James Island remains one of the few places in the United States where descendants of slaves can easily trace their roots to one of the seventeen slave plantations. For many African Americans, it is hard to imagine how far this small island has come. It has left them with a legacy of both the joy and the pain of living in a time and place wrought with hardship but somehow still intermingled with the happiness that comes from a community built on family, love, strength and honor. In this powerful collection, local resident and oral historian Eugene Frazier chronicles the stories of various James Island families and their descendants. Frazier has spent years collecting family and archival photographs and family remembrances to accompany the text. This book also pays homage to men and women of the United States military and African American pioneers from James Island and surrounding areas.

Eugene Frazier Sr. is the author of two previous books: From Segregation to Integration: The Making of a Black Policeman and James Island: Stories from Slave Descendants. Eugene is a retired police lieutenant who served twenty-five years with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office and eight years with the U.S. Marshal Service. He served six years in the United States Army and was honorably discharged as a sergeant E-6. He is a member of the St. James Presbyterian Church on James Island. He is also a member of the organization to preserve and protect African American cemeteries on James Island. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and the present worshipful master of the Sons of Elijah Masonic Lodge #457.