Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890-1972), the "Father of Gullah Studies," was the first linguist to reveal the connection between the Gullah-Geechee dialect and native African languages.
Turner traveled to African countries throughout the Gullah-Geechee corridor in the 1930s recording people talking, praying, and singing. He later published his groundbreaking book, Africanisms in the Gullah-Geechee Dialect. His life and Gullah-Geechee research were featured in a Smithsonian exhibit titled Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language.
One of Turner's most significant discoveries was a Mende song that had been passed down from slavery. The Moran family in McIntosh County, Georgia, had rocked babies to sleep with the song for generations, but did not know its origin or meaning. Anthropologist Joseph Opala continued Turner's research of the song in the 1980s, and the story of its African roots is told in the documentary, The Language You Cry In (see the trailer in the Films section of this guide).
A Gullah translation of the King James Version New Testament Bible was published in 2005 by the American Bible Society. It took 25 years for the translation to be completed by a team of historians, linquists, and native Gullah-Geechee speakers.
Gould Memorial Library
College of Coastal Georgia
One College Drive
Brunswick, GA 31520
(912) 279-5874
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Camden Center Library
College of Coastal Georgia
8001 Lakes Blvd / Wildcat Blvd
Kingsland, GA 31548
(912) 510-3332
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