"Gullah: The Voice of an Island," a CD and digital publication featuring Gullah spirituals produced by The Athenaeum Press of Coastal Carolina University, will be released and celebrated Friday, July 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Bethesda Christian Fellowship on St. Helena Island, S.C. The multimedia, multidimensional project is a collaboration involving students, CCU faculty and the residents of St. Helena Island.

The July 11 celebration will feature demonstrations and will celebrate the four island soloists: Minnie Gracie Gadson, James Garfield Smalls, Rosa Murray and Joseph Murray, who keep alive the Gullah spirituals, some of which date back more than100 years. Other contributors to the project will be honored as well, including the Penn Center, Pastor Kenneth Doe and many other island residents who participated in the project.

The Athenaeum Press, created in 2013, is a student-centered university publishing lab. CCU students from the departments of history, music, digital media, English, photography and design worked on the project in collaboration with faculty from CCU and Norfolk State University. Using the university's state-of-the-art recording equipment, students assisted in recording the singers in their Saint Helena Island homes, then they edited and mastered those recordings in the campus studio at CCU. At the celebration, students will also give interactive demonstrations on the equipment and the process of producing the project.

The project of preserving the Gullah music and heritage for future generations will continue in other areas of South Carolina, including Horry and Georgetown counties, as stories of the Gullah community are documented throughout the Lowcountry. The Athenaeum Press is taking the 2014-2015 academic year to build partnerships throughout the state and region.

To order a copy of the CD, visit theathenaeumpress.com/order, or order from Amazon.com, or visit the Penn Center's York Museum gift shop. The digital publication is free with the CD purchase.

The July 11 launch/celebration is free and open to the public, but those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to 843-349-5099 or athenaeumpress@coastal.edu by July 8.