Journey to Sapelo Island
Many here in the Golden Isles can trace ancestry back to Bilali, a slave and overseer for Thomas Spalding on Sapelo Island from the Sierra Leone area who was highly valued as a master cultivator of rice. According to scholars who interviewed Bilali, he was born around 1770 to a well-educated African Muslim family, enslaved as a teen and taken to the Caribbean. There, he was purchased by a Dr. Bell, and worked on a slave at his plantation for 10 years, before he was sold to a trader in 1802 and transported to Georgia. In Georgia, he was purchased by Thomas Spalding of Sapelo Island. Bilali spoke Arabic and knew the Qur’an. An Arabic manuscript Bilali had written was discovered upon his death in 1857 and is held at the University of Georgia in the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Cornelia Bailey is a descendant and discusses Bilali in her well-known 2000 book, God, Dr. Buzzard and The Bolito Man.
A member of the last generation of African Americans born and educated on Sapelo Island and a self-proclaimed “Saltwater Geechee,” Cornelia Bailey has been hailed as one of the most vocal defenders and of her barrier island homeland and its cultural heritage. She was born on Sapelo in 1945 and her published memoirs, God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man, has been relied upon heavily for its accounts of history and Geechee heritage and culture on Sapelo Island. In the book, she talks about growing up on Salepo Island in the 1940s-50s, shares childhood stories and family legends passed down through generations, and creates a vivid picture of the African American culture that emerged on the island more than 200 years before. She is considered the “griot,” or tribal historian for the Geechee culture on Sapelo. Living in the Hog Hammock area of the island, Bailey has spent years as a tour guide, public speaker, educator, and writer helping to raise awareness about the threat of industrial development to the community’s cultural heritage and rich history. She received a Governor’s Award in the Humanities for her work in May 2014.
If you’d like to learn more about Sapelo Island and the Geechee culture, this spring is the perfect time. Because of the success of their inaugural series last year, the Coastal Georgia Historical Society is presenting a second annual Journeys program which will again combine an educational program with an expert-led field trip. This year, they plan to launch an exploration of Georgia’s barrier islands and the first stop is Sapelo Island. On Thursday, March 23, Coastal Georgia historian Buddy Sullivan will unveil his new book Sapelo: People and Place on a Georgia Sea Island, scheduled for release from the University of Georgia Press early in March. His lecture will offer fresh insights into the diverse history of Sapelo, particularly regarding the island’s unique African American Geechee culture and legacy. His lecture will include rarely seen historical photographs. Having served as manager of the Sapelo Island Reserve for over 20 years, Buddy’s knowledge of the island is unparalleled. Photographer Ben Galland, whose color images illustrate the book, will also be present and will take part in the book signing that will follow the lecture. The lecture takes place at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center at 6:00 p.m.
When asked about the new Sapelo book, Buddy shares that it’s been by far his most enjoyable project and that it was an incredible learning experience for him. That’s surprising to hear from someone who spent decades working on Sapelo. Sullivan explained, “Sapelo is in my blood, and when I retired after 25 years, I was looking for a research project. This was approaching Sapelo from a different perspective. It is such a unique place because of its relative isolation and relative inaccessibility. The level of cultural preservation is extraordinary.” In learning the history and speaking to people like Cornelia Bailey, looking at the census data, and the agricultural information, Buddy discovered there was no definitive book tying it all together. That became his project for the next three years. He brought his own unique perspective as former xx island manager to the task, took advantage of the opportunity to learn new things, and enjoyed it all immensely. “It was something in there that just had to get out,” he quips.
Buddy will serve as the Historical Society’s expert guide on a field trip to Sapelo Island. Due to the limitation requirements of 34 people per tour, two tour dates are available: April 11 and April 18. The tours will explore Long Tabby and the Thomas Spalding sugar mill, Hog Hammock community, the UGA Marine Institute, the 1820 lighthouse, Nannygoat Beach, and the Howard Coffin/R.J. Reynolds, Jr., Mansion. Lunch will be provided at the beach pavilion on April 11. On April 18, lunch will be provided at the Coffin/Reynolds Mansion. The cost is $75 per person, including round trip motor coach transportation from the A.W. Jones Heritage Center, Sapelo ferry ticket, island bus tour, and lunch. Departure time is 7:00 a.m. and return is at 4:00 p.m. Call 912.634.7090 to register.
Photographer Ben Galland shared with us a “behind-the-scenes” look at the magical world of Sapelo. His stories about the photos are found in the photo descriptions.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
Nanny Goat Beach
An early morning sun on Nanny Goat Beach with a slow shutter creates the tranquil mood that I found myself continually drawn to while on Sapelo.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
First African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff
Slightly off the beaten path is the First African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff. Built in 1900, the church has been “saved” on numerous occasions throughout the years, according to several stories I heard while on Sapelo--from a tornado skipping right over it, yet leaving it unscathed, to timely arrival of desperately needed lumber to make renovations just washing ashore miraculously. It’s a place that exudes a spiritual peace and celebrates a well-deserved seat on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
Sapelo Maritime Forest
The island is a pristine example of a maritime forest habitat. Infrared Film photography has always been a passion of mine and I’ve incorporated several shots from this medium in the book. I feel the contrast it creates adds to the final mood of photograph.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
Sapelo Lighthouse
I left my wife and kids asleep in Hog Hammock and ventured out well past midnight in a beat-up Ford pickup, flashlight duct-taped to the hood because, of course, the headlights didn’t work. It was mid-February and freezing, but clear. I spent an hour or so shooting here working on this image. The Sapelo lighthouse, built in 1820, is the nation’s second oldest brick lighthouse.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
Chocolate Plantation
Chocolate Plantation, on the north end of Sapelo, is quite a compound, once representing a population of approximately 100 people from 18 households. Only the barn remains standing today. I knew that a photo from ground-level wouldn’t capture the magnitude of the layout, so equipped with my drone, I set out to capture one of the only published aerial photographs of Chocolate Plantation.
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Benjamin Galland, h2o creative group
Farmers' Alliance Hall
One of the oldest remaining buildings in Sapelo Island’s Hog Hammock community, the Farmers’ Alliance Hall was built in 1929 with salvaged wood from an old oyster factory. For me, framing the shot with the towering ancient oak in the foreground was instrumental in enhancing the depiction of the heritage and historical value here.
In addition to Buddy and Ben’s upcoming book on Sapelo, we also highly recommend Buddy’s previous works, including Early Days on the Georgia Tidewater: A New Revised Edition. In addition, the collaborations between Ben Galland and Jingle Davis, Island Time: An Illustrated History of St. Simons Island, Georgia, and Island Passages: An Illustrated History of Jekyll Island, Georgia are excellent and visually gripping accounts of St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. For personal narratives from individuals who have lived on St. Simons Island, in Brunswick, and on Sapelo, Steven Doster’s book Voices from St. Simons: Personal Narratives of an Island’s Past, is invaluable. Doster has masterfully captured stories from local residents that bring to life the fluid history of the area, the family connections, the preservation of a special heritage, and the awareness of the changing times. It’s easy to imagine yourself on a front porch with a tall glass of sweet tea listening to the tales of these days gone by. To preserve this rare and precious voice within our community we need to find more of these stories and drink them in. Take the tours. Visit with historians, scholars, musicians, teachers, neighbors. Listen to what they share. Write it down. Share it.
