Black Southern Folklore: Storytelling with Dr. Nancy Tolson

Join SC Humanities Speaker, Dr. Nancy Tolson, as she explores and celebrates the art of storytelling through the tales founded in the southern states of the U.S. with specific origins from South Carolina.

This presentation will focus upon the tales of Southern Black folklife that are now a part of the tapestry of America. Tales that were handed down through the art of storytelling will highlight Black humor and sensibility. Stories will flow that have origins in West Africa that landed in the memories of the enslaved on southern plantations and have evolved to the present day; from origins to credited contemporary folktales that have B/black roots that reside in the South.

Light refreshments will be served.

Nancy D. Tolson is the assistant director of the African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. She received a MA and PhD from the University of Iowa, researching the history and development of Black children’s literature and Black folklore. Tolson has been a Ford Fellow, NEH facilitator, Fulbright scholar/lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (Ghana), and an Illinois Humanities’ “Road Scholar”. She has been a storyteller for as long as she has been able to talk and is proudly a storyteller at the Augusta Baker’s Dozen Storytelling Festival (Columbia, SC) since 2015. She is a commissioner for the Columbia Museum of Art, as well as an active docent.

This program is supported by South Carolina Humanities, a not-for-profit organization; inspiring, engaging and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture and heritage. SC Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

The mission of South Carolina Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. This not-for-profit organization presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors.  It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state.