Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots

It began with a name. Sancho. Gleaned from the memory of his oldest living relative, that name set author Keith Rushing on a quest to recover his family's story.

Rushing came to learn that Sancho was an African name, a common practice among the Gullah—Geechee communities of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands. He found that Sancho had been born into slavery on Hilton Head Island and...