Folklorist John A. Lomax was a well-known documentarian of traditional songs and stories working on behalf of the Library of Congress’ Archive of American Folk Song. In 1936, he was introduced to Genevieve Chandler, who arranged for him to record the Gullah Geechee informants with whom she interviewed on behalf of the Federal Works Progress. Genevieve Chandler is a Murrell’s Inlet resident that freelanced for publications such as Scribner’s Magazine, Mademoiselle, and the Southerwestern Review. The cultural foundation of the Gullah Geechee depended on Chandler’s ability to draw in white audiences with the dramatic illustrations of the lives of the Gullah Geechee people and their West African origins.