South Carolina H 5044: National Heritage Fellow Janie Bligen Hunter Intersection

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5044 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 31, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5044

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Recalled

March 31, 2026

H. 5044

Introduced 
by Reps. Wetmore, Stavrinakis and Teeple 

S. Printed 3/31/26--S.

Read the first time February 12, 2026

________

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 Fello