By an act of Congress in 2006, the Gullah-Geechee National Heritage Corridor was created. Running from Pender County, North Carolina, to St. John’s County in Florida, this 12,000-square-mile strip along the Atlantic coast was once the destination of countless West and Central African people enslaved and transported to these shores for the cultivation of rice, indigo and cotton.

In the nearly 400 years since the beginning of their enforced relocation, the African American subgroup known as the Gullah Geechie developed a creole language, both English-based and African in grammar and structure, and preserved many of the traditions of their homeland, particularly regarding craft, cuisine, and music.

To commemorate the resilience of the Gullah Geechee culture and its contributions to our national story, local historian Wayne O’Bryant has created a special exhibition on view at the Center for Aiken Center for African American History, Art, and Culture.

Entitled “African Roots-Gullah Fruit,” this special exhibit showcases the art quilts of Wayne O’Bryant’s mother, Marlena O’Bryant Seabrook. A self-labeled “educator that quilts,” Dr. O’Bryant-Seabrook became the first full-time African American faculty member at the Citadel in 1975 and a nationally recognized fiber artist.

The quilts currently on display focus on key figures of Gullah-Geechee lineage, such as lay preacher Denmark Vesey, abolitionist Harriett Tubman, artisan Philip Simmons, and painter Jonathan Green.

Each quilt serves as the nucleus of an array of contextualizing curatorial materials, including framed photographs and three-dimensional artifacts. The quilt devoted to the decorative ironwork of Philip Simmons, for example, was inspired by drawings that Simmons himself lent to Dr. O’Bryant-Seabrook. Her son Wayne has placed on a plinth next to the quilt a small-scale sculpture by Simmons, a piece replicating in miniature one of the elaborately decorated gates that brought him international fame. Also adjacent to the quilt is a framed text describing how this very quilt was draped over his casket during the 2009 funeral service held for Simmons at the Gaillard Center.

Here is yet another example of how each quilt is placed in a larger context. The quilt focused on “Porgy and Bess” includes a sketch of the setting of both Dubose Heyward’s 1925 novel and the subsequent 1935 Gershwin opera along with reproductions of printed program covers from three Charleston productions. Next to this piece of fiber art is a photo of Wayne O’Bryant himself at the grave of Samuel Smalls, who is said to have inspired the character of Porgy. According to one version of this story, Heyward read in the local paper about a physically challenged gambler and ladies’ man who was twice arrested for trying to shoot a woman; that man was identified as Smalls, who died in 1924 and is buried on James Island.

In short, Wayne O’Bryant has cleverly contextualized the artistry of his late mother and, in so doing, also provided visitors with a rich resource for better understanding the abiding contributions of a unique ethnic group to the fabric of our country.