Buddy Sullivan - History of Butler Island and Life of Frances Anne Kemble

Buddy Sullivan, the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s Consulting Historian, will deliver the first lecture in the Coastal Georgia Historical Society's 2025 Brunswick Lecture Series "Brunswick and Beyond" on October 7. His program will focus on the history of Butler Island and the life of Frances Anne Kemble, a 19^th century Englishwoman who wrote and published a journal that influenced attitudes on slavery in both Britain and the United States. Kemble recorded her observations during the months spent on her husband Pierce M. Butler’s Altamaha River and St. Simons Island plantations in 1838 and 1839. Sullivan’s lecture will review the five generations of the Butler family that owned Butler Island and Hampton Plantation, with a particular focus on Kemble, her marriage to Pierce Butler, and their descendants.

The cost for the series is $40, and registration is required. Individual program tickets are available for purchase at $20 per lecture. To register, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org. A map of the College of Coastal Georgia Campus and directions to the Stembler Theatre are available on the registration page.