South Carolina Culture: Resources at the State Library: SC Folklore

The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium publishes Coastal Heritage, a quarterly publication that covers environmental policy, science, history, and culture. There are numerous articles on Lowcountry and Coastal culture and folklife. The State Library has digitzed the past twenty years of issues of Coastal Heritage.

Sandlapper, the Magazine of South Carolina, was established in 1968 by Robert Wilkins as a means to promote the state and its rich heritage. The State Library has digitzed the Sandlapper from 1968-2012.

Published by the SC Department of Natural Resources, South Carolina Wildlife, covers numerous articles and stories about hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation across the state. The State Library has South Carolina Wildlife magazine in print from 1954 to 2015. SC Department of Natural Resources also has an online archive of more recent issues, http://www.dnr.sc.gov/magazine/archives.html.

The South Carolina Carolina Folklore Society was founded in 1913 at the University of South Carolina. It became the Southeastern Folklore Society in 1934. The State Library has the SC Folklore Society Bulletin in print beginning in 1913.

This guide contains resources for collecting oral histories. Information includes resources on how to begin the process of collecting oral histories, what kinds of questions to ask, how to record oral histories remotely, and more.

The SCNHC is a congressionally designated National Heritage Area of the National Park Service. Since 1996, they have been committed to preserving and promoting the natural, historic, and cultural assets of a 17-county area of South Carolina.

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Area managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Its mission is to preserve, share and interpret the history, traditional cultural practices, heritage sites, and natural resources associated with Gullah Geechee people of coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, awarded by the South Carolina Arts Commission each year since 1988, is a one-time, annual award presented by the South Carolina General Assembly to practitioners and advocates of traditional arts significant to communities throughout the state. Up to four artists and one advocate may receive awards each year.

USC's Folklife Resource Center (FRC) at USC's McKissick Museum was created in 1985 as a repository for Southern folklife research. South Carolina is remarkably diverse, both culturally and geographically. From the Appalachian Mountains to the Sea Islands, dynamic examples of folklife can be found.Traditions documented include: sweetgrass and split-oak basketry, bluegrass and gospel music, quilting, alkaline-glazed, Catawba and Jugtown pottery, African-American celebrations, occupational folklife, and traditional foodways.