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Ossabaw Island and Torrey family papers
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Ossabaw Island is the third-largest barrier island in Georgia and lies about twenty miles south of Savannah. Covering 26,000 acres, it has been occupied since the settlement of Georgia, when it and St. Catherines Island were objects of dispute between the Georgia colony and Mary and Thomas Bosomworth. Legends claim that the island was used by pirates, such as Captain Kidd and Blackbeard, as refuge. Before the Civil War, there were great plantations on the island on which long-staple (Sea Island) cotton was grown. Originally brought to the island for plantation work, many African Americans remained on the island after the abolition of slavery, continuing their lives as farmers. This community, consisting of 160 residents included an African Baptist church. They remained on Ossabaw until the 1880s, when a series of hurricanes devastated the island and its crops, forcing the residents to leave and settle on the mainland and Pinpoint, Georgia. When growing cotton on Ossabaw was no longer profitable, a new era set in. The island was purchased by the Torrey family in 1924. Dr. and Mrs. Torrey constructed a large Spanish Colonial Revival-style house on the north end of the island which was completed in 1926. Eleanor Torrey West inherited half of the island after her mother's passing in 1959 and in 1961 she and her husband, Clifford West established the Ossabaw Island Foundation. From October until June 1st each year, the island served as an artistic colony for approximately twenty-five participants. The Ossabaw Island also formed the Genesis Project in 1970 which focused on a primitive lifestyle and interdisciplinary studies, as well as a Professional Research program and a Public Use and Education program. The formal programs discontinued around 1982 due to a lack of funding, but the island is stilled used for public use and education. Eleanor West and her family sold Ossabaw Island to the state of Georgia in 1978 (West retained a life estate on the island), at which point it was dedicated at Georgia's first Heritage Preserve to protect, conserve, and preserve the island, with the commitment that Ossabaw would be used only for natural, scientific, cultural studies, research, education, and environmentally sound preservation, conservation, and management of Ossabaw's ecosystem. Ossabaw Island is unique in that it operates by the non-profit Ossabaw Foundation, private ownership, and the state of Georgia During the 19th century, Ossabaw Island was situated in both Bryan and Chatham Counties. As a result of the shifting of county lines, it now lies solely in Chatham County, Georgia.
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This collection consists of Ossabaw Island Foundation records, Torrey family papers, much of the title history of Ossabaw Island, historical research about Ossabaw Island, records pertaining to the management and use of the island, and architectural drawings of the Torrey's 1926 Spanish Colonial Revival-style home designed by Henrik Wallin. Records in the collection include applications for projects and programs, articles, audiovisual materials, clippings, correspondence, court decisions, deeds, financial records, photographs, research materials, reports, publications, slides, and scrapbooks. Records in the collection date from 1699 to 2007.
The bulk of the collection is the Ossabaw Island Foundation records, which include material on the various projects and programs that took place on the island including: Ossabaw Island Project, Genesis Project, Sea Turtle Project, Professional Research program, and the Public Use and Education program.
The earliest original document is the grant from King George II issued in 1760. Some of the most unique and important documents in this collection include slave inventories from 1812 and 1817, historical maps from the 18th century until the 20th century, and extensive scientific research on sea turtles and other topics.
In 2014, Justin P. West donated additional material consisting of over 1,100 lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate stereographs. Corresponding prints were made from some of these and donated earlier with the bulk of the collection. Due to the fragile nature of the materials they are restricted, but all images that do not have a corresponding print have been digitized and are available.
The collection is arranged into the following series and subseries:
SERIES 1: Ossabaw Island Foundation Records, 1890-2007.
1.1: General Administrative Records, circa 1950-2007.
1.2: Ossabaw Island Project Records, circa 1960-1986.
1.3: Genesis Project Records, 1970-1984.
1.4: Sea Turtle Project Records, 1960-1982.
1.5: Professional Research Program Records, 1890-2001.
1.6: Public Use and Education Records, 1969-1991.
1.7: Photographic Materials, circa 1960-1990.
1.8: Scrapbooks, 1961-circa 1985.
1.9: Audiovisual Materials, 1978, 1990, and undated.
SERIES 2: Torrey Family Papers, 1790-2004.
2.1: Personal Papers, 1790-2004.
2.2: Photographic Materials, circa 1900-1987.
SERIES 3: Ossabaw Island Records, 1699-2003.
3.1: Historical and Legal Documents, 1740-1990.
3.2: Historical Research Files, 1699-1991.
3.3: Management and Usage of Ossabaw Island, 1903-2003.
SERIES 4: Architectural Drawings, circa 1924-1925.
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Artifacts were separated and cataloged with the Georgia Historical Society Artifacts Collection.
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90 boxes, 28 oversize boxes, 5 card file boxes, 3 oversize folders, 8 flat file drawers
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Negatives are restricted from use unless there are no identified corresponding photographs.
The Georgia Historical Society does not own playback equipment required for use of audio recordings and video recordings.
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Copyright has not been assigned to the Georgia Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Division of Library and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Georgia Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
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GHS 1326, Ossabaw Island and Torrey family papers, 1699-2007. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.
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