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Educating, preserving, and revitalizing African American heritage and culture.

SSAAHC is a nonprofit organization that came into being as a response to the threat of encroachment by development in the three African-American neighborhoods on St. Simons Island. SSAAHC is made up of African-American property owners and concerned citizens alike who care about preserving the African-American land, heritage, and culture on St. Simons, recognizing that St. Simons was built on the backs of the African-American community.

As St. Simons continues to grow, pressures from increased land speculation have caused African-American families to sell out and move off the ancestral lands where they have resided for the last 150 years. Sites and structures precious to the history and memory of the community are being torn down and built over. Bit by bit, the African-American heritage on St. Simons is being erased and African-American islanders are leaving the very community their ancestors made possible.

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52 Weeks of Stories, People, Facts, and Events Celebrating Our African American Heritage Roots and Community from Freedom through Civil Rights

In 1924 Historic Harrington Graded School was built by African American tradesman for the education of their children and grandchildren. Today, 100 years later, this one-room schoolhouse on St. Simons Island, GA is still a place of learning and a community cultural center where residents, schoolchildren, and visitors can learn about Gullah Geechee heritage. As part of the 100 th anniversary of the Harrington School we will publish once a week on our website a short paragraph about a person, fact, or event that enriches our knowledge of coastal African American history. The stories will follow twelve monthly themes:

JANUARY

FOOD

Recipes, Cooks, Farms, Restaurants, Seafood, Hunting, Fishing
FEBRUARY

COMMUNITY and NEIGHBORHOOD

Families Social, Churches, Sororities, Fraternities, Mutual Aid Societies
MARCH

SPORTS

Risley HS Sports, Recreation, Selden Park, Informal Games, Schoolyard
APRIL

CULTURE

Defender Newspapers, Gullah Geechee, Fashion, Writings
MAY

MILITARY SERVICE

All branches, FLETC, Police, Law Enforcement, Airport
JUNE

MUSIC

Juke joints, Chitlin Circuit, Sea Island Festival, Bands, American Folklife
JULY

CIVIL RIGHTS

Segregation, Voting Rights, NAACP, Black Wall Street
AUGUST

PRESERVING AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE

Buildings, Family History, Cemeteries, Organizations, Success, Challenges
SEPTEMBER

EDUCATION

Schools, Teachers, Lessons Taught at Home
OCTOBER

JOBS & ECONOMICS

Freedman Bank, Factory, Sawmills, Stevedores. Landscape, Housekeeping, Law, Medical, Tradesmen, Seamstresses, Construction, Segregated Businesses
NOVEMBER

STORYTELLING

Symposium, Folk Tales, StoryCorps, Thanksgiving Oral Histories
DECEMBER

CONNECTIONS

Northern Migration, Ports, Foodways, Gullah Geechee language, Tourism, Railroads, Come back

Some of the stories will be familiar. Others we hope will talk about unsung heroes, forgotten events in history, or facts you feel should be remembered and shared when celebrating our African American roots and community.

Thank you for helping us make sure these stories have their place in history. Do you have memories to add? Please share with us. We welcome your additions to these 52 weeks. Patty Deveau (Email) and Allison Dupuis (Email)

Additional special events and programs will be held throughout the year. To learn more, sign up for email announcements at harringtonschool@ssiheritagecoalition.org, or call 912-634-0330.

Preserving African American Heritage: Introduction

August’s theme, “Preserving African American Heritage,” will provide a look at the rich sources of information that make research about our area’s history possible. The first two entries will focus on specific sources—a group of funeral programs in the collection of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society and photographs captured by the Harrington Project—and their use and significance. The latter two entries will showcase the work of the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition and will spotlight oral histories and other personal accounts that bring Coastal Georgia history to life.

As always, if you have more information to share, SSAAHC welcomes your contribution. Please share your input and ideas with us by emailing harringtonschool@ssiheritagecoalition.org, or call us at 912-634-0330.

Week 33 – Preserving Heritage – St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition

The Harrington School celebrates its hundredth anniversary this year, and the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition celebrates its twenty-fourth! The Coalition was founded in October 2000 at the First African Baptist Church of St. Simons Island, bringing together property owners and citizens who wished to protect St. Simons’s African American history and community from new development on the island. Today, the Coalition continues with a related mission “to educate, preserve, and revitalize African American history and culture” through three goals: land loss prevention, historic preservation, and economic development.

The SSAAHC preserves African American history on St. Simons through a variety of initiatives, including programming like the annual Taste of Gullah event and historic tours of the island’s communities. Through this programming and other outreach, the SSAAHC serves an important function as both a resource for members of the existing community and a gateway for others to learn about its importance to St. Simons Island. The Mercer University Coastal Georgia Research Initiative specifically states that its work “effectively showcases the efforts of students and faculty focused on aiding the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition in preserving African-American history and historic sites on the Georgia coast.”

All of the previous elements discussed in this month’s weekly facts—oral histories, photos of structures from the Harrington Project, and Amy Roberts’s collection of African American funeral programs—contribute to the success of the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition. The SSAAHC has hosted researchers and their students, restored the Harrington School, and continues to serve as a vital resource for the promotion of our community’s African American history. To learn how you can become more involved with the work of the Coalition, visit this page to find information on becoming a member, volunteering, or donating.

Sources: “About Us,” Saint Simons African American Heritage Coalition, https://ssiheritagecoalition.org/about-us/; “Coastal Georgia Research Initiative,” Mercer University, https://professionaladvancement.mercer.edu/coastal-georgia-research-initiative/

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