Dr. Kendra Hamilton’s Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess is a literary and cultural study of an area known for being a “cradle of Black culture” in the United States.

by Sarah Murphy

Dr. Kendra Hamilton
Associate Professor of English

Dr. Kendra Hamilton, an associate professor of English at Presbyterian College, published a new book in June 2024 titled Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess.

The work of nonfiction examines the literary and cultural history of the Gullah Geechee Coast – also called “the Lowcountry” – the coastal plain and sea islands of from Cape Fear, N.C., to the Saint John’s River in Florida.

“This book is about Gullah Geechee culture, which has been very much romanticized and also very much misrepresented and misunderstood,” said Hamilton.  “The book reveals hidden histories and gives new insights into things people think they may have already known.”

The Gullah Geechee are descendants of the original Africans enslaved in and around Charleston. The conditions of their enslavement created a unique culture that is still visible in the region’s distinctive arts, cuisine, music and language.

For Hamilton, Romancing the Gullah is the culmination of decades of research and writing. A Charleston native, she studied the history of Charleston and the Gullah Geechee Coast as a graduate student, incorporating it in her Ph.D. dissertation in 2010. As a professor at PC, Hamilton teaches Southern and African American literature, frequently weaving South Carolina history and culture into her courses. Yet the jumping off point for the book actually came from a Christmas gift she was given by a friend years ago – a first edition copy of the novel Porgy, a story about a street beggar living in 1920s Charleston.

“I showed the book to my dad, saying, ‘Can you believe this? There’s a book that ‘Porgy and Bess’ is based on,’” says Hamilton, referencing the world-renowned opera by American composer George Gershwin. “My dad said, ‘Oh, sure there was a book. And Porgy was based on a real person, and your grandmother knew him.’ That chance remark led me to an alternative history that was hiding in plain sight. It was just sitting right there.”

Hamilton says the book is geared towards educators, as well as history buffs and people who have an inherent interest in Charleston and its culture.

“I had great fun writing this,” says Hamilton. “But I know that there are parts of it that will be hard to read and to learn from. This is a piece of the historical record that’s been missing.”

Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess is available for purchase through Amazon. To learn more about the English Department at Presbyterian College, visit the program website.