Elizabeth DuBose

Savannah  

Elizabeth DuBose has led the Ossabaw Island Foundation (TOIF) since 1998. As Executive Director, she has focused on sharing Ossabaw Island’s natural and cultural resources and history. Ossabaw is a state-owned barrier island set aside for natural, scientific, and cultural education, research, and study. DuBose supervised the restoration or stabilization of 12 historic buildings on Ossabaw, including the award-winning restorations of three mid-19th century tabbies. Island visits have risen from 500 in 1999 to 3,000 in 2024 during DuBose’s tenure. TOIF’s Public Use and Education Programs now offer trips focusing on indigenous, African American, and coastal Georgia history, creative arts, and indigo dyeing. Under DuBose’s leadership, TOIF partners with many universities’ departments, including archaeology, museum studies, historic preservation, coastal ecology, marine biology, education, fiber, and fine arts. DuBose has facilitated historic research about Ossabaw’s former residents, especially the lives of hundreds of African American enslaved people, Freedmen, and their descendants. DuBose’s favorite Ossabaw tradition is Heritage Day, when Ossabaw descendants and their families are invited to the island to share their stories.