The Federal Writers’ Project: Preserving Southern Oral Traditions
The Federal Writers' Project of FDR's New Deal documented the lives and stories of the American South during the Great Depression.
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African-Americans have played a vital role in the culture and economy of the American South. Southern cooking, music, art and storytelling are heavily influenced by African-Americans, blending folk culture of their African homelands with European traits.
African stories and folkways were first shared during slavery times as a means of cultural survival. While African-American culture in the modern South may be urban and progressive, some early traditions persist in rural areas. For instance, the Gullah people, direct descendants of the original slaves, still keep original African customs alive on the Southern coast.
Read below on the importance of African-American culture to the American South, past and present.
Gullah-Geechee Culture and Coastal Georgia Slavery
Discover the community of Hog Hammock on Georgia's Sapelo Island, the heart of Gullah culture founded by coastal Georgia slavery descendants.
Joel Chandler Harris and his Uncle Remus Tales
Learn why Joel Chandler Harris, through his Uncle Remus stories, was one of America's most beloved yet controversial authors and folklorists.
John Bennett and The Doctor to the Dead
Biography of John Bennett (1865-1956), who collected African-American ghost stories for his influential book "The Doctor to the Dead."