Ritten 1

Leslie Ritten

Material Culture

Dr. Janzen

April 30, 2024

Gullah Geechee Basketry

Gullah Geechee basketry has transformed to meet the needs of individuals over the past three

hundred years. Baskets were initially created by the enslaved men and women who were plucked

from Africa and deposited in the colonies for labor tasks. When the Civil War ended and

hurricanes devastated the Southeastern coast in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the Gullah-

Geechee people were forced to find a way to earn money using basket-making skills that they

had learned from their ancestors. From the 1930’s to present day, basket-making has transformed

from being utilitarian to highly regarded pieces of folk art. Although the impetuses of creating

baskets have changed over hundreds of years, the origin of the craft is rooted in their African

heritage.

Beginning in the 1600’s, individuals were removed from the Western Atlantic coast of Africa and

forced into slavery along the Southeastern Atlantic coast, between Wilmington, North Carolina to

St. Augustine, Florida. These areas are remote because they are made up of smaller barrier

islands that hug the coastline. As of 2006, Congress has designated this area the Gullah Geechee

Cultural Heritage Corridor. Many plantation owners in this area, otherwise known as the

Lowcountry, realized that the enslaved men and women knew how grow rice and therefore were

in high demand.1 The work was complicated for the enslaved individuals as rice is a “labor
1
1. Dale Rosengarten, “Babylon Is Falling: The State of the Art of Sweetgrass Basketry,” Southern Cultures, 2, no. 24 (2018):
98–124.
 Ritten 2

intensive crop that involves knowledge of hydroponics, engineering, astronomy, and tides.”2 In

order to perform their duties effectively, baskets needed to be woven to move materials and fan

rice.3

The winnowing coiled basket recognized as a “fanner” was originally constructed of bulrush, a

tough marsh grass that was good for heavy use and woven tightly in a circle with a low rim. A

coiled basket uses one continuous strand of material while a woven one uses several which are

bound together. The design of the basket allowed for ground grains of raw rice that were tossed

into the air or transferred from one basket to another to get rid of the husk. As the chaff blew

away in the breeze, the rice was ready for cooking. (Figure 1) The technology for these baskets

was brought over by the Africans and made rice planting more profitable which enabled southern

plantation owners to expand their holdings. Baskets using this technology were also created to

help with storing food and materials, and for mothers to carry their babies when working in the

fields. Baskets were made by both enslaved women and men according to their duties.4

Figure 1.
“Rebecca Green winnowing rice”,
St. Helena Island, SC, ca. 1909

2
“Thread by @gullahsc on Thread Reader App,” Thread by @GullahSc on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App, September
21, 2022, https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1440129037771366402.html.
3
“Gullah Baskets,” Gullah Baskets | Maxwell Museum, February 18, 2023,
https://maxwellmuseum.unm.edu/exhibits/temporary/gullah-baskets.
4
“Grass Roots African Origins of an American Art / What Is a Basket?: National Museum of African Art,” Grass Roots African
Origins of an American Art / What is a Basket? | National Museum of African Art accessed April 14, 2024,
https://africa.si.edu/exhibits/grassroots/fanner.html.
 Ritten 3

(Photo: Leigh Richmond Miner.

Penn School Collection/ Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

As the number of enslaved individuals working in the Lowcountry swelled, the Gullah Geechee

culture began to form. Due to the harsh rice farming condition, many enslaved individuals were

kept isolated from their owners which helped preserve their African traditions. Because the

enslaved men and women were taken from numerous countries on the African coast, there was

not one common language they could use to communicate. A creole language formed which

combined the many native languages of the enslaved people with colonial English. The Gullah

Geechee’s syntax and vocabulary are rooted in both African and Europeans languages. In

addition, some southern speech patterns have been influenced. Due to the similarities of the

climates on the two continents, many of the enslaved people’s skill sets which centered around

farming and weaving were also similar.5

In 1862, the Penn School was founded on St. Helena Island, South Carolina located close to the

Georgia/South Carolina border. It was one of the first schools to be established by the Quakers

to formally educate formerly enslaved students. The school operated mostly with privately

donated funding. Like any educational institution, the Penn School wanted their students to learn

trades to be able to be financially independent. One of the trades children of freed individuals

were taught was coiled basketry. Fifty years after the school was started, the Cope Shop was built

to offer trade classes such as basketry, harness-making, cobbling and blacksmithing. This

establishment helped preserve the basket-weaving skills brought over from Africa by the freed

people’s ancestors and kept the tradition active.6

5
“The Gullah Geechee - Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor,” Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor - Where
Gullah Geechee Culture Lives, August 5, 2019, https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/thegullahgeechee/.
6
“History,” Penn Center, accessed April 26, 2024, https://www.penncenter.com/history-timeline.
 Ritten 4

At the turn of the nineteenth century, many basket weavers began using sweetgrass and other

softer more malleable natural materials like palmetto fronds and pine needles to create pieces.

Bulrush was very hard to manipulate, extremely rigid and could only be used to create simple

baskets like the fanner. Using softer sweetgrass was better for artistic expression, as the

coloration was softer and design features such as loops could be easily executed. Sweetgrass was

abundant at the time since it grows in sandy soil near the ocean.7

Sweetgrass would be harvested by pullers in the spring and summer and dried in the sun until it

was ready to be used. From there, sweetgrass would be bundled and coiled in circles. In order for

the sweetgrass to stay in place, palmetto fronds were used to secure them, then pine needles

would be used for support. A tool such as a “sewing bone” made from a sharpened metal spoon

or a “nail bone” made from metal nails or a whittled pig or cow rib bone would be used in the

process.8

As the basket weavers which were now called sewers were exploring new materials to work

with, World War I was occurring simultaneously. The Lowcountry economy was suffering

because rice production was dwindling. Many sewers decided to make baskets for artistic

purposes and sell them either wholesale or through merchants. Eventually they began to set up

roadside stands in the Mt. Pleasant area and sell them directly to individuals which let them

display and promote their own work. 9

In the 1930’s, after the completion of the Cooper River Bridge which connected Mt. Pleasant to

Charleston, many sewers set up stands to sell their creations along Highway 17 in Mt. Pleaant.

7
“Sweetgrass Baskets – South Carolina State Handicraft,” Sweetgrass Baskets - South Carolina State Handicraft, accessed April
16, 2024, https://www.sciway.net/facts/sweetgrass-baskets.html.
8
“Sweetgrass Baskets – South Carolina State Handicraft,” Sweetgrass Baskets - South Carolina State Handicraft, accessed April
16, 2024, https://www.sciway.net/facts/sweetgrass-baskets.html.
9
“Sweetgrass Baskets – South Carolina State Handicraft,” Sweetgrass Baskets - South Carolina State Handicraft, accessed April
16, 2024, https://www.sciway.net/facts/sweetgrass-baskets.html.
 Ritten 5

The stands began as baskets hanging on poles and cardboard box tables to more sophisticated

structures. Cutting out the retail and/or wholesale component allowed the Gullah Geechee sewers

to make more money.10 Due to the new bridge, the baskets became popular with travelers passing

through to and from Florida.

At the same time the stands were built to showcase sweetgrass basketry, some of Charleston’s

wealthy artist community began a campaign called the “Charleston Renaissance” which used a

women dressed in African clothing holding a sweetgrass basket on her head to spread their

message. (Figure 2) The campaign did draw painters such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper

to visit the area. Some have compared this movement to the Harlem Renaissance or the Southern

Literary Renaissance.11 Using that image introduced, as well as furthered people’s awareness of,

Gullah Geechee basket weaving.

Figure 2.
African Women with Basket
1920-1930’s
Smithsonian Institution

10
Dale Rosengarten, “Missions and Markets: Sea Island Basketry and the Sweetgrass,” in Grass Roots: African Origins of an
American Art, eds. Dale Rosengarten, Theodore Rosengarten, and Enid Schildkrout (New York: Museum for African Art, 2008),
134–40.
11
“Grass Roots African Origins of an American Art / Rice and Baskets Post Civil War to the Present: National Museum of
African Art,” Grass Roots African Origins of an American Art / Rice and Baskets Post Civil War to the Present | National
Museum of African Art, accessed April 15, 2024, https://africa.si.edu/exhibits/grassroots/civilwar.html.
 Ritten 6

The next hurdle many local basket weavers in the Mt. Pleasant area faced in the 1950’s was a

population boom. Selling baskets out of small shacks eliminated the cost of the artist to rent a

brick-and-mortar store or have to take a cut when the basket was sold in a shop. As more

development occurred along Highway 17, many of the stalls were displaced. Along with the

increase of residents, the demographics of the area changed.

In the 1850’s there were three blacks for one white, while in the 1950’s it was one half black to

one white. Many basket weavers were forced to sell their family land and relocate because living

in the area became too expensive. The other problem basket makers started to encounter was that

sweetgrass was harder to obtain. Either the sweetgrass was removed or it was located on private

property.12 Still, many basket makers continued sewing, as it was the skill that had been handed

down to them from many generations.

For the past fifty years, basket making along the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor has

continued to evolve despite many hurdles. Starting in the 1970’s two students writing their thesis

while attending Rutgers University, helped the basket makers rebrand their basketry by

photographing it and sending images to the Smithsonian and to local decision-makers in the

community. By the 1980’s, Gullah Geechee baskets were prominently displayed on brochures

used to promote tourism in the Charleston area.13 Many artists caught the attention of people

from around the United States, since their works were displayed in museums like the

Smithsonian.

Mary Jackson, one of the most famous basket sewers of Gullah Geechee descent had a career

that lasted almost four decades. In the late 70’s, Mary reinvented her career when she returned to
12
Catherine F. Marshall, Sweetgrass basket stands under siege - chrestomathy, 2013,
https://chrestomathy.cofc.edu/documents/vol12/marshall.pdf.
13
Catherine F. Marshall, Sweetgrass basket stands under siege - chrestomathy, 2013,
https://chrestomathy.cofc.edu/documents/vol12/marshall.pdf.
 Ritten 7

the Charleston area from New York by using the skills she learned as a four-year-old. She

combined her knowledge of basic sewing that she learned as a child with her knowledge of

modernism. All of her materials were sourced meticulously and her eye for spacing stitches was

flawless. As sweetgrass was harder to come by, Mary began using bulrush which was used to

construct the fanner baskets on the rice plantations. Working with bulrush allowed her to, “to

create large sculptural forms and smooth contours, and offers a wide palette of colors.” Her

pieces are both art and functional. (Figure 3) “In an ironic twist of fate, the scarcity of sweetgrass

provided a change that allowed the coiled baskets to become more recognizable as sculpture, and

place it more securely in the realm of fine art.”14

Figure 3.
“Vase with Handle,” 2018
Mary Jackson
Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, D.C.

The pinnacle of Mary’s career was when she received the McArthur Fellow which is known to

be the “Genius Grant” from the McArthur Foundation in 2008. More recently, after already

having pieces in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, she was asked to create additional

works for National Museum of African American History and Culture which opened in 2016.

Mary has presented to her baskets to King Charles of England and to the Empress of Japan. Most
14
1. Dale Rosengarten, “Babylon Is Falling: The State of the Art of Sweetgrass Basketry,” Southern Cultures, 2, no. 24 (2018):
106.
 Ritten 8

importantly, Mary has taught her daughter and granddaughter to weave to make sure the tradition

stays alive.15

As mentioned previously in this essay, one of the most prevailing obstacles for the future of

basket-making is the availability of sweetgrass. In the early 2000’s, a study was conducted that

concentrated on three areas in Charleston where baskets are sold by local artisans. The study

followed one hundred eleven basket-makers. Thiry of the artisans sold their baskets in two

locations in Charleston, while eighty-one still had stands alone Highway 17 in Mt. Pleasant. The

goal of this study was “to identify common views and practices of basket makers that might aid

in the development of an effective long-term sweetgrass management plan.16

One of the most interesting findings in the study was that the artists themselves did not manage

their own cultivation of sweetgrass. They relied on sourcing their sweetgrass from collectors or

being able to obtain it through pulling it in areas they did not own but had been doing so in the

past. Using a collector could be very cost prohibitive depending on how far they had to travel. If

a basket-maker pulled their own sweetgrass, they now could not trespass on land that was

developed. Owners of developed land feared that if the sweetgrass was pulled it would not

return. The study suggested that a plan could be instituted which would educate the basket

makers and include them in conversations regarding environmental issues. In addition, many

participants in the study asked for assistance from groups that were not part of the basket making

community.17

15
Nic Brown, April/May 2016, “A Lowcountry Legend: Mary Jackson,” Garden & Gun, January 24, 2017,
https://gardenandgun.com/feature/a-lowcountry-legend-mary-jackson/.
16
Zachary H. Hart, Angela C. Halfacre, and Marianne K. Burke, “Community Participation in
Preservation of Lowcountry South Carolina Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia Filipes [M. A. Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) Basketry,”
Economic Botany 58, no. 2 (2004): 161–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256802.
17
Zachary H. Hart, Angela C. Halfacre, and Marianne K. Burke, “Community Participation in
Preservation of Lowcountry South Carolina Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia Filipes [M. A. Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) Basketry,”
Economic Botany 58, no. 2 (2004): 161–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256802.
 Ritten 9

Gullah Geechee basketry continues to withstand the test of time. In 2013, the Gullah Geechee

Corridor was selected to be part of President Barack Obama’s inauguration parade. The float

displayed many sweetgrass baskets to depict the area’s rice culture. Ronald Daise, chairman at

the time of the Gullah Geechee Corridor said, “it was the skills and technological knowledge of

our ancestors, West Africans from the grain coast who’s intelligence and labor made the

communities of todays Gullah Geechee culture.” The float also had a correlation to Michelle

Obama because her ancestors were from the area. 18

Barabara Manigault, a contemporary sweetgrass basket-maker designed a rounded basket with a

tired lid in 2012 which was on display at the Gullah Museum in South Carolina. Next to her

piece is a basket woven in the early twentieth century in the Lonwer Congo, DRC with almost

identical proportions and features. (Figures 4 & 5) Gullah Geechee basketry appears to have

striking similarities to ones that were made in the Ashanti Empire which is modern day Sierra

Leone as well as the Kongo Kingdom which is now Gabon, the DRC and the Republic of Congo.

It is remarkable that the skills of the first basket weavers who came to South Carolina over three

hundred years ago have continued to be passed down from generation to generation.

Figure 4. Figure 5.
“Basket,” 2012 “Basket weaver” Early 20 c.
Barbara Manigault Lonwer Congo, DRC
Gullah Museum, S.C. Gullah Museum, S.C.
18
Ava Wilhite, “Gullah Geechee Heritage Float Featured in Inaugural Parade,” WCIV, January 6, 2014,
https://abcnews4.com/archive/gullah-geechee-heritage-float-in-inagural-parade.
 Ritten 10

More recently Corey Alston a fifth generation Gullah Geechee descendant has become a talisman

for the trade. I personally became acquainted with him last summer when I was working on a

program idea for work. He is a basket maker, as well as a lecturer who travels around the country

presenting his culture through stories and baskets. He discusses the Gullah Geechee culture with

passion and continues to live keeping many of the principles handed down from generations in

the forefront. The one important belief I learned within the first few minutes of our conversation

was only Gullah Geechee descendants can pass down authentic weaving and sewing skills to

make a basket. He is more than happy to teach you how to work with sweetgrass, but you will be

guided on how to form a flower.19

One of the ways Corey is able to share his story is through the use of social media. When you

google his name, several websites appear such as Facebook, Etsy and his own branded website

“thegullahculture”. He also sells his own baskets in retail shops as well as on his own social

media sites which come up through searching on the internet. Combining the skills of his 20long

line of descendants, his charismatic and dedicated demeanor and technology may be one of the

avenues that keeps Gullah Geechee basketry sustainable.

Over the three hundred years Gullah Geechee basketry has transitioned from solely being used

for utilitarian purposes to being distinguished as fine art or folk art. Although there have been

challenges for the individuals who either were forced or chosen to devote their energies to

creating baskets, it appears that the skills that have been passed down were done with few

divergencies. In 2021, Kennedy Bennett age 21, a Gullah Geechee from the Lowcountry, shared

19
Corey Alston, interview by Leslie Ritten, Roswell, Georgia, August 28, 2023.
20
Jamie Rogers, “Basket Weavers Plant the Seeds of Gullah Culture in the next Generation - the Washington Post,” The
Washington Post, July 21, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/31/basket-weavers-plant-seeds-gullah-culture-
next-generation/.
 Ritten 11

that she was unsure about future weavers from her generation “because they have more

education and career options,” and went on to say that it was “not about indifference to the

craft.”

Works Cited

Brown, Nic. April/May 2016. “A Lowcountry Legend: Mary Jackson.” Garden & Gun, January
24, 2017. https://gardenandgun.com/feature/a-lowcountry-legend-mary-jackson/.

“Gullah Baskets.” Gullah Baskets | Maxwell Museum, February 18, 2023.

https://maxwellmuseum.unm.edu/exhibits/temporary/gullah-baskets.

“The Gullah Geechee - Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.” Gullah Geechee Cultural
Heritage Corridor - Where Gullah Geechee Culture Lives, August 5, 2019.
https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/thegullahgeechee/.

Hart Zachary H., Halfacre Angela C., and Burke, Marianne K. “Community Participation in
Preservation of Lowcountry South Carolina Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia Filipes [M. A.
Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) Basketry.” Economic Botany 58, no. 2 (2004): 161–71.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256802.

“History.” Penn Center. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://www.penncenter.com/history-timeline.

Marshall, Catherine F. Sweetgrass basket stands under siege - chrestomathy, 2013.

https://chrestomathy.cofc.edu/documents/vol12/marshall.pdf.

Rogers, Jamie. “Basket Weavers Plant the Seeds of Gullah Culture in the next Generation - the
Washington Post.” The Washington Post, July 21, 2021.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/31/basket-weavers-plant-seeds-gullah-
culture-next-generation/.

Rosengarten, Dale. “Babylon Is Falling: The State of the Art of Sweetgrass Basketry.”
Southern Cultures 24, no. 2 (2018): 98–124. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26478238.

Rosengarten, Dale. “Missions and Markets: Sea Island Basketry and the Sweetgrass,”
in Grass African Origins of an American Art, eds. Dale Rosengarten, Theodore
Rosengarten, and Enid Schildkrout (New York: Museum for African Art, 2008), 134–40.

“Sweetgrass Baskets – South Carolina State Handicraft.” Sweetgrass Baskets - South Carolina
State Handicraft. Accessed April 16, 2024. https://www.sciway.net/facts/sweetgrass-
baskets.html.
 Ritten 12

“The Gullah Geechee - Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.” Gullah Geechee Cultural
Heritage Corridor - Where Gullah Geechee Culture Lives, August 5, 2019.
https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/thegullahgeechee/.

“Thread by @gullahsc on Thread Reader App.” Thread by @GullahSc on Thread Reader App –
Thread Reader App, September 21, 2022.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1440129037771366402.html.

Wilhite, Ava. “Gullah Geechee Heritage Float Featured in Inaugural Parade.” WCIV, September
18, 2015. https://abcnews4.com/archive/gullah-geechee-heritage-float-in-inagural-parade.