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An Island Named Daufuskie
Book by Burn, Billie
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 23, 2025
I really enjoyed this book and for honesty sake I did a lot of skimming. Tons and tons of research involved which I found so fascinating.
I’ve visited Daufausky and so I knew a bit about it.
The author is so thorough it is fascinating . So much US history that touches this island. Informal language so easy to read all that history!
I’ve visited Daufausky and so I knew a bit about it.
The author is so thorough it is fascinating . So much US history that touches this island. Informal language so easy to read all that history!
June 13, 2007
Read mostly for research on a story. Unexpectedly casual and chatty, a little messy, but charming in its way.
July 7, 2025
Back story of this book first. A couple years ago, I found out my great-grandmother, who I don't remember because she died when I was young, lived on Daufuskie Island, off the coast of Savannah, Ga but part of South Carolina. I was first curious about this island when I learned that the only way to the island is by ferry and that most of the residents are descendants of slaves and have their own language, called Gullah. Throughout history, there have been relatively few Caucasians to inhabit the island and my Great-Grandmother was one. She also spoke Gullah fluently. So I went and visited the island and found this book, a history of Daufuskie Island. I finally got around to reading it and I loved it.
Some of my distant relatives are mentioned in the book and I was able to see some of their graves and former houses when I visited the island, but after reading the book, I want to go back.
The history of the island has ties to everything in history. The first inhabitants were Native Americans. The first white settlers of the island had connections to Aaron Burr, the man who killed Alexander Hamilton, and Johnathan Edwards, the puritan preacher. Some of the settlers were Huguenots who fled persecution in France and even a Protestant that fled Italy and the inquisition.
The book touches on all aspects of life on the island. The histories of the plantations, the churches, the light houses, the schools and professions on the island.
One of my favorite parts was learning about Pat Conroy, the first while male teacher that was hired due to desegregation. There were no white children on the island at the time. Conroy seemed to be a wonderful teacher but was fired. He wrote a book The Water is Wide about his time of Daufuskie which as made into a movie with John Voight entitiled "Conrack" and a TV movie was made in 2006.
Daufuskie played roles in the American Revolution, Civil War, and both World Wars.
To me, especially be cause of the attachment to Daufuskie, the book is just wonderful about a small island that many have never heard of but is so important to so many people.
Some of my distant relatives are mentioned in the book and I was able to see some of their graves and former houses when I visited the island, but after reading the book, I want to go back.
The history of the island has ties to everything in history. The first inhabitants were Native Americans. The first white settlers of the island had connections to Aaron Burr, the man who killed Alexander Hamilton, and Johnathan Edwards, the puritan preacher. Some of the settlers were Huguenots who fled persecution in France and even a Protestant that fled Italy and the inquisition.
The book touches on all aspects of life on the island. The histories of the plantations, the churches, the light houses, the schools and professions on the island.
One of my favorite parts was learning about Pat Conroy, the first while male teacher that was hired due to desegregation. There were no white children on the island at the time. Conroy seemed to be a wonderful teacher but was fired. He wrote a book The Water is Wide about his time of Daufuskie which as made into a movie with John Voight entitiled "Conrack" and a TV movie was made in 2006.
Daufuskie played roles in the American Revolution, Civil War, and both World Wars.
To me, especially be cause of the attachment to Daufuskie, the book is just wonderful about a small island that many have never heard of but is so important to so many people.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews