Preserving the history and culture of Daufuskie Island
The Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation was founded in 2000 with a mission to preserve the cultural
heritage of Daufuskie Island through the acquisition, restoration and maintenance of historical structures,
documents, and artifacts. Since that time, the Foundation has established and maintained historical
buildings, an historical trail with a printed guide, a community library, archives of island documents and
photos and many other preservation projects. Golf cart tours of prominent historical sites on the island are
offered several times a year. Field trips to Lowcountry locations are offered by the Foundation each Fall and
Spring. These trips expand our members appreciation of our island’s unique history.
The Foundation and its wonderful Volunteers served close to 75,000 visitors last year. There is no charge
to visit any of the historic buildings or use the Rob Kennedy Trail. We distribute over 20,000 brochures through various island outlets, again at no charge. This year National Geographic stated in one of their publications that if you want to see some of the best natural beauty in the Southeast, you should travel by ferry to Daufuskie Island, SC and take the Rob Kennedy Trail on a bike or golf cart. The Foundation was very proud of that accolade.
The Daufuskie Island History Museum, originally the Mount Carmel Baptist Church No. 2, was moved and rebuilt in 1940, serving as a church, school and gathering hall until a private owner purchased the building. In 1999, the owner planned to sell the building to a real estate developer for an office. This did not settle well with the 60 or so local residents of the island, and within the 60 days required, the necessary sum of the purchase was collected, and the Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation was established! Then came the task of writing grants (a new task for all of us) and raising the money to go with the “sweat” labor that it took to make the Museum what it is today. We all uncovered talents that we never knew we had.
It soon became obvious to the Board of the Historical Foundation and island residents that we needed more space. We visited the Beaufort County Board of Education to ask if we could lease the Janie Hamilton School, which we are still doing. For $1.00/year, it is quite a bargain, especially since no one has come to collect the fee! The “Janie” is a replicated Rosenwald School. Mr. Rosenwald, who was Chairman of Sears Roebuck, donated 5,000 of these school “kits” to over 5,000 neighborhoods who could not afford to build schools on their own. The school was built by the WPA and local Daufuskie carpenters. Unfortunately, not many of the Rosenwald Schools are left standing. Through more fundraising, we managed to gather enough funds to make the school The Gullah Learning Center, including the Community Library.
The next project, one that is still a work in progress, was to create Daufuskie Island Archives with a goal of making historical information available to the public electronically. For this project, we again approached the Beaufort County Board of Education, to lease the Daufuskie School for our Archive project. The Daufuskie School, sometimes called the Little White School was a school that was built over 100 years ago for the few white students on the island at the time. They agreed and once again we are still waiting for a bill! Recently, the new Daufuskie Middle School used the building for classes until their final location is finalized.
The brochures and the signage of the Rob Kennedy Trail have been updated this year (abbreviated version on following pages). The Foundation is very lucky to have loyal Board members who can do remarkable things regardless of moving along in ‘ life experiences.” We have new locations and signage. The trail has 20 marked locations across the whole of the island. Each marker corresponds to the brief summaries on the Trail Guide and may also have additional information on the onsite panels. We also have an upgraded Gullah History Brochure, a Daufuskie Teachers Guide, and a Timeline. Again, all of these brochures are complementary to our guests.
Our final project has been the never-ending project of the Brothers and Sisters Oyster Hall. As soon as we started that project in the Spring of 2021, with a wonderful grant from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry and member donations, Covid hit and we discontinued the project. We started up several times, and once again closed down due to supply chain issues, followed by a terrible labor shortage! Once again, we stopped progress and continually answered questions from members as to when the Oyster Hall would be opening. We finally were able to move forward and last Fall, we managed to have a fun-filled Oyster Roast at the Oyster Hall, with four members of the Board of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry as our guests of honor. It was a very heartwarming evening, especially for oyster aficionados! Hopefully, in 2024, we will have a loyal volunteer in the Oyster Hall.
Our most recent project for 2023 is the production of a movie on the history of Daufuskie Island. After many months of research and weather challenges, this production is complete and soon to be on display at the Museum. We also plan to make copies of the movie, for purchase in the Museum. This movie is extremely well done and we are excited to present it to our visitors.
Now on to the future. After over 20 years, we have decided that the Museum and the Janie Hamilton School need the proverbial facelift. We are going electronic and will have computers on stands where visitors can watch displays and information on the culture of the island. Display cases will be upgraded and displays will be refreshed. The Foundation is very proud to be an ALL VOLUNTEER organization, with over 45 volunteers, including 15 loyal souls who comprise our Board of Trustees.
- Nancy Ludtke
