Discovering Gullah Geechee heritage in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is known for its elevated dining scene, its fabled Southern hospitality and its rich history, with layers of the past packed into colourful Georgian, Federal and Gothic Revival-style buildings. Travellers come to wander Spanish-moss-tinseled streets, lose themselves in history museums, and feast at restaurants serving everything from fried chicken to blue crab bisque. 

But visitors might know less about the city’s Gullah Geechee heritage – and they may not think to venture out to Charleston’s unspoilt Atlantic Sea Islands, which remain a cradle of this culture.

‘Gullah Geechee’ refers to a distinct African American culture that exists in the Lowcountry regions of the southeastern USA. Gullah people are mostly the descendants of enslaved Africans who laboured in rice and cotton plantations here, and exploring this culture is key to understanding the Charleston region and its history. Here’s how to learn more.

Jonathan Green is a renowned, contemporary artist and author based in Charleston, and raised in the Gullah community of Gardens Corner. He is also the founder of the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center, which is currently online and poised to open a bricks-and-mortar location in the coming years. 

How would you describe the Gullah Geechee culture?

Most travellers who come to Charleston have never heard of the Gullah Geechee culture and there is often a misinterpretation of what it is. 

When we say ‘Gullah Geechee’, we’re talking about a culture and a people from the African diaspora. These are people who have been generationally removed from West Africa, but have maintained many of the cultural ways from this original homeland – their customs, their food, their dialect, everything… We’ve always been connected to the world in this way; we should not be pigeonholed as a sort of a isolated subculture. 

The Gullah Geechee people preserved their African culture because, after the Emancipation Proclamation [in 1863], they chose to remain in their own communities [principally in the Lowcountry isles of the Southern USA], rather than merge into big towns and cities. 

As a child I can remember being totally totally self-sufficient in a farming family, and so were many of my neighbours. So when we begin to understand that, we get a better picture of the Gullah Geechee culture. 

Read next: Could this important Indigenous site be Georgia’s first national park?

Why is the Gullah Geechee culture so important to the city of Charleston?

You can’t understand the city today without understanding this particular culture and history. For more than 100 years, Charleston was the wealthiest city in America. And for generations, the Gullah Geechee people fed, nursed and supplied the wealth of European culture. 

In the city, every building that has a Carolopolis Award [an award recognising outstanding historic preservation] was built by Black hands. Gullah Geechee people did the work, so they are a major part of the city. 

When I walk the streets of Charleston, I know that I’m walking through a living museum of my ancestors. When I go onto a plantation I’m walking onto the grounds of my ancestors. You have to give respect to the past. 

What are some ways to learn about the Gullah Geechee culture in the Charleston area?

You can only understand American history if you first understand European and African history – and, most importantly, maritime history. 

The best way to learn about the Gullah culture, and the African Diaspora, is to visit a maritime museum. Maritime museums typically reveal an incredibly illustrated history and plot the movement of people across the water. Africans were largely maritime people: they were repairmen, or divers who dived for sponge and pearls. This is all recorded in maritime museums.

In the city, you have the Charleston Museum [which chronicles Lowcountry history, including maritime] and then there’s the Rice Museum in Georgetown, which also partially explores maritime culture. 

The International African American Museum was built in Charleston because of the large African population that was brought here. Charleston was kind of like the South’s Ellis Island. The museum’s purpose is to educate people about the culture. 

We’re also working on developing a physical location for the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center, which will tell these stories – it’s slated to be in Beaufort, South Carolina [113km from Charleston]. At the moment, it all exists online so the resources can be accessed from anywhere.

I’d also recommend Buxton Bookstore – owner Polly Buxton has all the books by local and internationally known authors writing about Charleston. 

Read next: How to spend 24 hours in Charleston 

What do you hope the future brings for the region’s Gullah Geechee communities?

I’m an eternal optimist, so I always see the light. Within all African American communities, the church is an important space. I’d love to see Gullah communities engaging travellers with a couple of nights of music in their community churches – people love music, they love the gospel, the spirituals and it’s a great way of connecting. I’d also like to see more of our restaurants double as small cultural centres: they could serve traditional foods and showcase mementos and photographs from the community. 

More ways to experience Gullah Geechee culture in and around Charleston:

This poignant museum dedicated to African American heritage and culture opened in 2023 at Charleston’s Gadsden’s Wharf. The location is central to the museum’s raison d’etre: it’s estimated that around 40% of the enslaved Africans who were forcibly brought to the USA during the transatlantic slave trade landed here, and these stories are told through multimedia exhibits. 

There’s an entire section dedicated to Gullah Geechee heritage, with displays exploring cultural practices and history. The crown jewel is a full-sized bateau (a type of traditional boat), highlighting how central the water is to Gullah communities. 

Head to the buzzing halls of Charleston’s City Market to shop for items handcrafted by Gullah Geechee artisans. More than 50 Gullah creators regularly sell their wares at this treasure-filled bazaar, and sweetgrass baskets are the most coveted item.

These intricate baskets, woven from bulrush (a type of grass common in Lowcountry marshes), are a time-honoured custom, rooted in centuries-old West African crafting traditions. Make room in your suitcase and take time to chat to the vendors (always ask before you take photographs). 

Gullah recipes are mostly built on rice and blend West African tradition with seasonal Lowcountry ingredients – think corn, okra and boat-fresh seafood. And you can sample some staple dishes at a handful of traditional spots in and around Charleston. 

Make a beeline for Hannibal’s Kitchen to tuck into shrimp and crab rice, or Hoppin’ John – a classic one-pot dish made with black-eyed peas and pork. Or seafood is king at North Charleston’s My Three Sons – try the broiled oysters, the catfish or the stuffed shrimp. Dave’s Carry-Out doles out fried fish sandwiches and red rice, while Nigel’s Good Food takes pride in its ‘Geechie wings’ – chicken wings tossed in a secret-recipe sauce. 

Join Gullah tour guide Al Miller on an afternoon trip revealing Gullah Geechee culture and history across the city of Charleston and the Sea Islands of James and John. Key points of interest include the McLeod Plantation, a 19th-century site built up from sea island cotton picked by enslaved hands – it’s preserved as a Gullah Geechee heritage site today and is dedicated to retelling a holistic history.

On Johns Island, you’ll also stop at Angel Oak: this enormous live oak (20m tall with an 8m circumference) is thought to be at least 300 years old. Take a photo beneath its twisted, moss-cloaked limbs and buy crafts from Gullah artisans in the gift shop. 

Read next: Meet the makers of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains

The author travelled with support from Explore Charleston.