The Gullah Geechee people have kept more of their African language and culture intact than any other Black community in the United States. The place to see it is the Sea Islands around Beaufort, and St. Helena Island in particular.
St. Helena has held onto its rural character where much of the coast has not. Families still farm, shrimp, and fish the same waters their ancestors worked, and some of the land is now protected by conservation easements that keep it out of the hands of resort developers. The Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association, started by members of those seafood families, carries on the oyster-shucking and fishing traditions directly.
Penn Center anchors the island’s history. Founded as one of the first schools for formerly enslaved people, it has served for generations as the cultural center of the corridor. That corridor is now official: in 2006, Congress created the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, a 12,000-square-mile National Heritage Area running from North Carolina to Florida, with funding to preserve and interpret Gullah sites.
The living version is easiest to find in May, when Beaufort hosts the two-day Gullah Festival, with a marketplace of crafts and food, music, and workshops. The rest of the year, St. Helena rewards a slow drive and a stop for lunch far more than a rushed one.