The crafts that Africans brought with them in their heads and hands to the new world were crafts that were important to carrying out everyday life--whether it be making baskets and pots, or keeping peace with the spirit world around them. This 1910 photograph shows "Uncle Sam Polite" knitting a fish net, teaching students at the Penn School a craft that African ancestors from the coastal regions of West Africa brought with them. Slaves supplemented with fish the often inadequate diet that their owners provided them.
From the Penn School Collection. Permission granted by Penn Center, Inc., St. Helena Island, SC.
