Billy Entenmann rides George Phillips, owned by Timber Bay Farms at the Carolina Cup Races. Photo by Catherine French. Part of the cultural documentation found in South Carolina's Local Legacies projects.

South Carolina

The collections of the American Folklife Center contain rich and varied material from South Carolina that documents the state's folk traditions. Among its recordings are Gullah dialect songs and tales from the Sea Islands; African American spirituals, hymns, lullabies, and religious services performed by choirs and soloists from around the state; and many hours of work songs, spirituals, and prayers of African American convicts held at the state work farms in Boykin and Columbia in the 1930s.

Collections

Finding Aid: View a complete list of our South Carolina collections.

Local Legacies: This project provides a "snapshot" of local culture as it was expressed in the year 2000. View South Carolina's Local Legacies projects.

Veterans History Project: Browse state collections from the Veterans History Project.

Songs of America: Browse an interactive state map for selected songs from the American Folklife Center’s collections, as well as songs from the Library’s Music Division and Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Additional Resources

Educational Resources: View a list of educational materials related to South Carolina from A Teacher's Guide to Folklife Resources.

Folklife Resources: Find state folklife-related agencies, societies, archives, higher education programs, and more, in Folklife Sourcebook: A Directory of Folklife Resources in the United States.

Publication: "Bulrush is Silver, Sweetgrass is Gold: The Enduring Art of Seagrass Basketry," Folklife Annual 1988-89. [catalog record]

Published Recording: Animal Tales Told in the Gullah Dialect, Volumes I-III, Library of Congress AFS L44-46. [audiocassette]