A concurrent RESOLUTION

 

To request the Department of Transportation name the intersection of River Road and Maybank Highway on Johns Island in Charleston County "Janie Bligen Hunter '1984 National Heritage Fellow' Intersection" and erect appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

 

Whereas, Janie Bligen Hunter was a nationally recognized American singer and storyteller who worked to preserve the Gullah culture and folkways in South Carolina's Charleston and Lowcountry area. Born June 7, 1918, on River Road on Johns Island, she was a daughter of Joe Bligen, a fisherman and a farmer. She earned less than forty cents a day for her labor as a cotton picker when she was young; and

 

Whereas, Mrs. Hunter came from a large family of singers and storytellers, and she was able to trace the lineage of these stories to those handed down from her great-grandparents, who were enslaved on the Sea Islands. She carried in her memory a collection of animal stories, many interwoven with songs. She and her brother, Benjamin, were among the last native speakers of the Gullah language. She framed the use of the Gullah language among enslaved people as a form of resistance to oppression, a creation of private linguistic space that could not be understood by the white slaveowners; and

 

Whereas, Mrs. Hunter's stories were used as entertainment as well as a teaching tool for adults and children, but also showed uses of wit and logic. Her stories often featured animals as characters such as "Fox and Rabbit" or "Partridge and Rabbit." Renown as a singer and storyteller, she also was a quilter, notable for a color tonality and design arrangement characteristic of the Sea Islands and reminiscent of West Africa; and

 

Whereas, for thirty years Mrs. Hunter toured as a song leader with the Moving Star Hall Singers beginning in 1964 with a performance at the Newport Folk Festival. She made recordings for three Smithsonian Folkways albums with the group. They include Sea Island Folk Festival: Moving Star Hall Singers and Alan Lomax; Been in the Storm So Long: Spirituals and Shouts, Children's Game Songs, and Folktale; and Johns Island, South Carolina: It's People and Songs. Her storytelling has been published in the Carawans' Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life and Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African-American Storytelling; and

 

Whereas, Mrs. Hunter was well regarded by academics and folklorists for her wide knowledge of Gullah customs and traditions and was a frequent source in their research and preservation work. She was featured in the 1991 Alan Lomax documentary Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old, which focused on her singing, storytelling, and efforts to pass on folk traditions to the younger generations. She was also featured in John Cohen's 1975 documentary Musical Holdouts, performing the song Sweet By and By; and

 

Whereas, Mrs. Hunter was recognized as a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 1984 for her singing. The fellowship cited her knowledge and teaching of storytelling, game songs, and folk medicine, as well as her skill in quilting and crafting brooms and rag dolls. A large group of family members accompanied her to the National Heritage ceremony in Washington, D.C., and she performed a ring shout as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. She also received honors from the Smithsonian Institution and the National Association of Black Storytellers. She was a winner of the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award; and

 

Whereas, she married Willie Hunter and was the mother of fourteen children. A member of Wesley Methodist Church, she was known for singing at Moving Star Hall, a local praise house that was of special importance to her as a singer. Janie Bligen Hunter passed away on June 14, 1997, on Johns Island; and

 

Whereas, leaving behind a legacy rich in the heritage of the Gullah Geechee culture for generations to learn from, it is only fitting and proper the Palmetto State honor Janie Bligen Hunter for her significant contributions by naming an intersection on her beloved Johns Island in her memory. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

 

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, request the Department of Transportation name the intersection of River Road and Maybank Highway on Johns Island in Charleston County "Janie Bligen Hunter '1984 National Heritage Fellow Intersection'" and erect appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.

----XX---