“It’s impossible to tell the story of Reconstruction in the Lowcountry without centering the experiences of the Gullah people who lived here,” Barr said. “This included not just famous figures and leaders, but average citizens who kept their Gullah heritage alive while navigating through the process of emancipation during Reconstruction. We’re excited to work with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor to help share these Americans’ stories to a wider audience. Already, we’ve hosted a number of joint programs with the Corridor, and we look forward to continuing this.”
A press release issued by the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, the body that oversees the work of the GGCHC, stated that the grant will support cultural and historic preservation, educational projects and programs, natural resource conservation, land workshops, heritage tourism and additional initiatives outlined in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor’s Management Plan.
In addition to the news regarding funding, GGCHC has relocated its operations to The Aresenal in the City of Beaufort.
“We haven’t decided when our grand opening is, but that’s where we have relocated our office from John’s Island to this historic site within the Beaufort National Historic Landmark District,” Smalls said.
“We’re going to have a big celebration regarding it. We want to make sure we invite the people that were very instrumental in forming the corridor well before 2006.”
The organization originally selected John’s Island as its home because the first executive director lived there and was able to secure office space there, Smalls said. The move to Beaufort was made in cooperation with the Greater Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).
“It was suggested that we could move the office to Beaufort to help build upon our heritage tourism initiatives,” Smalls explained. “Beaufort is also my hometown, so it’s a perfect fit for me. I had no arguments about that, but I can’t really say the decision was centered on me. The CVB has been wonderful and played a vital role in having us move.”
Smalls called the move a strategic effort to engage tourists, visitors and the Gullah Geechee community with other nearby historic sites like the Beaufort History Museum, the Reconstruction Era National Park and the Robert Smalls House.
The purpose of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor NHA is to preserve, share and interpret the history, traditional cultural practices, heritage sites, and natural resources associated with Gullah Geechee people of coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. For more information, visit: www. gullahgecheecorridor.org.