Documenting the culture of slave descendants

Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe/National Museum of African American History and Culture

Since the end of the Civil War, freed slaves and their descendants have inhabited Daufuskie Island, off the South Carolina coast. Known as the Gullah people, their rich culture, deeply influenced by their African heritage, remained largely isolated until the 1970s.

Photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe documented the people and culture of Daufuskie from 1977 to 1981, during a period when fewer than 84 permanent residents lived on the island.

This week, Bank of America announced the donation of 61 of these photographs to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is scheduled for completion in 2015.

In this image, Miss Bertha, 1977

Daufuskie Island

Union Baptist Church, 1979

The island has no bridge to the mainland, and it had no electricity or telephone service until the 1950s. At the time of the photography project, Daufuskie's residents supported themselves by catching oysters and growing cotton. The island had a co-op store, a two-room schoolhouse and a church

Daufuskie Island

Girl in Screen Door, 1977

Photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe said she observed a pure and simple life on Daufuskie Island. At first, she didn't pick up her camera because she wanted to get to know the people, and she developed a strong connection with them at a time before new development began to creep in.

It was an honor, she said, to give these direct descendants of slaves a place in an African-American museum.

"To give this just incredible, warm, giving, nurturing community of people recognition that they were able to thrive as long as they did, that to me is a testament to them and to our culture," Moutoussamy-Ashe said.