Avery Research Center Sea Islands oral histories

The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of the Southeastern United States, specifically the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Historically, the Sea Islands were home to indigenous American tribes and nations. During the period of European colonization and American slavery, enslaved Africans transformed the Sea Islands, and much of the American South, into sites of plantations where they were forced to labor and cultivate crops like rice, indigo, and cotton. The material conditions of slavery on the Sea Islands and the Southeastern mainland formed the basis for the Gullah Geechee culture and identity. Important material conditions of slavery in the American Southeast include enslaved Africans often constituting the majority population and interactions between numerous West African and Caribbean cultures due to the Middle Passage and the forced movement of enslaved Africans throughout the Caribbean and American South. During Jim Crow segregation, the conditions for African Americans living in the Sea Islands were harsh because of their rural nature, isolation from the mainland, and, most importantly, the purposeful underfunding of public goods and services by the white political establishment. At the same time, they were also home to organized resistance against the racist policies of Jim Crow through a variety of tactics including the creation of the first Citizenship School to prepare African Americans to register to vote on Johns Island. In the 21st century, the Sea Islands continue to be a rich home for Gullah Geechee culture, but they are threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change.