Gullah Roots

WELCOME TO GULLAH ROOTS

Gullah Roots is the  collective term for family history projects of Wevonneda Minis, who writes Kinship, the genealogy column of the Post and Courier, daily newspaper, in Charleston, S.C.  www.postandcourier.com/news/columnists/wevonneda_minis/.

That's me. And yes, I do have Gullah Roots right here in South Carolina, and Geechee Roots in Georgia. Both terms, Gullah and Geechee, refer to the culture and speech of coastal South Carolina and Georgia African Americans.

"Roots and Branches: An African American Genealogy Project" is a main focus. The multi-year project assists Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester County, S.C. residents who research  African American ancestors.

My genealogy education includes completeting the Advanced Methodology & Evidence Analysis course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research,  Samford University and the American Genealogy course, National Genealogical Society.

Here's some information on my genealogy lectures, family history workshops and family reunion presentations.

Upcoming Events:

-- July 11, "Meet My Uncle Sandy: Documenting African Americans in the Wake of the Civil War," Annual Workshop, South Carolina Genealogical Society, SC Department of Archives and History, Columbia.

--July 25,  Family Reunion Genealogy Workshop, Bligen Family of Edisto Island, SC, Hollywood.

Recent Events:

 --  "Making Strides: African American Genealogy" Ways of Remembering, Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Richmond Bowens, 1908-1998. Drayton Hall Plantation, Charleston.

 -- "Meet My Uncle Sandy: Documenting African Americans in the Wake of the Civil War," Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Charleston.

 -- "Digging Your Roots: A Beginner's African American Genealogy Workshop," Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Charleston.

-- "Brick Walls and Solutions: Advanced Strategy Session," Roots and Branches Workshop, Charleston. 

-- "Meet My Uncle Sandy: Documenting African Americans in the Wake of the Civil War," Summerville Preservation Society, Summerville.

 -- "Digging Your Roots: A Beginner's African American Genealogy Workshop," Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston.

-- "Meet My Uncle Sandy: Documenting African Americans in the Wake of the Civil War," Old St. Bartholomew Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society, Walterboro.

--"Meet My Uncle Sandy: Documenting African Americans in the Wake of the Civil War," Charleston Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society, Charleston.

 South Carolina Ancestry

I've traced my ancestors on St. Helena Island, S.C. (Frogmore) back six generations and in Ridgeland, S.C. (Grahamville, Old House) back five generations.

Georgia Ancestry

Some of my most rewarding research is on Mohammed Bilali, my fifth great grandfather (seven generations), enslaved on Sapelo Island, Ga. and Grand Caicos, Bahamas. My 16 years of studying him includes four journeys (six months) to his home in Timbo, Guinea, West Africa. I also study five slaveholding families in archives in the United States, England, Scotland and the Bahamas. 

Mohammed Bilali Presentations include: Georgia Historical Society, Avery Research Center, Penn Center, University of Pittsburgh, Georgia Public Television and South Carolina Educational Television and Radio.

Memberships: Genealogical Speakers Guild, International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, National Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, South Carolina Genealogical Society (second vice president, Charleston Chapter), South Carolina Historical Society and Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society (founding member). 

Leading African American genealogists Dorothy Spruill Redford and Tony Burroughs flank Roots and Branches director, Wevonneda Minis, at a conference to launch the project in October 2007.

James Islander Passionate About  Preserving Gullah Heritage 

Eugene Frazier started learning about his past while his whole future was ahead of him.

He learned by listening to the stories of his grandfather, Daniel Smalls, born a slave on James Island's Dill Plantation in 1853.

Frazier shared his passion  for preserving the island's Gullah heritage during the South Carolina Genealogical Society's April meeting.

Frazier, retired from law enforcement, also conducted oral interviews with dozens of Smalls' generation and their children.

He also documented the information he collected by researching ini pubic and private records.

Read the results of his work in "James Island: Stories of Slave Descendants," the History Press.   

At the Archives in Columbia

  Cleo Brown consults with Elwood Stith, team leader on death certificates at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Federation Member

Roots and Branches is a Federation of Genealogical Societies member.  FGS, a non-profit, links organizations that are part of the national genealogical community.