Tanya Jones

Tanya Jones has spent over two decades doing the quiet, essential work of finding people, tracing families, recovering land records, and making sure the stories of Gullah Geechee communities don’t get lost to time.

As the Founding Executive Director of Our Mahogany Heritage Institute, she works at the crossroads of history and community, digging through probate records, old plats, and labor documents to piece together what really happened to Black families in the Williamsburg County region and beyond. Her research has been recognized by the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and honored with the Margaret Watson Award.

Tanya serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Igbo Studies at Dominican University, collaborates with East Carolina University, and is a proud member of ASALH. The Institute operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Chicago Defender Charities, Inc. She is also currently pursuing her MBA because preserving history takes both heart and infrastructure.

Her recent publication, Gullah Geechee Heritage: A Documented Word Search, brings this history to everyday people, a hands-on resource designed to keep Gullah Geechee language and culture alive for the next generation.

“The Institute serves as a bridge between land, record, and memory, ensuring that historically dispersed narratives are preserved with accuracy, dignity, and institutional permanence.”