LIFESTYLE
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 - MARCH 1, 2023 • PAGE 14
South Carolina’s Lowcountry rich with history and culture
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Chef Benjamin Dennis prepares a rice dish while farmer Marion Chalmers talks about heritage grains
at the Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
Tour guide Eveline Stevenson explains this private
residence once was Coffin Point Plantation.
Photos by Gale Horton Gay
An “avenue of the oaks” leads to a plantation
house in the Frogmore area of St. Helena’s Island,
South Carolina.
BY GALE HORTON GAY
FREELANCE REPORTER
Brick Baptist Church and
Penn Center, both in St. Helena,
South Carolina, are two signifi
cant hallmarks of African-Amer
ican history with which many
people are unfamiliar.
Built by enslaved people in
1855, Brick Baptist Church is
the oldest church on St. Helena
Island. Initially it was a place of
worship for White plantation
owners with their "higher-rank
ing" slaves allowed to worship
in the balcony, according to a
Kelly tour guide Eveline Steven
son. In time, the church was
turned over to 8,000 former
slaves after plantation owners
fled the area.
The Penn School was
opened in the church with 132
students as one of the first
schools for freed slaves. During
the Civil Rights Movement, it
served as the only location in
South Carolina where interracial
groups such as the Southern
Christian Leadership Confer
ence and the Peace Corps as
well as Martin Luther King Jr.
could have sanctuary in an era
of mandated segregation. King
once walked the grounds there
and delivered an early version
of his "I Have a Dream" speech
at the church.
Today, the two entities at
tract visitors seeking to learn
about African-American history
and Gullah culture in South
Carolina.
During a three-hour Gul-
lah-Geechee bus tour in early
February that began in Beau
fort, South Carolina, and in
cluded Ladys Island and Saint
Helena Island, Stevenson shared
highlights of Gullah history
such as how 10,000 Africans
from Angola and Congo were
kidnapped and brought to Saint
Helena to work the rice, indigo
and cotton fields. Families of
former enslaved people still
inhabit the area, 6,000 of which
are descendants of those for
mer slaves.
She explained the difference
between Gullah and Geechee
people is where those kid
napped landed in the U.S. Those
who were off-loaded on South
Carolina islands became known
as Gullah, and those taken off
ships on Georgia islands became
known as Geechee, she said.
Stevenson took visitors to
one of the last remaining praise
houses on the island where
"low-ranking slaves" were
allowed to worship. The tiny
white house remains an active
part of the community with
services and meetings still held
there.
Recently in a Penn Center
dining hall, Marion "Rollen"
Chalmers was preaching the
gospel of rice.
The farmer who grows "her
itage grains" such as Carolina
gold rice and Charleston gold
rice, touts the health and taste
advantages of his grains com
pared to most of the traditional
rice found in grocery stores.
Chalmers says these grains
are not bleached and striped
of their nutritional value as are
many commercially produced
grains. They are also cold milled,
which also does not rob the
grain of its germ.
Chalmers was part of a Black
History Month program Feb.
4 and was joined by chef Ben
jamin "BJ" Dennis to educate
an audience about the differ
ences between commercially
mass-produced grains and her
itage grains such as Sea Island
yellow flint grits and Sea Island
red rice and grocery store white
and brown rice and grits.
Heritage grains are healthier,
according to Chalmers, as they
are cultivated without the use
of pesticides, herbicides, and
chemicals. He said his rice re
quires refrigeration or freezing
to maintain freshness. They also
have a distinct aroma and taste
and are often featured in high-
end restaurants. These days
vegetables are bred for shelf life
and durability at the expense of
healthiness and flavor, Chalmers
said.
Dennis, who used one of the
heritage grains in a rice dish he
demonstrated before the audi
ence, added that enslaved peo
ple in America were often given
"broken rice" as a less quality
starch but if cooked properly
it can be more appealing than
longer grain rice. He noted that
many fine restaurants use bro
ken rice as grits and risotto.
A native of Charleston, Den
nis, a personal chef and caterer
who has spent time in Africa,
infuses the flavors and culture
of South Carolina's Lowcountry
into his Gullah Geechee cuisine.
For more information on the
Penn Center, go to penncenter.
com and for details about the
Gullah Geechee tour, go to kel-
lytoursbeaufort.com.
Go to visitbeaufortsc.org for
general travel information for
the area.
