Throughout the South, storytelling is a particularly rich form of verbal folklore. Stories can be sacred or secular, serious or funny, long or short, and performed by children or adults. Storytellers can be found on front porches, the corner store, the family dinner table - anywhere people tend to gather. Storytelling is not restricted to one particular culture group. Native American, African American, and EuroAmerican narrative traditions have deep roots in the South. In addition, much of the traditional music in South Carolina has a powerful storytelling aspect. Blues music usually incorporates storytelling into the song structure, as does much of the gospel, country, and ballad music performed from the hills of the upstate to the marshes along the coast.
Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.
For further information about any of the artists featured on Digital Traditions, send your questions and comments to hallagan@mailbox.sc.edu.
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Having learned the art of Gullah storytelling from her parents and grandparents, Carolyn "Jabulile" White thought it only natural that she should share the stories with the community, and especially...
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Description of the damage done to her church by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and the clean-up afterwards
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West Africans brought to the South Carolina and Georgia coasts as slaves settled on geographically isolated plantations whose owners often were absent. Such conditions allowed lowcountry slaves to...
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A native of Hilton Head Island, Louise Miller Cohen is able to trace her island roots back into the 1800s. Her homeplace still stands on property owned by her great grandfather – property purchased...
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John Thomas Fowler is a gifted multi-instrumentalist and storyteller. For more than 30 years, Fowler has worked to ensure Appalachian culture remains alive by sharing the musical traditions and...
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Singing/Storytelling As a professional teacher, Jeanette Samuels shares her talent for storytelling and singing with the community on a regular basis. She has lived in South Carolina all her life and...
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Professor Jack Doyle spent over 30 years dedicated to the study and documentation of storytellers in the South with special emphasis on South Carolina. He was a founding member of the South Carolina...
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Resident of McClellanville, SC (Charleston County). She grew up learning to speak Gullah and tells jokes and stories in the Gullah language. Her house was damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 but...
