The ten essays in The Crucible of Carolina explore the connections between the language and culture of South Carolina's barrier islands, West Africa, the Caribbean, and England. Decades before any formal, scholarly interest in South Carolina barrier life, outsiders had been commenting on and documenting the "African" qualities of the region's black inhabitants. These qualities have long been manifest in their language, religious practices, music, and material culture. Although direct contact between South Carolina and Africa continued until the Civil War, the era of Caribbean contact was briefer and ended with the close of the American colonial period. Throughout this volume, though, the contributors look beyond the cultural motivations and political appeal of strengthening the links between coastal Carolina and Africa and examine the cost of a diminished recognition of this important Caribbean influence. Not surprisingly, the influence of the pioneering linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner is reflected in many of these essays. The work presented in this volume, however, moves beyond Turner in dealing with the discourse and stylistic aspects of Gullah; in relating patters of Gullah to other Anglophone creoles and to various processes of creolization; and in questioning the usefulness of "retention," "survival," and "continuity" as operational concepts in comparative research. Within this context of furthering and challenging Turner's work in the barrier islands, and in seeking a truer measure of both African and Caribbean influences there, the contributors cover such topics as names and naming, the language of religious rituals, basket-making traditions, creole discourse patterns, and the grammatical morphology of Gullah and related creole and pidgin languages. Other contributors consider the substrate contributions and African continuities to be found in New World language patterns into new patterns adapted to the various situations in the New World. Opening new and advancing previous areas of research, The Crucible of Carolina also contributes to a further appreciation of the richness and diversity of South Carolina's cultural heritage.

Coiled grass baskets are icons of Gullah culture. From their roots in Africa, through their evolution on Lowcountry rice plantations, to their modern appreciation as art objects sought by collectors and tourists, these vessels are carriers of African American history and the African-inspired culture that took hold along the coast of South Carolina and neighboring states.Row Upon Row, the first comprehensive history of this folk art, remains a classic in the field. The fourth edition brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, with a chapter describing current challenges to the survival of the time-honored tradition. The artform continues to adapt to the changing consumer market, the availability of materials, economic opportunities, and most recently, the widening of the highway near the majority of basket stands. As globalization transforms the world, the coiled basket in all its iterations retains its power as a local symbol of individual identity and cultural distinction. A preface is provided by Jane Przybysz, executive director of the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina.