Synopsis
Ossabaw Island has meant many things to many people. For its earliest residents, Ossabaw was a bountiful place to live and gather yaupon holly.For relative latecomers it has been a source of live oak lumber, a series of brutal slave plantations, a winter retreat for northern industrialists, a cattle ranch, an artists’ retreat, and Georgia’s first Heritage Preserve. Despite the long history of a give-and-take relationship between humans and nature, Ossabaw now exudes a strong sense of untamed wildness that is part of its appeal to artists, scientists, and nature lovers alike.
This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining photography and public history to delve into the island’s layered human and natural past andpresent. First and foremost, it is a photography book that exhibits a selection of Jill Stuckey’s work on the island, including the diverse ecological landscapes and the built human environment. Complementing Jill’s photographs are vignettes that share insights about the life and work of Roger Parker―Ossabaw’s “Saltwater Cowboy”―who worked on the island for more than half a century, and those close to him. Likewise, short chapters accompany the photographs and discuss elements of Ossabaw’s environmental history as well as its historic and modern multisensory landscape. In this way, Jill’s photographs are the eyes of the book, the text, when appropriate, brings to life the sounds, smells, tastes, and touches that all contribute individually and collectively to the island’s power of place. It is this interdisciplinary approach that makes this book experimental and unique.
About the Author
Evan A. Kutzler is an assistant professor of History at Georgia Southwestern State University where he teaches U.S. and Public History. Hereceived a BA from Centre College, and an MA in Public History and PhD in U.S. History from the University of South Carolina. Prior to researchingOssabaw Island, Kutzler worked on a variety of preservation and interpretive projects in addition to his research on sensory history―the way people inthe past mediated and understood the environment through sounds, smells, touches, tastes, and sights. In 2015, he met Jill Stuckey in Plains, Georgia,when he was working for the National Park Service. They began collaborating on this project in December 2015 when Wayne Johnson of Macon, Georgia,offered to fund the project.
Jill Stuckey is an enthusiast of energy efficiency, alternative energy, and an outdoor nature photographer. In 1992, she traded private industryfor state employment and went to work for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. While working for the EPD, Stuckey was an integral partof the effort that led to the installation of a power line to Ossabaw Island. It was during this time she became friends with the representatives ofThe Ossabaw Island Foundation as well as Sandy West and Roger Parker. As a result of these relationships, Stuckey has been able to spend muchtime practicing and fine-tuning her photography on extended visits to Ossabaw. When she has not been on Ossabaw over the last decades, Stuckeyis often in Plains, Georgia, where she serves on multiple boards with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. She is a member of Maranatha Baptist Church, whereshe assists on Sunday’s with the large crowds attending President Carter’s Sunday school class.
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