Smithsonian/Folkways Records, Been In The Storm So Long, 1990

Item — AR Box: 1, Audiocassette: 1202.002.008

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

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The William Smyth audio collection, 1985-1994, contains ten oral histories, conducted by Bill Smyth as part of his research while a PhD candidate in American Studies at William and Mary, and eight music recordings.

Series I: Oral History Interviews, 1989-1992: contains ten oral history interviews conducted by Bill Smyth. Participants discuss life in the Charleston area during the 1950s with specific focus given to the Civil Rights Movement and segregation. Topics of discussion include teaching in segregated schools, segregation in churches, the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the sit-ins at Silver's and Kress's, a dinner party held at Judge Watie Warings house, Martin Luther King Jr.'s visit to Charleston, growing up in Charleston and James Island during the 1950s.

Many of these oral histories were cited in Smyth, William D. “Segregation in Charleston in the 1950s: A Decade of Transition.” The South Carolina Historical Magazine 92, no. 2 (1991): 99–123.

Series II: Music Recordings, 1985-1994: contains eight audiocassettes featuring spirituals and spoken storytelling by Gullah Geechee artists from the South Carolina Lowcountry. Included are The Brotherhood Gospel Singer's Reach Out, Ron and Natalie Diase's Feel Like Journey On, We'll Stand the Storm (and Other Spirituals), Kingdom, a 1986 Christmas musical at Community Bible Church, and a demo tape of "Sea Island Montage," two audiocassettes of unidentified "Sea Island Singers," and an audiocassette collection of recordings titled Been In The Storm So Long published by the Smithsonian featuring spirituals, folk tales, and children's games from Johns Island.

Dates

Creation: 1990

Creator

From the Collection: Smyth, William D. (Person)

Access Restrictions

No restrictions. A cassette player will be made available to researchers in the Avery Research Center's Reading Room to listen to the audiocassettes.

Full Extent

From the Collection: .209 linear feet (1 half Hollinger box and 18 audiocassettes)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

"This collection of spirituals and shouts, prayers, folk tales, children's games, was recorded on Johns Island, South Carolina, in the early 1960s. Johns Island is one of a cluster of islands just south of Charleston including Wadmalaw, Edisto, Yonges, James, and Kiawah. These islands hold in common a Gullah folk culture with survivals that are among the oldest forms of African American folk life to be found in the United States today. "Gullah" refers to the English Creole language spoken by older community members as well as to the culture as a whole, and is apparently derived from a word for "Angola." With their strong African/English Creole heritage, the sea islands share a cultural connection to the English Caribbean as much as to the American South."

Materials Specific Details

Side 1: "Remember Me," "See God's Ark A-Moving," "Ask the Watchman How Long," "Meet Me in Galilee," "Talking 'Bout A Good Time," "That's All Right," "Jesus Knows All About My Trouble," "Esau Talking," "Lay Down Body," "Welcome Table and Prayer," "Ezekial in the Valley," "Been In the Storm So Long," "Jack and Mary and the Three Dogs"

Side 2: "You Got to Move," "Moon Llight in Glory," "Mary Rolled the Stone Away," "Ezekial in the Valley," "Down on Me," "Reborn Again," "Row Michael Row," "Johnny Cuckoo," "Old Lady from Booster," "Shoo Turkey," "Mr. Postman Die," "Water My Flowers," "Rabbit and Partridge," "Improvised Blues," Jack and Mary and the Devil"