Making Gullah: A History of Sapelo Islanders, Race, and the American Imagination

by Melissa L. Cooper

Overview

During the 1920s and 1930s, anthropologists and folklorists became obsessed with uncovering connections between African Americans and their African roots. At the same time, popular print media and artistic productions tapped the new appeal of black folk life, highlighting African-styled voodoo as an essential element of black folk culture. A number of researchers converged on one site in particular, Sapelo Island, Georgia, to seek support for their theories about "African survivals," bringing with them a curious mix of both influences. The legacy of that body of research is the area's contemporary identification as a Gullah community.

This wide-ranging history upends a long tradition of scrutinizing the Low Country blacks of Sapelo Island by refocusing the observational lens on those who studied them. Cooper uses a wide variety of sources to unmask the connections between the rise of the social sciences, the voodoo craze during the interwar years, the black studies movement, and black land loss and land struggles in coastal black communities in the Low Country. What emerges is a fascinating examination of Gullah people's heritage, and how it was reimagined and transformed to serve vastly divergent ends over the decades.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469632681
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/17/2017
Series:	The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,086,042
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Melissa L. Cooper is associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Making Gullah is an original and provocative look at the culture of Georgia's Sapelo Islanders and the tensions between natives and outsiders over the construction of their cultural identity. This is an important book, one that helps us better understand popular and scholarly discourse about race and culture in the twentieth century." —Jerry B. Gershenhorn, author of Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge

Fresh and compelling, Making Gullah reveals a vital story about the creation of 'Gullah' over the twentieth century and right up to today. Melissa Cooper's excellent work uncovers the complex origins of race making and identity formation on Sapelo Island. This is a crucial history of land rights and reparations." —Clare Corbould, author of Becoming African Americans

Editorial Reviews

[An] incisive history. . . . Highlight[s] the land battles, bigotry, and poverty that beset the Gullah.'—The New Yorker



A unique contribution to the multitude of previous studies focusing on Gullah culture, skillfully highlighting the heritage of the Gullah people and unveiling the history of the prolific studies of African America's African connection through the lens of Sapelo Island, GA. Highly recommended—Choice



Powerful for anyone charged with addressing cultural heritage preservation and land-rights issues because it demands readers rethink the construction and use of history within communities they are charged with serving.—Journal of American History



Cooper has written a book that honors these survivors and leaves the reader pulling for them to thrive.—Oral History Review



The book's chief strength is its perspicacious synthesis spotlighting white and black cultural representation, a scholarly and popular culture, journalism and fiction.—The Journal of Southern History



A classic academic monograph in the best tradition.—The Journal of Southern History



A well-written, richly researched study of a segment of the American population that remains the subject of caricature and mischaracterization.—American Historical Review



A descendant of Sea Islanders herself, Cooper has written a book that honors these survivors and leaves the readers pulling for them to thrive.—Oral History Review



Interrogates the evolution of Gullah identity on Georgia's Sapelo Island since the 1920s. . . . A stimulating, and ultimately satisfying, intellectual and cultural history that also accomplishes the rare feat of contributing to current debates outside of the academy.—Journal of African American History



A rewarding read, Making Gullah chronicles the evolution of Gullah identity as crafted by outsiders, novelists, historians, and folklorists who have defined the people of Sapelo Island.—North Carolina Historical Review

From the Publisher