Georgia Shouters
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1977.1.3
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963
setName: label: See more items in
content: Melville Herskovits films
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (37 minutes, black-and-white silent; 900 feet)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1930
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Footage depicting a Shouter service typical of the Georgia coast and Sea Islands. Footage was taken around the house and yard of a Shouter leader with dances staged for documentation. The dances and movements are part of the Ring Shout tradition, also known as the Saturday night frolic. The elevated wood floor on which some dances are performed is used instrumentally to carry the sound of the dancers' feet. Scenes include members of the group engaged in "seeking" or "getting saved," a "prayer band" singing and dancing at the threshold of a house, and a harvest dance with women "picking crops" and putting them into their aprons and men "shoveling" or "hoeing." The absence of children in the footage probably reflects the fact that the dancers were recreating movements from an earlier period.

Footage was shot by Ralph Steiner.