Folk Narrative

Throughout the South, storytelling is a particularly rich form of verbal folklore. Stories can be sacred or secular, serious or funny, long or short, and performed by children or adults. Storytellers can be found on front porches, the corner store, the family dinner table - anywhere people tend to gather. Storytelling is not restricted to one particular culture group. Native American, African American, and EuroAmerican narrative traditions have deep roots in the South. In addition, much of the traditional music in South Carolina has a powerful storytelling aspect. Blues music usually incorporates storytelling into the song structure, as does much of the gospel, country, and ballad music performed from the hills of the upstate to the marshes along the coast.

Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

For further information about any of the artists featured on Digital Traditions, send your questions and comments to hallagan@mailbox.sc.edu.

Title:
The Visitor | Carolyn White | Digital Traditions
The Visitor | Carolyn White | Digital Traditions
Episode 6

Audio

Grades: Higher Education

Recorded at the 1998 Fall Folklife Festival, McKissick Museum. Notice the differences between this version and the version in the video clip. As with most forms of folk narrative, variation is an...
Agnes Brown Photos | Digital Traditions
Agnes Brown Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

West Africans brought to the South Carolina and Georgia coasts as slaves settled on geographically isolated plantations whose owners often were absent. Such conditions allowed lowcountry slaves to...
Anita Singleton-Prather | Digital Traditions
Anita Singleton-Prather | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Anita Singleton-Prather is an entrepreneur, Gullah scholar, entertainer, and master storyteller. She brings Gullah culture to countless people through “ Aunt Pearlie Sue,” a character inspired by her...
Bossy Elephant | Gullah Tales
Bossy Elephant | Gullah Tales

Interactive

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Listen to the interactive version of the Bossy Elephant in both English and Gullah. Storytelling performance by Anita Singleton Prather (Aunt Pearlie Sue)
Buford Mabry Photos | Digital Traditions
Buford Mabry Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Born and raised on a farm in the Stateburg area of Sumter County, Buford Mabry always told people there were two circumstances that mainly helped him become the storyteller he was. First was having a...
Carolyn White Photos | Digital Traditions
Carolyn White Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Having learned the art of Gullah storytelling from her parents and grandparents, Carolyn "Jabulile" White thought it only natural that she should share the stories with the community, and especially...
Digital Traditions - Artists
Digital Traditions - Artists

Document

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Ahrens, Pat All Male Chorus of Blacksburg Arnold, Mac Ayers, Sara Basket, Nancy Baylor, Amos Bellow, Roger Bennett, Mary Jane Benson, JD Blackwell, Richard Boggs, Horatio Manning Bollack, James Booker...
Helen Satterley Photos | Digital Traditions
Helen Satterley Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Resident of McClellanville, SC (Charleston County). She grew up learning to speak Gullah and tells jokes and stories in the Gullah language. Her house was damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 but...
Jack Doyle Photos | Digital Traditions
Jack Doyle Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Professor Jack Doyle spent over 30 years dedicated to the study and documentation of storytellers in the South with special emphasis on South Carolina. He was a founding member of the South Carolina...
Jane Wineglass Audio Transcript | Digital Traditions
Jane Wineglass Audio Transcript | Digital Traditions

Document

Grades: Higher Education

Audio transcript for Jane Wineglass A McClellanville, SC (Charleston County) resident, Ms. Wineglass has long been known for her folk medicine remedies, as well as the ability to interpret dreams...
Jealous Bragging Turtle in English | Gullah Tales
Jealous Bragging Turtle in English | Gullah Tales

Interactive

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Students will read and listen to Aunt Pearlie Sue’s animated English version of the traditional folktale "The Jealous Bragging Turtle." Stories teach a moral or explain the origin something in nature...
Jeanette Samuels Photos | Digital Traditions
Jeanette Samuels Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Singing/Storytelling As a professional teacher, Jeanette Samuels shares her talent for storytelling and singing with the community on a regular basis. She has lived in South Carolina all her life and...
John Fowler Photos | Digital Traditions
John Fowler Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

John Thomas Fowler is a gifted multi-instrumentalist and storyteller. For more than 30 years, Fowler has worked to ensure Appalachian culture remains alive by sharing the musical traditions and...