Greg, pictured here with me.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Estevez, author of Edisto Island: The African American Journey. Greg grew up on Edisto Island, reading Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, listening to his great-grandmother and grandmother tell stories about the past. He wrote his book, his first, out of a “deep desire to tell more of the African American experience on Edisto in the late 19th Century into present day.”
After reading Greg’s book, everyday sites have new meaning:
Hutchinson House
According to Preservation Magazine, “the Hutchinsons’ home was a stark contrast to the one- and two-room cabins where Henry Hutchinson and others born into slavery had lived. It stood as a testament to the hard work and perseverance of Edisto’s freedpeople after the Civil War.”
Greg is the great-great grandson of Henry Hutchinson, a former enslaved African who built the Hutchinson House on Edisto Island, South Carolina in 1885.
In 2017, The Edisto Island Open Land Trust (EIOLT) purchased the house, one of the oldest intact freedman’s house on Edisto, including nine acres surrounding the important historic house that was at risk of being lost forever. The Edisto Open Land Trust has worked diligently to put a plan in place to restore the house to its former glory. For more about this, including gorgeous photos, visit Preservation Magazine’s feature, The House That Hutchinson Built: Preserving a Touchstone to Edisto
Often blue bottles were used in bottle trees, because according to Gullah beliefs, the color blue wards off evil spirits.
Bottle Trees
Greg writes that the bottle tree “has been reduced as just a beautiful oddity along Highway 174.” But centuries ago, the bottle tree marked a spot where enslaved Africans were injured or killed. The bottle tree, he says, was placed in a spot where evil passed by. “They believed this hate or evil is attracted to beauty, grace, mystery and love. And so, at night, evil crawls up inside the bottle…but the evil is trapped inside by the reflections and refractions, and it can’t find its way out in the darkness. When the sun rises inside the bottle, the evil is destroyed.”
The iconic Swinging Mattress on Highway 174, recently decorated with an autumn theme.
Swinging Bed
This Gullah tradition, Greg writes, originated in West Africa, and “goes all the way back to slavery times on Edisto.” Enslaved people lived in cramped, hot cabins. Men constructed “a hammock type contraption” in hot summer months to recover after long, hard, hot days of labor. In sight of Highway 174 in Edisto, a creekman on the island constructed a “swinging bed,”decades ago. It has become an icon for residents and tourists to this day. The swinging mattress, complete with boxprings, is decorated for holidays.
Greg’s book tells of healers, root doctors, wet nurses and midwives; artists and musicians, leaders and heroes. Locally, you can pick up a copy at the Edisto Bookstore, the Edistonian Gift Store, and the Edisto History Museum. You can ask you local bookstore to order it, or find it on Amazon, where it’s also available on Kindle.
“Descendants of African cultures have practices, artisan skills, agricultural and linguistics attributable to the motherland,” Greg says. “These many cultures survived on Edisto because of the island's isolation from other areas.”
Here’s my Q&A with Greg:
Edisto Island, one of the largest sea islands off the coast of South Carolina, is located between Charleston and Beaufort. Geographically remote, it remains an unspoiled place of transcendent beauty, with sun-splashed tidal marshes, lush maritime forests, canopies of enormous moss-laden oaks, and pristine beaches. But there is also a tragic history. For centuries, enslaved Africans on Edisto produced rice, indigo, and long-staple Sea Island Cotton that enriched the island's planters. These enslaved people developed the Gullah/Geechee language and culture on the islands and in the Lowcountry. Their rich history and stories, and their descendants' efforts to achieve freedom and equality, are now coming to light, thanks to people like Greg Estevez.
In the preface of his book, Edisto Island: The African American Journey, first-time author Greg Estevez describes why he decided to write it: "For me, this book isn't about making money or profits. My focus is birthed out of deep desire to tell more of the African American experience on Edisto in the late 19th Century into present day...It's necessary for everyone to look at history through the lens of someone else to experience the other side. Ultimately, it gives everyone more of a complete picture."
Greg is the great-great grandson of Henry Hutchinson, a former enslaved African who built the Hutchinson House on Edisto Island, the oldest identified house on Edisto Island associated with the Black community after the Civil War. He grew up on Edisto Island, listening to his great-grandmother and grandmother tell stories about the past. He was a good listener: "They saw in me a very curious nature and noticed that I would always ask probing questions." He began toying with the idea of writing a book about African American history on Edisto Island at a dinner with family in 2016, when his cousin told him, "Gregory, you need to write this book about Edisto. Our ancestors are depending on you."
A year later, Greg read Charles Spencer's book Edisto Island: Ruin, Recovery, and Rebirth, 1861 to 2006 (Arcadia Publishing) and found it a "great read." But the author also included a comment in the preface that proved a catalyst for Greg to get started on his own book. "The African American families and their lives on Edisto, is a story yet to be told systematically and in depth," Spencer wrote. "I sincerely hope someone will take up the task soon. We all need to hear it."
Greg began toying with the idea of writing a book about African American history on Edisto Island at a dinner with family in 2016, when his cousin told him, "Gregory, you need to write this book about Edisto. Our ancestors are depending on you."
Those words, "leapt off the pages and tackled me," Greg writes in his own preface. "This was the final kick in the butt" he needed to get started.
Greg was kind enough to answer my questions about his own journey writing his first book. Note: For more about his book, including photographs, hop on over to my NEWS page.
1. Greg, what was it like for you to grow up on Edisto Island?
Growing up on Edisto was a great joy because I was always amongst countless friends and family members. Back then, Edisto was a close-knit community where everyone looked out for one another. I have very fond memories of various holidays, camping with the Boy Scouts, going to the beach, and playing at the community center which was across the street.
I am the great-great grandson of Henry Hutchinson who built the Hutchinson House which is currently in the process of being restored. My family roots on Edisto run deep, and span six generations or more. I proudly served and retired from the United States Navy in 2004. During my honorable career of service, it afforded me the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the world, visiting over 35 countries around the globe. After my military service, I obtained a bachelor’s degree from Florida Metropolitan University in 2007. In 2018, I earned a master’s degree in Human Services from Capella University in 2018.
2. What was the process like, of gathering this history and conducting interviews, and how long did you work on it?
For my first book, it took me about two years to write because of the extensive research it required. I started by reading every book I could find about Edisto Island. In all, I read about 30 books pertaining to Edisto Island, trying to soak up as much information as possible. I visited numerous libraries, museums, historical centers to conduct my research. As well, I conducted over 70 oral interviews with long-time Edisto Island residents and a host of present-day historians.
3. Was there anything you learned in your research or interviews that especially surprised you?
Yes, I was surprised to know that practically everyone on Edisto is related either by blood or by marriage—this includes both Black and White residents. This is particularly true if your family has lived on Edisto Island four or more generations. I was also astounded at the vast contributions of the African American population to the life, culture and sustainability of Edisto Island for the past 400 years.
4. What would you like visitors to the island to know about African American history and experiences on Edisto?
Edisto Island was populated by thousands of enslaved Africans beginning in the 17th century. These enslaved Africans who were forced into free labor on the various plantations off the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia were known as Gullah Geechee people. The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton plantations of the lower Atlantic coast. Many came from the rice-growing region of West Africa. The nature of their enslavement on isolated island and coastal plantations created a unique culture with deep African retentions that are clearly visible in the Gullah Geechee people’s distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, music, and language.
Descendants of these African cultures have practices, artisan skills, agricultural and linguistics attributable to the motherland. These many cultures survived on Edisto because of the island's isolation from other areas. The Edisto Island community is intentional about showcasing, educating, and preserving its Gullah Geechee history and culture for generations to come.
I would also personally recommend that visitors come by to see the Hutchinson House on Edisto Island. The Hutchinson House is a shining example of the trailblazing spirit defined in a very proud family whose history has stood the test of time, and whose strength and perseverance is reflected in their ancestral home. The Hutchinson House is considered one of many symbols of hard work, self-reliance, and success for Edisto’s emerging African American community after the Freedom.
The Hutchinson Houses’ importance to the region's African-American history also is underscored by its location less than a half-mile down Point of Pines Road from one of the island's last surviving slave cabins, which was removed in 2013 and placed in a prominent position in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
You can find Greg's book locally at the Edistonian Gift Shop, The Edisto Bookstore and the Edisto History Museum. It is available on Amazon and for downloading on Kindle.