"Porgy House"

Front inscription

In the 1930s author DuBose Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward, owned a cottage 7 blocks W of this location. During the summer of 1934 American composer and pianist George Gershwin stayed at Folly Beach and collaborated with the Heywards on his folk opera Porgy and Bess (1935), which was based upon DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel Porgy. The house where Gershwin stayed was destroyed by a hurricane, but the Heyward home remains and is known locally as the “Porgy House.”

Reverse inscription

Both Heyward’s novel and Gershwin’s opera were rare for their time as examples of white writers treating African American subjects as complex figures. During his stay in the Lowcountry Gershwin visited Black churches on James Island and incorporated some of what he saw and heard into his musical production. Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway in 1935 and ran for 124 performances. Today, the opera is perhaps best remembered for the song “Summertime.”