The challenge

Sapelo Island, seven miles from the mainland, is Georgia's fourth-largest barrier island, and its 63 full-time residents comprise the last community of its kind. The 434-acre Gullah/Geechee village of Hog Hammock, founded in 1834, was one of several African-American settlements established on the island. Evacuated during the Civil War, freed slaves returned to build family homes on Sapelo, where they cultivated a unique culture with strong West African influences and grew to more than 600 in number.

Today, Hog Hammock is threatened by speculative developers, entrenched racism, meager political access and eroding economic opportunities. The majority of the pristine island is held by the state, creating high demand for the remaining private land, which is sought mainly for the development of weekend residences. Nearly 78 percent of the community's residents live in poverty, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Seeds of commitment

Dowse, a Sapelo resident, traces her family's American roots to 1802, when the first slaves were brought to the island to work the land. "My great-grandparents were among those who were relocated to the mainland during the Civil War. They petitioned the U.S. Freedman's Bureau to return to Sapelo with the promise of land ownership through the 'forty acres and a mule' edict," says Dowse. "My grandparents walked more than 50 miles from Savannah to the dock in Meridian, Georgia, to get on a boat back to the island, where they envisioned a life as free people and landowners in the only home they had known." Unfortunately, the promise was not kept, along with the promised land. Nonetheless, her ancestors eventually were able to buy land and develop thriving communities.

She continues to be inspired by her love for her region's history and culture, and by the passion and persistence of her fellow islanders who now work to save Hog Hammock. The deterioration of Gullah/Geechee communities that followed development of coastal areas in Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island, and St. Simon's Island strengthened her determination to help preserve her people's culture.

Accomplishments

In 1993, Hog Hammock residents and descendants who sought control over the island's future formed SICARS. Dowse joined the SICARS leadership in 1997. Since then she has helped develop a far-reaching community land-use plan, as well as a branch library and computer lab. An oral-history project has emerged from a partnership with community colleges in Atlanta and Savannah. Dowse also worked with the community to protect and restore several historic sites, including Raccoon Bluff First African Baptist Church,. The church building had been abandoned for 32 years before SICARS restored it, with help from Savannah College of Arts and Design and the state of Georgia. Dowse also serves on the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority board, a body enacted by the Georgia Legislature in 1983 to recognize and preserve Hog Hammock, its history and culture. Her appointment marked the first time an African American and Hog Hammock community representative had been seated on the board.

Through her work at the state level, Dowse also has created economic opportunities for her neighbors, including potential acquisition of state land for local initiatives. In a fragile community, the SICARS land-use plan will chart the potential creation of a cultural village, artists' retreat and nature center, affordable housing, recreational facilities and nature trails; and ongoing restoration of Farmer's Alliance Hall – a building used by the island's earliest settlers as a brokering agency for farm products produced by African American farmers of Sapelo Island. The building also served as a community center and Masonic Lodge.

Leadership style

At 72, Dowse remains an aggressive coalition-builder – and subtle leader. Her experience as a teacher, school principal and pastor have helped her develop additional leaders in a community long unfamiliar with the tools of community organizing. "They're familiar with them now, oh yes," she says. For example, she organized a series of peer-to-peer visits so that small teams of board members, along with representatives of SICARS and the community, could study other organizations and later share what they had learned. Her other roles, as a member of the community, are essential to her success. They include her service as a Bible-study teacher and as a former interim pastor at one of the two island churches.

Gladys Washington, senior program officer with the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, describes Dowse as a bridge in the community "who doesn't mind getting stepped on sometimes" when she is trying to create or repair relationships. Dowse recommends a large dose of humility. "To be a leader, especially in a community like Sapelo, you've got to understand the spirit of the people," she says. "You cannot force anything. Even though you might have great experience as a leader in other areas, if you do not understand the people, you won't succeed. This dates all the way back to slavery. Black or white, it's a matter of trust." Dowse has also reached beyond the island to members of the Gullah community who have left – maintaining ties, weaving a supportive web.

The future

Dowse's future is inextricably tied to the fate of the island. The SICARS land-use plan, if it succeeds, will go a long way toward preserving this endangered heritage. But land planning alone will not suffice, she says. She plans to keep telling the Gullah/Geechee story, to pass it on to future generations. Ultimately, only the life of the story itself, she says, will ensure that the pain, courage, fortitude, and triumphs of those who lived and died on Sapelo Island will not have been in vain.

More about Carolyn Dowse and Sapelo Island

"Slave shanties once dotted the island, and names like Chocolate, Hanging Bull, and Behavior still evoke traditions preserved in near isolation for decades. Today, the small villages that once thrived here are mostly ruins and memories.... The few who remain stand as an example of a people who once thrived all along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, people who trace their roots all the way back to slaves brought from West Africa to grow rice more than 300 years ago. Known as the Gullahs (or Geechees in some regions), many still speak a mix of English and West African tongues not found elsewhere. 'We've been here nine generations, and we're still here. The community is still intact,' says Carolyn Dowse, executive director of the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society."
— U.S. News & World Report, June 18, 2001