants living in the Waccamaw Neck region of South Carolina. Between 1936 and 1938 Chandler interviewed more than one hundred individuals in and around All Saints Parish, a portion of Horry and Georgetown counties located between the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Ocean. Her subjects spoke freely with her on topics ranging from slave punishment to folk medicine, from conditions in the Jim Crow South to the exploits of Brer Rabbit.

"Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art"
By Dale Rosengarten, Theodore Rosengarten, Enid Schildkrout

With contributions by Judith A. Carney; Jessica B. Harris; Sandra Klopper; J. Lorand Matory; Fath Davis Ruffins; John Michael Vlach and Peter H. Wood, Grass Roots guides readers across three hundred years of American and African history, through the prism of America's most enduring African inspired art form, the Lowcountry basket. In scholarly essays, historic photographs and beautiful images of the stunning work by contemporary basket makers from South Carolina to South Africa, Grass Roots follows the coiled basket along its transformation on two continents from a simple farm tool once used for processing grain to a work of art and a central symbol of African and African American identity. ($35.00)

"Jazz & Blues Musicians of South Carolina"
by Benjamin Franklin V

South Carolina has been the birthplace for a wide range of distinguished blues and jazz musicians. This publication presents a well informed guide to the musical history of South Carolina, candid conversations with musicians including Dizzy Gillespie; Etta Jones, Horace Ott; Houston Person; Arthur Prysock; Drink Small; Jabbo Smith; Webster Young and Tommy Benford.

"Burke High School: 1894 - 2006"
By Sherman Pyatt

In 1911, the Charleston Colored Industrial School opened its doors to 375 African American boys and girls, making it the first public high school for African Americans in the city of Charleston. Burke High School (formerly the Charleston Colored Industrial School) is currently the only public high school providing and education for children living on Charleston's Peninsula. This book explores the rich and unique history of the school and provides another prospective on the subject of education and African Americans in Charleston during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. ($20.00)

"Charleston Jazz"
By Jack McCray

Charleston Jazz sets out to reveal the rich, untold story of the evolution of American jazz in one of its major cradles: Charleston, South Carolina. The text and images show that what happened on the Gullah coast of South Carolina in terms of history, culture, and entertainment had a huge impact on jazz as we know it today. ($20.00)

"Gullah Branches, West African Roots"
by Ron Daise

Gullah Branches, West African Roots is an unabashed celebration of a vibrant culture. Through the eyes of Ron Daise, we experience the daily life of Gullah people past and present. Daise has exposed the beauty of a once closeted culture and compelled his audience with a sense of urgency to preserve it." ($25.00)

"Row Upon Row: Sea Island Baskets of the South Carolina Lowcountry"
by Dale Rosengarten

Row Upon Row documents the story of a culture and the tradition of basketmaking survived from its roots in Africa, through its development on the rice plantations and to its current renaissance as an art form sought after by collectors and tourists.

"Black Charlestonians: A Social History, 1822-1885"
By Bernard E. Powers, Jr.

Black Charlestonians explores the socioeconomic challenges for blacks seeking to emerge into full citizenship. Powers used census materials, manuscripts, and contemporary newspapers to weave together this compelling story of the unique development of the Charleston urban black community. ($28.00)

"Charleston's Avery Center: From Education and Civil Rights to Preserving the
African American Experience"
by Edmund L. Drago
Revised and Edited by W. Marvin Dulaney

For more than eighty years, Charlston's Avery Norman Institute stood as the hub of African American education and study in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Established in 1865, the Avery Normal Institute flourished and emerged as a leading college preparatory instutute, educating many of Charleston's black leadership and training most of the area's black teachers. Edmund L. Drago artfully conveys Avery's history from its beginning during Reconstruction to tis current incarnation as an African Amerian research center under the auspices of the College of Charleston. ($35.00)

"Ready from Within: A First Person Narrative of Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement"
by Cynthia Stokes Brown

Septima Clark played one of the most essential, but little recognized roles in the Civil Rights Movement. Born in 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina, she was a public school teacher until 1956, when she was dismissed for refusing to disavow her membership in the National Association for the advancement of Colored People. Subsequently, she worked for the Highlander Folk School, helping to set up Citizenship Schools throughout the South where Black adults could learn to read and prepare to vote. During the 1960s she worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a close associate of Martin Luther King, jr. from 1978 to 1983 she served as the first Black woman on the Charleston School Board. This is a first-person narrative of her life in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. Her story continues a major thread in the tapestry of the movement.

"When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands"
by Patricia Jones-Jackson

When Roots Die celebrates and preserves the venerable Gullah culture of the sea islands of the South Carolina and Georgia coast. Entering into communities long isolated from the world by a blazing sun and salt marshes, Patricia Jones-Jackson captures the cadence of the storyteller lost in the adventures of "Brer Rabbit," records voices lifted in song or prayer, and describes folkways and beliefs that have endured, through ocean voyage and human bondage, for more than two hundred years.

"True Stories of Black South Carolina"
by Damon L. Fordham

From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, African Americans have had a gigantic impact on the Palmetto State. Unfortunately, their stories are often overshadowed. Collected here for the first time, this selection of essays by historian Damon L. Fordham brings these stories to light. These articles are well-researched and provide an enllightening glimpse at the overlooked contributions to South Carolina's past.

"The Ultimate Gullah Cookbook"
by Jessie Edwards Gantt, Jr. and Veronica Davis Gerald

Slices of Gullah history and culture, along with delicious easy to prepare Gullah recipes make this an interesting and unique style of cookbook.

"Gullah Home Cooking: The Daufuskie Way"
By Sallie Ann Robinson

Gullah Home Cooking is an offering of delicious, robust Sea Islands dishes with the taste of the unique West African Gullah influence. Of the one hundred home style family recipes included are salads, side dishes, seafood, meat, game, rice, quick meals, breads and desserts .. all served up with wonderfu warml remininscences of the people who made and loved these dishes. ($18.00)