Just off the coast of South Carolina is St. Helena Island, a 64-square-mile stretch of sandy causeway surrounded by mossy oaks and marshes. Black farmers have spent decades tending the land on this island; The Gullah who live here are descendants of formerly enslaved people from West and Central Africa who worked in the region’s rice and indigo plantations. But development restrictions threaten to undermine the island’s identity as an agricultural-minded working-class community.
The last few decades have brought changes to the Gullah-Geechee communities the netherlands, as ancestral lands and farms were turned into private, gated communities, golf courses as playgrounds for the rich, with high taxes. But farming is still a large part of St Helena’s industry, both large farms and family operations, e.g Marshview Community Organic FarmStill in operation.
In many cases, land has been passed down through the generations, including the acreage owned by Tony and Belinda Jones. Morning Glory Homestead the farm It is one of a handful on an island that was once full of black-owned farms.
A shared journey in agriculture
Both of Gullah descent, Tony and Belinda met while attending South Carolina State University. They reunite at a friend’s wedding after Tony joins the military.
“We got engaged in 1985. We got married in April. It was the Anthony and Belinda show,” she says. “Since then, I’ve been on the road. We’ve been from one duty station to another and we have five children.”
Tony’s job brought them to bases around the world, including Germany and Belgium. Belinda noticed that everywhere they stayed, there was some form of farming going on, whether it was small herb gardens or raised beds. He created his own garden to teach their children farming.
“We find it very interesting that both [Tony and I] Growing up with similar experiences in that our family had gardens and her grandparents had chickens and the occasional pig and so did I,” she says. “I grew up helping my grandparents after school, when I was in first through eighth grade, feeding their chickens, planting in their garden, picking and harvesting fruit from their fruit nut trees. They had pecans, black walnut trees, pomegranates, big trees, hardy pears.”
The family returned to the United States when Tony’s father’s health deteriorated. The Joneses began looking for land after his retirement, but a plot on St. Helena Island kept coming up.
The 12-acre parcel was originally purchased by a formerly enslaved man in 1868 and has been passed down through Tony’s family members for generations. “His father bought it from another family member in 1968 when that person no longer wanted to be responsible for the upkeep of the property and the taxes and everything,” Belinda says. “But they wanted to make sure it stayed in the family.” It had been rented out to other farmers for years but hadn’t been actively used for some time, instead doubling as a community softball field for beach sliders.
“We know it’s been in his family for a long time,” said Belinda “I guess it was like a family investment, like, ‘Here’s something for you to consider and for your future,’ which was a great thought.”
family relationship
Tony planned his retirement from the army in 2002 and his parents gifted him the family land. Unlike many farms on the island, Morning Glory is owned individually by the Joneses, “not a hereditary estate”, a term applied to land shared by the heirs of the original owner, usually within the Gullah community and often not. There are documents like wills and titles.
The Jones family clears the land and a house is built on it by Tony’s uncle. They started a small garden for the children, who were involved in the 4H program, following the precision taught to Belinda by her grandfather, a brick mason.
The farm started with chickens, selling eggs at the local farmers market. The operation has since expanded to include lettuce, okra and collards, plus pigs, goats, turkeys and ducks. The Jones farm follows traditional Gullah agricultural traditions with long growing seasons on the island, including permaculture. crop rotation and minimum cultivation. (Although the Joneses did not have cows, the Gullah-Geechee are considered the originators of free-ranging cattle, which adapted to the landscape in a European manner.)
“At first, we were doing it to feed the kids, everybody, and to teach them some great skills that they could always use if they were inclined to do it later,” Belinda says. “They’re all grown up now, but every once in a while they’ll put a seed or two in the ground or in a pot or something. And when they come back, well, they’re always interested in what we’re doing.”
And it’s not just Jones’ children who connect with the farm. Morning Glory Homestead offers tours for school groups that bring students up close to the farm’s plants and animals. Family camps allow weekend visitors to stay on the island and learn about notable black agriculturists such as George Washington Carver.
No gate, no golf
The loss of black land is sadly nothing new, especially in the Gullah-Gichi community. Hilton Head Island serves as a cautionary tale: formerly home to a large Golla population, it’s now a mostly white resort town.. Coastal Georgia officials have voted in favor of rezoning to allow for increased home sizes on Sapelo Islandthat of the inhabitants Hog Hamk Community fear will attract the rich and drive them out. And on neighboring Bay Point Island, a 2020 plan An eco-resort proposed in the unspoiled acreage, which was recently denied. It would cover an area called Land’s End, surrounded by small farms, which was the site of a Civil War fort that is an important part of local history because it was well before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, where slaves were freed..
“There was a battle called the Battle of Port Royal, in which the Union navy came forward and attacked both of the forts facing it and won. The Confederates left, and the blacks called it ‘the day of the big guns’. Newspaper military jargon called it the ‘Great Scadaddle’. So, all the plantation owners left because they were now occupied by the union,” says Belinda.
Attention now turns to St. Helena, where signs around town say “No Gates, No Golf” in response to plans for a 500-acre resort. Farms are being lost to outside developers and are suffering economicallyEspecially because of the property of these heirs.
A sign protesting the development in St. Helena. (Photo: Caroline Eubanks)
“The battle is still going on. There are already five golf courses within the St. Helena zip code, and two of them are directly in St. Helena; Two are at Fripp [Island]”Belinda said. “Then, within Beaufort County, there are over 30 golf courses. So, why do we need another one?”
Family farms like Morning Glory are an important way to preserve the Gullah culture of St. Helena Island. Group eg Pan-African Family Empowerment and Land Conservation NetworkThe Heirs Property Preservation Centre and Penn Center Land use and environmental education The program is providing residents with much-needed support such as business workshops and legal services.
For Belinda and Tony Jones, it’s not just about land ownership. They see themselves as stewards of this piece of St. Helena and want it to continue as it is for generations to come.
“Don’t just kill the land so people can play on the back nine,” says Belinda.
