“ ‘They Made Gullah’: Modernist Primitivists and the Discovery and Creation of Sapelo Island, Georgia’s Gullah Community, 1915-1991” By Melissa L. Cooper A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Dr. Mia Bay and approved by New Brunswick, New Jersey January 2012 2012 Melissa L. Cooper ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “ ‘They Made Gullah’: Modernist Primitivists and the Discovery and Creation of Sapelo Island, Georgia’s Gullah Community, 1915-1991” by Melissa L. Cooper Dissertation Director: Dr. Mia Bay ABSTRACT: The history of Sapelo Islanders in published works reveals a complex cast of characters, each one working through ideas about racial distinction and inheritance; African culture and spirituality; and the legacy of slavery during the most turbulent years in America’s race-making history. Feuding social scientists, adventure seeking journalists, amateur folklorists, and other writers, initiated and shaped the perception of Sapelo Islanders’ distinct connection to Africa during the 1920s and 1930s, and labeled them “Gullah.” These researchers characterized the “Gullah,” as being uniquely connected to their African past, and as a population among whom African “survivals” were readily observable. This dissertation argues that the popular view of Sapelo Islanders’ “uniqueness” was the product of changing formulations about race and racial distinction in America. Consequently, the “discovery” of Sapelo Island’s Gullah folk was more a sign of times than an anthropological discovery. This dissertation interrogates the intellectual motives of the researchers and writers who have explored Sapelo Islanders in their works, and argues that the advent of American Modernism, the development of new social scientific theories and popular cultural works during the 1920s and 1930s, and other trends shaped their depictions. This study begins by examining the changing meaning of blacks’ Africanness as a result of the shift from Victorian to Modernist thought, traces the “Gullah” in African survivals debates in the academe and uncovers the popular obsession with blacks’ Africanness expressed in the 1920s and 1930s “voodoo craze.” Next, the study charts the way the that these larger national trends relative to black peoples’ Africanness touched down on Sapelo Island, Georgia and impacted the lives of the islanders caught in the primitivist’s gaze. Finally, the dissertation explores black women writers’ discovery of Sapelo Islanders in the wake of the Black Studies movement, and analyzes their contribution to the way that the Gullah have been imagined. From African savages during the Victorian period, to beloved primitives during ii the advent of American Modernism, to beloved African American ancestors in the years following the Black Studies movement, Sapelo Island’s “Gullah folk” have served to fill the needs of various groups’ race fantasies for generations. iii Acknowledgement The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support and guidance of the historians who taught me the intricate and complex art of historical detection. Mia Bay’s, Beryl Satter’s and Ann Fabian’s careful and close readings of the study, and their support and wisdom carried me through the most trying times in the life of this project. I am also grateful for Davarian Baldwin’s and Vincent Brown’s critical comments and valuable insights. I owe a debt of gratitude to my fellow graduate students who read every chapter that I sent them, and gave me wonderful advice. I am thankful for the loving support that my family and friends extended to me while I researched and wrote this dissertation. To my husband Daniel Caraballo, for reading every line of every chapter, for acting as my research assistant while I conducted interviews and combed archives, for caring for our children and always being there to tell them “Mommy has to write! Be quiet,” for never letting me give up, and for loving me through it all—thank you. Thank you Menelik and Sundiata for letting mommy “play historian.” To my parents, Betty and George Cooper, who acted as stand-in parents to my children so that I could complete coursework, conduct research, and of course, for always supporting my dreams—thank you. My dearest sister Tanisha, and a host of great friends encouraged me every step of the way. I am also grateful to all of the Sapelo Islanders who sat for long interviews and trusted me with their memories. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my ancestors, they are the reason why I have written this history. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………..iv Preface .......................................................................................................................vi Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Prologue ....................................................................................................................15 Part I: The Intellectual and Cultural Influences that Inspired the Making of the New Gullah in the 1920s and 1930s Chapter 1- From Wild Savages to Beloved Primitives: Modernists Recast American Blacks’ Africanness ...................................................................................................33 Chapter 2- Slumming in the Ivory Tower: Debating the Africanness of American Blacks in the Academe ..........................................................................................................64 Chapter 3- The Voodoo Craze: Popular Media Interprets African Survivals During the 1920s and 1930s .........................................................................................................107 Part II: Sapelo Islanders Become Authentic Gullah Folk Chapter 4- Hunting Survivals: W. Robert Moore, Lydia Parrish and Lorenzo D. Turner Discover Gullah Folk on Sapelo Island .....................................................................146 Chapter 5- Drums and Shadows: The Federal Writers’ Project Explores Coastal Georgia Blacks and Join in the Making of Sapelo Island’s Authentic Gullah Folk ................199 Chapter 6- Re-working Roots: Black Women Writers Re-imagine and Re-make the Gullah Using 1930s Research on Sapelo Islanders ....................................................256 Conclusion-We Wear The Mask: Sapelo Islanders Try on the Gullah Identity .......290 Illustrations ...............................................................................................................297 Bibliography .............................................................................................................304 v List of Illustrations Figure 1- Sapelo Islanders at Howard Coffin’s mansion in 1913 Figure 2- W. Robert Moore Figure 3- Isaac and Naomi Johnson in National Geographic Magazine Figure 4-Emma and Emmett Jonson’s family in National Geographic Magazine Figure 5- Fred Johnson, Howard Coffin and Calvin Coolidge in National Geographic Magazine Figure 6- Hettie Walker in National Geographic Magazine Figure 7- Sea Island Cloister Hotel Advertisement Figure 8- Maxfield Parrish’s painting of Lydia Parrish Figure 9- Lydia Parrish Figure 10- Isaac and Naomi Johnson Figure 11- Lorenzo Dow Turner Figure 12- Mary Granger Figure 13- Mary Granger Figure 14- Katie Brown Figure 15- Shad Hall Figure 16- Wood Carvings Figure 17- Wood Carvings Figure 18- Melville Herskovits Figure 19- E. Franklin Frazier Figure 20- Sterling Brown Figure 21- Zora Neale Hurston vi Preface Most of the people who discover Sapelo Islanders first encounter this coastal Georgia black community through the words that have been written about them in books. My first encounter with Sapelo Islanders was different. The island is the home of mother’s family, and I count most of the islanders among the numerous family members who have greeted me with hugs and kisses after the long ferry ride during my annual summer visits since childhood. They have told me stories about “the old days,” taken me on crabbing excursions, and fishing and swimming trips on the island’s serene beaches. For me, the island was the place where I reunited with my grandparents, grand aunts and uncles, and a host cousins under the shade of Spanish moss trees. When I finally discovered Sapelo Islanders in books, I was in college studying to become a high school history teacher. At the urging of one of my professors, I began what became a long search into what he described as my family’s “Gullah” roots. I had never heard the term “Gullah” before he said it; no one who lived on, or was from Sapelo Island had ever used the word in my presence to describe themselves. Similarly, none of my family members, save one grand uncle who talked about being photographed for a magazine during the 1930s, had ever talked about the research that was conducted on the island or about the books and articles that had been published about it. Driven both by the curiosity that fuels the mind of everyone who studies and teaches history, and by the longing to make sense of their ancestral past that inspires many African Americans, I began searching for everything that had been written about Sapelo Islanders—a quest that brought me to graduate school, and ultimately birthed this study. At first, what I found in W. Robert