FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL and FOLK POTTERY SHOW
2010 REVIEW

Two of SNCA’s newest events were combined on Saturday, August 7, 2010 for an unforgettable look at living in the valleys 150 years ago. 2009's successful Folk Pottery Show returned to the historic Nacoochee Gym with featured potters selling wares linked to the utilitarian vessels of the past. Meanwhile, dozens of revived folk crafts, from wood to metal and fiber, were demonstrated in and around the Nacoochee Slave Cabin. With a luncheon meal based on traditional valley favorites, the Festival was an experience not to be missed.

Local musicians provided entertainment on the Center’s grounds during the festival, which ran from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Visitors returned for an evening of old-time music with Curley Maple, in concert in the Center Theatre.

Local woodworker and raconteur Bob Slack entertained visitors to the Nacoochee Valley Slave Cabin during the North Georgia Arts Tour on Saturday. Bob demonstrated woodworking techniques used by yeoman farmers and slaves alike to produce furniture, basket splits and shingles in the nineteenth century.

New Arie Meaders Exhibit Female Folk Potter and trendsetting artist Arie Meaders was featured in the Folk Pottery Museum’s changing exhibit for September 2010 and will continue through August 2011. The exhibit draws from a generous loan of more than 30 pieces of Arie’s work by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Coston of Statesboro, Georgia.

FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 2009 REVIEW

To celebrate the completion of phase one work on the Nacoochee Valley slave cabin SNCA hosted an open house and Folklife Festival on Saturday, October 17, 2009. Visitors toured the cabin and saw first hand the work that the restoration craftsmen had completed. Folk crafts from the 19th century were demonstrated, and a silent auction allowed visitors to bid on examples of fine traditional workmanship.

Living History demonstrations of traditional folk life skills: basket making, pinning, corn shelling, blacksmithing, woodworking, butter churning & much more; a raffle for craft items; traditional music with old time tunes; and for a nominal fee traditional food cooked over an open fire was served. Plans are to make Folkklife Festival an Annual Valley Event!

Preserving African American History in Nacoochee Valley

Andy L. Allen, Lester Richardson, Leona Dorsey, and other Bean Creek and Valley residents are working with SNCA representatives to establish the African American Heritage Site. Dedicated volunteers are working closely with professional consultants, and significant donors, some of whom wish to remain anonymous, are providing the “where-with-all.”

Roberta Crittenden grasped the unique potential of the African American Heritage Site from its inception and provided seed money for the project and funds for moving the cabin. Roberta’s commitment to crossing the racial divide dates to 1967, when she broke social norms and color barriers in Milledgeville, volunteering to teach at Carver, a black-segregated elementary school. Her investment in preserving the history and heritage of the Bean Creek Community is clearly consistent with the mission of the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, which was founded by her husband Bill Crittenden and other visionaries more than twenty five years ago.

Gregory New supports the promise of preserving and sharing this important aspect of Valley history which was inspired by the Johnston’s gift of the slave cabin. His mother Teresa “Kel” New was a driving force and founding member of the SNCA History Museum. Gregory appreciates the emphasis placed on paying scrupulous attention to authenticity, and he applauds the involvement of professional consultants in the project. In addition to promoting an understanding of the legacy of slavery in the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys, Gregory envisions opportunities to illustrate the skills and technologies used by all Valley residents in this 19th Century frontier community.

Although the central theme at the African American Heritage Site is the untold story of slavery in Nacoochee Valley, common bonds and threads run through the lives of black and white Valley families. Similar tools and utensils, crafts and skills, agricultural and industrial technology, and animal husbandry techniques were common to all, regardless of class or race, during the mid-1800s. Elizabeth Etheridge recalls the rhythmic tap and ping of metal hammers heard at many blacksmith shops in the area. The tools and bellows from the blacksmith shop on her family’s farm were donated to the SNCA History Museum.

Butter churning was one of Gregory’s chores as a kid, “and remained so until I figured out that shaking the cream-enriched clabber in a two quart Mason jar was vastly more efficient than churning.” According to Gregory, “The slave owners (and whites generally) had much the best of it, but we cannot assume the touring student will know that they did not have the remotest access to the cornucopia of goods that have evolved to replace the primitive technology characteristic of the period when slavery prevailed.”

Andy Allen, whose great-grandmother Mary Ann was a slave, is deeply committed and involved in all aspects of this ambitious project. She chaired the SNCA Heritage Team and is determined to see the African American Heritage Site successfully established and sustained for subsequent generations of visitors and school children. Inspired by Gregory’s endowment of the SNCA History Museum and encouraged by Roberta’s generosity, Andy and other members of the Bean Creek Alliance decided to establish an endowment for the Heritage Preserve at the North Georgia Community Foundation. Gregory heartily endorsed the fledgling organization’s move and matched the gift. This investment is significant for the African American Heritage Site and a substantial and symbolic commitment by the Bean Creek participants. Legacy gifts will help the endowment grow and support the African American Heritage Site.

Hands on History at the Heritage Site

Walter Daves and Chris Brooks performed traditional music for students at the African American Heritage Site. Chris, Director of the Folk Pottery Museum and interpreter of folk life skills (on banjo) told the students about the history of musical instruments in African and slave culture. Walter Daves (on fiddle), a talented member of several local musical groups, plays for Contra Dances at the old Nacoochee Gym and serves on the SNCA Board of Directors.

Bean Creek resident and White County School bus driver Andy Allen watched as Barry Stiles demonstrated the skill of blacksmithing on a portable forge for Nara Allen’s class of fifth graders at the Heritage Site. The craftsman and the students made metal hooks, both decorative and utilitarian.

Nara Allen used traditional methods, technology, and experiential education to teach twenty two students about slavery in American history. Nara holds butter churned by students. SNCA volunteer Lark Hutto encouraged each student to take a turn with the wooden dasher.

Sautee Valley resident, craftsman and interpreter Bob Slack demonstrated the craft of basket making with white oak splits. Students learned about the froe, the maul, and various other tools as they watched Bob weave the bottom and sides of a split oak basket like those used by the slaves and early settlers.

During their first visit, students took turns on a two-man cross cut saw, watched shingles being made, and learned about the lives and skills of slaves in NEGA.

Heritage Site & Cabin Restoration

Stone mason David Vandiver built piers to support the cabin using rocks from the original site. Before he reassembles the chimney and hearth, Vandiver will construct a portion of the “emancipation wall” along an embankment that leads to the cabin and other exterior exhibits. Barry Stiles used white oak logs and traditional tools to replace rotted sills with hand-hewn timbers. The broad axe he used was made in 1860. As funds are available, the careful and costly restoration of the Slave Cabin (c. 1850) will continue with scrupulous attention to detail and authenticity. Once the Slave Cabin is restored and major supporting exhibits are in place, the Heritage Site will become accessible to Valley residents, visitors and school groups.

Slave Cabin moved to Heritage Site

Most of you are aware of SNCA's plans for a Heritage Site to commemorate African-Americans who labored as slaves in the Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys.  The focal point of the Site will be the rustic slave cabin that was given to us by Jim and Courtney Johnston. The cabin was moved several hundred yards from the Johnston's property down Highway 17 to the Heritage Site, located on a scenic bluff overlooking the Nacoochee Valley.

Slave Cabin is ready to leave for it's new site.	Power lines on Hwy 17 need to be lifted for the Slave Cabin to pass under.
Backing the Slave Cabin down into the Heritage Site.	The Slave Cabin is safely in place at it's new permanent home.
David Looper only needed a few minutes on November 2 to move the Slave Cabin a few hundred yards to its new site overlooking Nacoochee Valley, just west of the Sautee Creek Bridge. After the cabin was safely resting on its new foundation, Bean Creek History Project Coordinator Caroline Crittenden told enthusiastic spectators, “It only took three years and 15 minutes,” while SNCA member Barbara Williams correctly noted, “This is just the beginning, not the end.”
Craftsman Barry Stiles is using traditional methods and materials in replacing rotten wood in the cabin. Making a hand hewn beam with a broad axe dupli-cates the texture of the original timber and provides an appreciation of the labor, skills, and tools of the mid 19th century. Hand split white oak shingles will replace the tin roof before rock mason David Vandiver reassembles the stone chimney and fire-place. While the cabin restoration is underway, tours of the Heritage Site will be by appointment only.

The photos above document the move. The relocation of the cabin to its new home is a landmark event in the development of the Heritage Site and represents a tremendous amount of work that has been done to get to this point by Caroline Crittenden, Barry Stiles, and the supporters and volunteers of the Bean Creek History Project. Due to safety concerns as work continues on restoring the cabin and preparing the Heritage Site, visitors will be allowed by appointment only.