Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

General information 1901 Fort Place SE Washington, DC 20020

202.633.4820 Monday–Friday Lorenzo Dow Turner makes recordings in African village Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, 202.633.1000 Saturday–Sunday Smithsonian Institution, 202.287.3183 Fax Gift of Lois Turner Williams

HOURS Open daily 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Closed December 25

ADMISSION Free

Tours For group tours, call 202.633.4844

PARKING Museum parking lot and on-street parking

Accessible to people with physical disabilities

anacostia.si.edu Photograph by John Francis Ficara

The mission of the Anacostia Community Museum is to challenge perceptions, broaden perspectives, generate new knowledge, and deepen understanding about the ever-changing concepts and realities of “community.” Connecting the Worlds of the African Diaspora:

Cover Image: The Living Legacy of Lorenzo Dow Turner Lorenzo Dow Turner, 1917, the year he graduated from Harvard University with a master’s degree Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Lois Turner Williams Symposium November 12–13, 2010 Director’s Statement, Camille Giraud Akeju Exhibitions

The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum welcomes you to Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner “Connecting the Worlds of the African Diaspora: The Living Legacy of Connecting Communities through Language Lorenzo Dow Turner,” a two-day symposium that is part of the public August 9, 2010–July 24, 2011 programming related to the major exhibition Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Anacostia Community Museum Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language. The symposium is a powerful opportunity for learning and exchange. It explores the ways in Until the 1930s in the United States it was believed which Turner’s seminal investigations in language inspired the research of that had not retained any diverse scholars (including historians, linguists, and anthropologists) in knowledge of the culture and language of their Photograph by John Francis Ficara connecting various communities within the worlds of the African Diaspora African enslaved ancestors. Scholars dismissed (; Caicos; Bahia, Brazil; Mexico; and Texas). Turner’s research, , the language spoken in the mostly done in the 1930s and 1940s, is still being used today and is highly relevant to an understanding of along the coast of and , as community identity and continuity. The persistence of Turner’s legacy is a tribute to an African American “baby talk” or “bad English.” Professor Lorenzo scholar who went unheralded for a long time. Dow Turner, considered the first African American Left: Lorenzo Dow Turner (detail), 1917; Lorenzo Dow Turner, PhD, was a man of many accomplishments: a son of North Carolina whose passion linguist, changed that notion through his Middle: Doing the in Georgia, ca. 1930s Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, for education and academic success led him as student and teacher to the preeminent universities of his breakthrough research. His pioneering studies proved Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Lois Turner Williams day; a popular professor of English and linguistics; a pioneering linguist with a passion for people and that Gullah was a Creole language with words and Right: Mary Moran sings Mende funeral song (detail) fieldwork; a world traveler and cultural explorer; an advocate of following one’s curiosity and imagination. a distinctive grammar derived from African languages. Courtesy Herb Frazier, Charleston, South Carolina In many ways, Dr. Turner is one of the twentieth century’s most influential scholars—and you have rarely This exhibition traces the life and work of Turner and heard of him. “Connecting the Worlds of the African Diaspora” will increase your understanding and his enormous contribution to American scholarship and change your perceptions of Turner’s work and the longevity of his inspiration. linguistics, his lifelong quest to bring knowledge of Africa Beginning with his studies of the origins, structure, and living use of the in the 1930s to America, his journeys through the worlds of the African Diaspora, to the 1949 publication of his seminal volume, Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect, to his trips to Africa in and the relevance and significance of his work eight decades later. the 1950s and subsequent lectures based on that work, Lorenzo Dow Turner has influenced the growth and development of: the academic discipline of Creole studies; linguists and linguistics; Gullah studies; comparative anthropology; African Diaspora studies; and comparative studies of world music and culture. Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art His data and analysis of the contributions of formerly enslaved Africans to the history, language, and June 23, 2010–November 28, 2010 culture of America undergird the contemporary investigations of renowned linguists and anthropologists. National Museum of African Art His stature and enduring reputation as a professor and teacher continue to inspire young linguists—black and white—who study and work with local communities around the globe. By tracing the story of the beautiful coiled basket We thank all the scholars who join us for the symposium. Alcione Amos, Herb Frazier, Thomas Klein, on two continents, Grass Roots demonstrates Livio Sansone, and Kevin Yelvington bring to us their particular insights and personal encounters with the enduring contribution of African peoples Turner. We are especially grateful for the presence of our keynote speaker, Emory S. Campbell, himself a and cultures to American life in the southeastern pioneering activist in the preservation and understanding of the Gullah culture and heritage. United States. On view are approximately 200 objects, including baskets made in Africa and the We acknowledge the absence of two individuals who have done much to keep alive the life and legacy American South, African sculptures, paintings of Lorenzo Dow Turner. Historian of James Madison University, primarily known for his from the Charleston Renaissance, and historic research on the Gullah connection between the Sea Islands and Sierra Leone, is now coordinator of the photographs and videos. The exhibition also Project, which will conserve and interpret the Sierra Leone slave castle of Bunce Island Calabash cover made with grass and synthetic fiber, reveals how a simple farm tool, once used for Ramata Sy. Toucolor. Boundam Est, , Late 20th Century, and establish a museum of the in . We also miss the presence of the late American Museum of Natural History, NY processing rice, has become an important tool Photograph courtesy of National Museum of African Art, Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis, whose full-length biography, Lorenzo Dow Turner: Father of Gullah Studies, Smithsonian Institution. provides much of the framework for the Word, Shout, Song exhibition. We hope this symposium reflects the for making coiled baskets in the South. scholarship of these eminent researchers as well as the lasting inspiration of Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner.

Program Symposium Participants

Alcione M. Amos is a museum research specialist at the Connecting the Worlds of the African Diaspora: Anacostia Community Museum and the curator of the exhibit The Living Legacy of Lorenzo Dow Turner Word Shout Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language. Parallel to her work as a librarian, Mrs. Amos Friday, November 12, 2010 maintained a career as an independent scholar studying post- 9:00–10:00 AM Registration Check-in and Continental Breakfast slavery societies. She co-edited in 1996 a book, Black Seminoles: 10:45 AM Opening Remarks by Camille Akeju, Director History of a Freedom Seeking People, about Gullah fugitive slaves 11:15 AM Kevin Yelvington, “Constituting Paradigms in the Study of the from South Carolina and Georgia who joined the Seminole African Diaspora, 1900–1950” Indians in Florida and became part of the tribe. She also

12:10 PM Lunch researched extensively the history of Afro-Brazilians who, after Photograph by Susana A. Raab 1:25 PM Livio Sansone, “Lorenzo, Franklin, and Melville in the Gantois: obtaining their freedom, returned to and established The Making of the American Black Family in Bahia. communities in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. In 2007 she 2:20 PM Keynote Address: Emory S. Campbell, “Gullah/Geechee Culture: published in Brazil a book titled Os Que Voltaram: a História dos Respected, Understood, and Striving—Sixty Years after Lorenzo D Retornados Afro-Brasileiros na África Ocidental no Século XIX Turner’s Masterpiece” (Those Who Returned: The History of the Afro-Brazilian Returnees in 3:45–5:15 PM Docent-led tour of Grass Roots, an exhibition on the African origins of West Africa in the 19th Century.) In 2007 Mrs. Amos volunteered at the sweetgrass baskets made by Gullah communities in South Carolina. Anacostia Community Museum to help process the Lorenzo Dow Turner Shuttle transportation r/t to National Museum of African Art papers. After working with the collection for a year, she was offered the opportunity to curate the present exhibit on Turner’s life and work. In 2009 she joined the staff of the museum on a permanent basis. Saturday, November 13, 2010 Mrs. Amos holds an MSLS degree from the Catholic University of America. 9:00–9:30 AM Continental Breakfast and Registration 9:30 AM Opening 9:45 AM Herb Frazier, “Behind God’s Back: Gullah Memories of Cainhoy, Wando, Huger, Daniel Island, St. Thomas Island, South Carolina” Herb Frazier is a freelance writer and public relations consultant 10:45 AM Thomas Klein, “Sounds of Africa in Gullah and on Middle Caicos” based in Charleston, South Carolina. He grew up in the 11:45 AM Alcione Amos, “Black Seminoles: The Gullah Connections” Ansonborough public housing projects in Charleston and at 12:30 PM Summation the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a reporter 1:00 PM Closing Remarks for his hometown newspaper, The Post and Courier, he covered stories in Asia, Europe, the , and Africa. In 2000, the South Carolina Press Association named him “Journalist of the Year.” He also held reporting and editing positions at daily Special Activities newspapers in Columbia, South Carolina, New Orleans, Dallas, and Charlotte. He studied journalism at the University of South Friday, November 12, 2010 Carolina and taught news writing as a visiting lecturer at Rhodes 9:30 AM; 1:00 PM A Peek at the Turner Papers with archivist Jennifer Morris University in South Africa. He is a former Michigan Journalism 10:00–10:45 AM Tour of Word, Shout, Song exhibition with curator Alcione Amos Fellow at the University of Michigan. Frazier is the author of the forthcoming book Behind God’s Back: Gullah Memories of Cainhoy, Wando, Huger, Daniel Island, St. Thomas Island, South Photograph courtesy Herb Frazier Saturday, November 13, 2010 Carolina. 1:00–1:30 PM Opportunity to view exhibition and to network

A 15-m i n u t e Q-a n d -A p e r i o d f o l l o w s e a c h presentation Thomas B. Klein is an associate professor in writing and linguistics at Georgia Southern University. As a professional linguist he specializes Keynote Speaker in the linguistics of Gullah/Geechee, Creole languages, and Chamorro, the indigenous language of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Emory Shaw Campbell—community development activist, heritage He has worked extensively with the modern Gullah/Geechee preserver, and passionate advocate of Gullah people and traditions— communities of South Carolina and Georgia to translate Turner’s was born in 1941 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. At the time, original recordings. He is the author of numerous articles in the area of Hilton Head was an isolated Sea Island accessible only by boat and Gullah/Geechee studies and has published Simplicity and Complexity populated primarily by the descendents of enslaved Africans. The in Creoles and Pidgins with Nicholas Faraclas (2009). Klein has a PhD Africans who had landed there came from different cultures, tribes from the University of Delaware. and clans. Together they formed a new world people that today are called Gullah in South Carolina or Geechee in Georgia and northern Florida. Before the real estate development of South Carolina’s Sea Photograph courtesy Thomas B. Klein Islands began in the early 1950s, places like Hilton Head, Daufuskie, St. Johns, and St. Helena islands, as well as Mt. Pleasant, were Photograph courtesy Emory S. Campbell cultural time capsules where the Gullah continued their family, Livio Sansone is presently professor of anthropology and head spiritual, food, language, and craft traditions. of international relations at the Federal University of Bahia, Valedictorian of his high school graduating class, Campbell earned a degree in biology from Savannah Brazil, where he is also the coordinator of the Digital Museum State College and received an M.S. in environmental engineering from Tufts University. At that of Afro-Brazilian Heritage and Culture, which includes materials time he worked in the microbiology department at the Harvard School of Public Health. Recalling from the Anacostia Community Museum’s Turner Papers this time, he recognized that “the urgent need on South Carolina’s Sea Islands was skill among the (www.arquioafro.ufba.br). He has carried out research on indigenous citizens to address issues related to their environment and cultural heritage.” ethnic and race relations in the United Kingdom, Suriname, the Netherlands, and Brazil (Rio and Bahia). He has published Campbell worked for ten years for the Comprehensive Health Agency for Beaufort and Jasper several articles and books, including Blackness without Ethnicity Counties (South Carolina) to implement public health measures in impoverished rural areas and to (2003). He has a PhD in anthropology from the University promote efforts to preserve and enhance the rich Gullah heritage. He served for twenty-two years of Amsterdam. (1980–2002) as executive director of the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, where he established Penn Center Heritage Days, held in the second week in November; revitalized the center’s family Photograph courtesy Livio Sansone farm program; and expanded the Penn Center’s York W. Bailey Museum’s programs to assist writers, artists, and filmmakers in documenting and interpreting the heritage of the Gullah people. Campbell also spearheaded the effort to translate the New Testament into Gullah and to reconnect the Gullah Kevin A. Yelvington teaches anthropology at the University of South people with West African communities. Through the Gullah Reunion and Gullah Homecoming in Florida. His research interests include ethnic, class, and gender relations, 1988 and 1989 the Gullah people of South Carolina and the people of Sierra Leone exchanged visits, the anthropology of work, development studies, applied anthropology, as documented in the filmFamily across the Sea (1990). In recognition of Campbell’s efforts, the Sierra and the history of anthropology, all in relation to the African Diaspora Leoneans made him an honorary paramount chief with the royal title of Kpaa Kori I. and Latin American and Caribbean history, literature, and popular culture. Author of several journal articles and book chapters, he wrote In 2008 was elected chairman of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Producing Power: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in a Caribbean Workplace Commission (U. S. National Park Service), an organization created by the Congress of the United (1995). He edited Trinidad Ethnicity (1993) and Afro-Atlantic States and charged with developing programs to preserve and promote Gullah culture in the area Dialogues: Anthropology in the Diaspora (2006), and he co-edited from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida. He also authored Gullah Cultural Legacies (with Bridget Brereton) The Colonial Caribbean in Transition: Essays on (2008), a synopsis of Gullah traditions, beliefs, art forms, and speech. He has received numerous Postemancipation Social and Cultural History (1999). In 2008, Yelvington awards, including the 1999 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation; the 2005 NEA Carter G. was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for research on Woodson Memorial Award; and, in 2000, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bank the work of U.S. anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits (1895–1963), Street College, New York. an ethnographer of the African Diaspora in Latin America and President of the Gullah Heritage Consulting Service, Campbell also operates the Gullah Heritage the Caribbean. He holds a D.Phil. in social anthropology from the Photograph courtesy Kevin A. Yelvington Trail tours on Hilton Head. He and his wife Emma live on Hilton Head Island on the property where University of Sussex (Brighton, England). he was born. They have two adult children, Ochieng and Ayoka.