ATLANTA – State Representative Al Williams (D-Midway) today announced that the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus (GLBC) presented the Legacy Award to Cornelia Bailey during the annual GLBC Heritage Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018.
“It was a great honor to recognize Cornelia Bailey with the GLBC’s annual Legacy Award,” said Rep. Williams. “Mrs. Bailey dedicated her life protecting Sapelo Island’s Gullah-Geechee culture and preserving its oral history, and the Caucus was proud to award her at our Heritage Dinner.”
Bailey was a member of the last generation of African-Americans born and educated on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Bailey became one of Georgia’s most vocal defenders of Sapelo Island and its African-American heritage.
Bailey lived with family members on St. Simons Island, Georgia, for several years, and she returned to Sapelo Island in 1966 and became the island’s “griot,” an African term for a tribal historian who preserves the oral history of the tribe.
Bailey died on Oct. 15, 2017, and Bailey’s husband, Julius “Frank” Bailey, accepted the award on her behalf.
Representative Al Williams represents the citizens of District 168, which includes portions of Liberty County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002 and currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Economic Development & Tourism, Game, Fish & Parks, Rules and Transportation committees. He is also a member of the Military Affairs working group.
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