Freeman's Rag
  • Home
  • Short Stories
  • Historical Ruminations
  • The Cranky Man Philosophizes
  • About

Historical Ruminations

Savannah’s and Savannahians contributions to our country are often overlooked by us. Robin Williams, a professor and chair of the Architectural History Department at SCAD, says although Savannah is small it punches out of its weight class. He compared it to a welter weight who can punch and fight in the heavy weight division. The posts in this section will look at some of the ways that this is true.
Picture
Here is Michael Freeman's new book on Savannah. It tells a story not often told of the Creeks and the Native American Creeks who lived in Savannah during its founding. You might  even  say Tomochichi and Mary Musgrove were co-founders of Georgia. 

Joined in Shouting

11/16/2018

0 Comments

 
There is a practice called ring shouting (see below) in the Gullah Geechee culture. Gullah Geechee was a culture of the runaway slaves that lived on the barrier islands and coasts off South Carolina and Georgia. These Africans were able to live their lives in isolation from the white world for the most part. Therefore, many say that the Gullah Geechee people are the closest to the West African culture from which they were stolen. Culture is never a fixed thing, it evolves and adapts to different environments. The Gullah Geechee have a unique dialect, religious practices, food, and many other things. But one of the ones I find most interesting is their ring shouts.
These are dances and songs that grew out of their isolation and the pain of being taken to a land where the people did not respect their humanity.  Many of the rhythms and dance steps are ghosts of West Africa where they and their ancestors once lived. These dances and songs (as all of Gullah Geechee culture) came close to being lost. As slavery and Jim Crow ended the children felt the pull as many did to the big urban centers. But a few tireless workers who knew the beautiful culture and its significance worked to maintain the culture.
The music came from contact with the Christian culture. But Christianity viewed through the eyes of slaves and their yearnings and hopes. It is believed that the ring shout was originally two art forms: the shout and ring play. The shout was a ‘call and response’ similar to African-American preachers of the nineteenth century and seen in many Black churches today. The dancing had to be religious in nature as it was thought to be of Satan. Adding to this challenge was that the steps could not resemble secular dancing like toe tapping, crossing of the legs, or fiddle playing. Thus over time the merging of the two art forms began to arise as an acceptable form of religious expression.
Drums were not allowed on plantations because the owners felt secret seditious messages might be communicated. This led to the enslaved African-Americans inventing new rhythm techniques which was called “hamboning” or “Juba Dance.”  They used foot stomping and hand slapping of the chest, legs, hands, cheeks, etc. to keep time and replicate their earlier forbidden drum rhythms.
“Shouting" men and women move in a circle in a counterclockwise direction, shuffling their feet, clapping, and often spontaneously singing or praying aloud. This was done usually around the church building itself but on occasion around the altar of the church.
It was thought that ring shouts were lost in the late twentieth century. But it was found still being practiced in 1983 at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Darien, a small coastal Georgia city about forty minutes south of Savannah. From this church would be formed a traveling group called the McIntosh County Shouters. It is a ten-member Gullah-Geechee group. They travel the United States with the "ring shout," introducing the music and movements to the world. It is not uncommon to hear groups practicing the ring shout at various events across the coastal islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Here in Savannah one of the places that celebrate the Gullah Geechee culture is The Pin Point Community and the Pin Point Heritage Museum. The Gullah Geechee have seen a revival and appreciation of a culture that has survived the Middle Passage, Slavery, and Jim Crow. And the children who once thought the culture too ‘country’ are now proud to have come from such a celebrated culture.
“May be the las’ time we shout together”
“May be the las’ time I don’t know”
“May be the las’ time we shout together”
“May be the las’ time I don’t know”
“I don’t know, I don’t know, may be the las’ time, I don’t know”
These words from a ring shout song can be answered ‘I do know, I do know, when will be the last time, I know not now’.
​
0 Comments

A Lost Native American Presence

11/10/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
One of the great civilizations of North America was the Mississippian Culture or as some call them the Mound builders. Their cities can be found by most rivers. They used the rivers to connect themselves with other cities in the Indian Community. At one time, Cahokia, the capital of the Mississippians was larger than London and Paris. They built large several story mounds on which stood the homes of the elite and religious structures.
 
They had ball fields with amphitheaters that held thousands to gather and watch. They had grand festivals such as the annual Green Corn Festival. They had communal gardens and their presence was prolific on this side of the Mississippi River.
 
Eventually, their civilization died out due to disease and environmental ruins among other things. Today the mounds of these great people can be found throughout the Eastern United States. Some mounds are in the shape of serpents. Today there are state parks and national monuments that preserve the remnants of this great civilization. In Georgia you have the Ocmulgee Mounds in Macon and the Etowah Mounds in Cartersville.
 
It is little known but Savannah had their own mound city. It was called the Irene Mounds and was excavated and destroyed for port expansion in the 1940’s. It was located five miles northwest of Savannah. It was occupied during the Middle Mississippian period between 1100-1350. It was abandoned by the time Europeans came. It would be some of what Tomochichi the Native American who was here when Oglethorpe came would refer to when he said he wanted to be close to burial grounds of his ancestors.
 
In 1937 to 1940 it was almost completely excavated by professional archaeologists as part of the Works Progress Administration. Its importance rests on the fact that it was the most completely excavated mound site in Georgia. The excavation was unusual in that black women were used in the excavation. Black women were excluded from many of the Works Progress Administration Projects. But in this project on the Irene Mounds they were welcomed workers and highly praised by the archeologists for their professionalism.
 
The site included a large rectangular, flat-topped mound called the Temple Mound; a small conical mound with much shell and several burials called the Burial Mound; and a square building and surrounding wall at ground level in the village with many burials named the Mortuary. The site also included a series of concentric circular walls interpreted as a rotunda. These and smaller structures were found.
Savannah’s history of the Native American’s who lived here before the Europeans came is not well known. But thank goodness there is a recently published books that gives and excellent bird’s eye view of that history if you are interested: Native American History of Savannah.
​


Picture
An illustrated view of Cahokia: Capital City of the Mississippian Culture Indians
Picture
Serpent Mound
Picture
Picture of Black Women who worked on the excavation of the Irene Mounds
1 Comment

Fort James Jackson: One of Savannah's Hidden Treasures

11/3/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureFort James Jackson
Savannah is surrounded by forts and bases. Former forts consist of McAllister, Pulaski, Screven, Wayne and bases are Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart. The battle for Ft. Pulaski as described in a previous blog demonstrated that the brick or walled fort was now inadequate to defend anything. And the current bases were born. But one of Savannah’s great forts is one I have not mentioned yet: Fort Jackson.

It is located on the Savannah River three miles east of Savannah. Built on the orders of President Thomas Jefferson in 1808. It was place where an earthen battery such as found at Fort McAllister was located. It was called, with I am sure with tongue squarely in cheek, “Mud Fort”. It was used for the first time in the War of 1812 to guard the Savannah River. It is also the longest standing fort in Georgia.

The Fort was named for Revolutionary war hero and Savannah politician James Jackson. Jackson was a British native who fought for the American cause and rose to the rank of colonel. He immigrated at age 15 to Savannah, Georgia. Jackson became well known as a duelist with a fiery temper. At the age of twenty-five he was the officer who was given the honor to accept the surrender of the British in Savannah at the close of the revolution. Jackson continued his work with the Georgia Militia and would even participate in the removal of the Creek Nation from Georgia.] Jackson would eventually rise to the rank of major general in 1792. He was later a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia.

The fort had two periods of expansion after the War of 1812. These took place well before the Civil War. During the Civil War local militia units occupied the fort. The fort’s significance increased when Fort Pulaski was lost to Union forces. It was the Confederacy’s headquarters for Savannah’s river defenses. In 1862, Fort Jackson was shelled from a ship captained by an escaped slave named Robert Smalls but eventually he moved on as he could not penetrate the walls of the fort. They would not abandon the fort until General Sherman finished his march to the Sea at Savannah. They evacuated before he entered the city so as not to be taken prisoners. Fittingly enough was that the last American soldiers to be stationed at Fort Jackson were members of the 55th Massachusetts, an African- American unit.
​

With walled forts no longer used for defenses it would not be used again for military purposes. The fort was abandoned in 1905 and the state of Georgia reopened it in 1965 as a maritime museum. But the finances did not work out and the state decided to close the museum in 1975.
In 1976, the Coastal Heritage Society, was a fledgling organization approached the State who was going to sell the property. They asked if they could take over the property and run it as a historic site. The state of Georgia said ‘yes’ and it was renamed Old Fort Jackson. Today Old Fort Jackson is visited daily by people across the world. It offers free cannon and musket firings and is one of the many sites in Savannah to see.

Picture
James Jackson
Picture
Old Tybee Island Railroad Depot now located at Fort Jackson Site
0 Comments

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Short Stories
  • Historical Ruminations
  • The Cranky Man Philosophizes
  • About