African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Portia Smiley

Since I've been sharing older collections of folktales from South Carolina, I thought I would include this article from the Journal of American Folklore which feautures 38 stories plus riddles, proverbs, toasts, and folkways: Folklore from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida by Portia Smiley, published in 1919. (Stories #11-25 are the ones from South Carolina.)

Portia Smiley was a graduate of Hampton Institute, and Mary McLeod Bethune later hired her as one of the first teachers at the Bethune-Cookman School in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1910. You can read more about Mary McLeod Bethune at Wikipedia.

Here is a list of the story titles in Smiley's article: Does a Cow have Pigs? ~ Big-'Fraid and Little-'Fraid ~ Digdee Owl ~ Takes No Risk ~ Don't help the Bear ~ Wolf's Tail to the Hungry Orphan ~ The Lord and Toby ~ Master Disguised ~ Dirt-Dauber ~ How Duck saw Day ~ Out of her Skin ~ The Lover warned ~ The Murderous Mother ~ Us ~ Witch-Cat ~ Zip! Zip! ~ The Blind Old Woman ~ Running Hand ~ Incriminating the Other Fellow ~ Racing a Ghost: Buried Treasure ~ Buried Tail ~ The Girls who could not talk Proper ~ Seeking the Lord ~ The Imitative Choir ~ The Diviner ~ The Single Ball ~ The Deer-Stalker ~ Jonah ~ Who darkens that Hole? ~ Where did Adam hide? ~ Three Sweethearts ~ Two Daddies ~ You ridin', you walkin'? ~ The Little Girl and her Snake ~ The Deacon and his Son ~ Heaven Hot, Hell Cold ~ Hell in Heaven ~ Dilatory Buzzard.

For more contributions from the Black folklorists affiliated with the Hampton Institute, see the anthology: Strange Ways and Sweet Dreams: Afro-American Folklore from the Hampton Institute.

Meanwhile, the stories collected by Portia Smiley await you, just a click away at the Internet Archive!

Folklore from Virginia, South Carolina,

Georgia, Alabama, and Florida

by Portia Smiley

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Tales of the Congaree

After yesterday's post about the WPA collection of South Carolina folktales from the late 1930s, I wanted to follow up with the remarkable book, Tales of the Congaree by Edward C.L. Adams, in which Adams, a white doctor, reports stories tha the heard from his black patients in the vicinity of the Congaree River of South Carolina during the 1920s.

The book is a 1987 reprint of the two books that Adams published: Congaree Sketches in 1927 and Nigger to Nigger in 1928, with an introduction by Robert O'Meally. If you are curious about this book, make sure to read this introduction which does a great job of situating Adams' work in its historical context, with comparisons to Harlem Renaissance writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes (including a meeting between Adams and Hughes in 1931). You can read more about Adams at the South Carolina Encyclopedia online.

There is a brilliant range of stories in this book, from traditional folktales to contemporary stories about life in South Carolina at the time, including accounts of Jim Crow, chain gangs, and even lynchings. Here is a list of the titles: The Big Swamps Of The Congaree ~ The Hopkins Nigger ~ Jonas ~ A Freshet On The Congaree ~ Hell Fire ~ The Rattlesnake ~ Sunning On The Golden Stairs ~ Judge Foolbird ~ Old Sister ~ Old Sister's Friends ~ Old Sister In Heaven ~ Old Sister In Hell ~ The Settin' Up ~ The Little Old Man On The Gray Mule ~ The Lake Of The Dead ~ Aunt Dinah's Cat ~ Murder Versus Liquor ~ Old Dictodemus ~ Jeff's Funeral Sermon ~ Fragment Of A Negro Sermon ~ His Day Is Done ~ Ole Man Rogan ~ Big Charleston ~ The Yellow Crane ~ White Folks Is White Folks ~ Wild Goose Nest ~ Transmigration ~ Belton's Spirit ~ The Animal Court ~ Ole Man Tooga's Chile ~ Fine My Chile ~ Purtty Little Folks ~ The Falling Star ~ Jay-Birds ~ Jack-Ma-Lantern ~ Ole Man Rouse ~ If You Want To Find Jesus ~ The Ghosts Of Elm Savannah ~ The Crow ~ Primus ~ Jumping-Gut ~ Cazenova ~ Spirit Dogs And Barking Snakes ~ Death Owl ~ De Law Got Simon ~ A Fool Nigger ~ The Two Ducks ~ The Mule And The Ox ~ That Quart Kept On Beckoning Me ~ Don't 'sturb A Houn' ~ Don't You Play Wid Married Wimmens ~ Tad's Advice To His Son ~ Old Sister's Advice To Her Daughter ~ Jesus Had Trouble All Over The World ~ Evil Sperrits ~ The Swamps ~ The Lonesome Hunter ~ The King Buzzard ~ An Escaped Convict ~ Goose Pond ~ Bannister Bridge ~ Big Annie ~ A Yellow Bastard ~ Joe ~ A Prison ~ The Hawk And The Rooster ~ Mensa ~ Magic ~ Jazy ~ The Turkey Hunt ~ Old Lady Beck ~ Red ~ Just One Time To Die ~ Becky ~ The Savage ~ Ruint ~ Edecation ~ Darlay ~ Brass Ankles ~ A Peacemaker ~ The Death As A Turkey Hunter ~ Lula ~ Old Man Jim Kinkade ~ The Water Hole ~ Pick ~ Sweet Chile ~ Drug Up ~ Tough ~ Thirteen Years ~ The Telephone Call ~ A Damn Nigger ~ The Lynchers ~ A Bottle Of Liquor ~ Old Mammy ~ A Good Looking Man ~ Three Doctors ~ A Fisherman ~ Land Rent ~ Loyalty ~ They Oughter Had A Sign On It ~ How To Kill An Owl ~ The Ventriloquist ~ The Courts ~ Ain't Never Own Niggers ~ Fundamentals ~ Tomper's Song ~ Old Moccasin's Ghost ~ The Ghost Of White Hall ~ The Angel Of Cow Pen Lake ~ The Smokehouse Angel ~ Tyu's Angel ~ But Rabbit In Red Hill Churchyard ~ Bur Jonas' Goat ~ The Rat ~ The Dance Of The Little Animals ~ The Spider And The Rabbit ~ A Roost On The Rim Of The Moon ~ The Frog And The Snake ~ The Monkey And The Elephant ~ gators And Snakes ~ The Bell-Ringing Rat ~ Cootas ~ A Jay Bird Thief ~ Allen's Idea Of Preachers ~ A Bit Of Correspondence ~ Two Prayers ~ God ~ Virgins ~ Old Brother Tries To Enter Heaven ~ The Harps Of God ~ Converted ~ The Bear Fight ~ Gullah Joe ~ A Slave ~ Old Man Hildebrand ~ The Slave Barn ~ The Wild River Shore ~ Silas ~ Ain't No Corn-Bread There ~ Sister Lucy ~ Rejoice Ye At Dey Goin' Out ~ Fragment Of A Funeral Sermon ~ Elizabeth Coleman ~ She's At Rest ~ Funeral Of A Brother ~ She Sleeps On A Hillside ~ The Galloping Hosts Of Heaven.

It's all waiting there at the Internet Archive, just a click away thanks to the power of Controlled Digital Lending.

Tales of the Congaree

by Edward C.L. Adams

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: South Carolina Folk Tales

Since I did two nice anthologies already this week, I wanted to share one of my favorite African American story collections: South Carolina Folk Tales: Stories of Animals and Supernatural Beings, published back in the Works Project Administration of South Carolina with an introduction by Mabel Montgomery, director of the South Carolina WPA.

There are 66 stories here, drawn from over two thousand page of materials collected in South Carolina between 1935 and 1941. Some of the storytellers in the book are Black (including some Gullah speakers), and some are white, but most of the stories in the book fall squarely in the African American storytelling tradition (someday somebody needs to write a book; Joel Chandler Harris was not the only white American storyteller captivated by these African American stories). 

Here is a list of the titles you will find in the book (as you can see, lots of rabbit stories!): Buddah Rabbit an Buddah Gatah ~ Bruh Rabbit Tricks Bruh Gatah ~ Lil Gal an Wood ~ De Crow en De Rabbit ~ Crow en Cootah ~ Buzzard an Hawk ~ Duh Rabbit, Fox, an Goose ~ Buh Rabbit and Buh Fox ~ You Can' Head Buddah Rabbit ~ Three Tasks ~ The Fox and the Cat ~ Buh Rabbit and Rattlesnake ~ Buddah Bear Plays Dead ~ Buddah Bear's Fish ~ Buddah Deer an Buddah Cootah Run a Race ~ Bruh Cootah an Bruh Deer ~ Dog and Dog Head ~ Buddah Frog, Buddah Squel, and Buddah Rabbit ~ Buh Rabbit an Buh Partridge ~ Buh Partridge Pay Buh Rabbit Back ~ Tar-baby ~ Buddah Rabbit an De King ~ Buh Rabbit an Buh Guinea ~ Bruh Rabbit Beats Bruh Wolf ~ Bruh Rabbit Eats Bruh Wolf ~ Bruh Rabbit en De Cow ~ Bruh Rabbit an Sally Gal ~ Lawsuit ~ Bruh Rabbit an Bruh Woof at De Wedding ~ De Buttah Tree ~ Buddah Woof Fool Buddah Rabbit ~ Buddah Ringo Hog ~ Plat-eye Tangle Me Up ~ Finding Treasure ~ Trus De Lawd for Treasure ~ Four Men and the Treasure ~ Spirit Sure Worrisome ~ Legends of Fenwick Hall ~ The Grey Lady ~ The Ghosts at Hagley ~ The Girl in the Swamp ~ Bring Back Us Teef! ~ Music Box ~ Hant House ~ Parents Must Not Pick Love for Chillun ~ Golias and the Devil ~ Poison in His Path ~ Lizard in the Head ~ The Happy Dog of Goshn ~ Trus Gawd or Ad's Plat-eye ~ Hag ~ Witched ~ Hag Duh Ride Me ~ Hags' Trade ~ Conjured ~ Uncle Gabe's Conjuh Ball ~ The Dare ~ Turned to Stone ~ You Take This One ~ Fishing on Sunday ~ Legend of Sol Legare Island ~ A Tormented Man ~ Sea Serpent.

The stories have useful notes as you can see here; click on the image for a larger view, or use this link to see the page at the Internet Archive:

So, read and enjoy: if you are a fan of Rabbit and his tricks, I'm sure you will like this book!

South Carolina Folk Tales:

Stories of Animals and Supernatural Beings

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: National Association of Black Storytellers

I thought this would be a good follow-up to the Greenwood anthology from yesterday drawing on traditional sources; today's book is from contemporary Black storytellers: Sayin' Somethin': Stories from the National Association of Black Storytellers, edited by Linda Goss, Dylan Pritchett, and Caroliese Frink Reed, published in 2006.

You'll find a variety of stories here; as you can see from the titles, there are some traditional folktales here along with more contemporary stories and commentary: We Are the Ones ~ Anansi and the Wisdom Tree ~ Utuchekulu ~ Desert Traveler ~ The Lion and the Rabbit ~ The Island of Goree ~ S-T-O-R-Y! ~ Mother Earth and Man ~ The First Forty Acres ~ The Toothless Tiger ~ How Brer Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail ~ Riddle ~ Big Fish ~ Why Lizards Don't Hop ~ Why the Eagle Has a Bald Head ~ Boca Linda, the Shrinking Girl ~ Storytelling: the Call and Response of Life ~ A Farmer, His Son, and Their Mule ~ Uncle Jesse ~ Heart Death ~ Revolutionary Maids, Inc. ~ Miss No Name ~ Soldiers on the Trolley ~ Uncle Son's Parrot ~ Big Voice ~ Funeral ~ The Spoken Word ~ Storytellers in the House ~ The 8th Note ~ Rapunzel in Black ~ Louis Armstrong Rap ~ I'm a Baltimore African Talkin' Drum ~ I Stand in Awe of Storytellers ~ The African Oral Tradition.

You'll recognize some of the storytellers here from earlier blog posts, like Linda Goss and Lynette Ford, plus lots of new storytellers to enjoy, all just a click away at the Internet Archive!

Sayin' Somethin':

Stories from the National Association of Black Storytellers

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Greenwood Library of American Folktales

To start this week, here's a wonderful anthology edited by Thomas Green: The Greenwood Library of American Folktales: The South and the Caribbean.

You'll find over 130 stories here, organized with the same structure for the stories from the southern United States and from the Caribbean. There is also a detailed introduction that traces the African and indigenous contributions to these storytelling traditions.

The South: Origin Stories (15); Heroes, Heroines, Tricksters, and Fools (53); Sacred Tales of the Powers that Be (24); Secular Tales of the Powers that Be (7)

The Caribbean: Origin Stories (8); Heroes, Heroines, Tricksters, and Fools (12); Sacred Tales of the Powers that Be (8); Secular Tales of the Powers that Be (5)

While Green has edited the stories to make them easier to read (eliminating eye-dialect, etc.), he also includes an appendix with 12 of the stories unaltered. There is also a detailed bibliography of sources and reference works in the back of the book.

Thomas Green is also the editor of the Greenwood Library of World Folktales, which includes a volume dedicated to Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and Oceania. You'll find 165 pages of African folktales here:

These two books edited by Thomas Green provides a kind of crash course in both African and African Diaspora folktales, and both books are just a click away at the Internet Archive.

The Greenwood Library of American Folktales:

The South and the Caribbean

by Thomas Green