Voices of the Santee Delta: Oral history interview with Phil Wilkinson
Click Here to Read the Embedded Transcript
Click Here to Read the Transcript
- Title:
- Voices of the Santee Delta: Oral history interview with Phil Wilkinson
- Date:
- 2016
- Interviewer:
- Raynor, Robert, 1951-
- Interviewee:
- Wilkinson, Phil
- Description:
- Phil Wilkinson was born in Denver, Colorado, and his family moved around due to his father’s occupation as an army engineer. He moved to the Lowcountry early in his childhood, and at age 12 his family purchased Hopsewee Plantation on the North Santee River. Most of his childhood activities were in the woods or on the river. His father gave him a dory, and he and his older brother explored all around the Santee Delta including to Cedar Island for overnight stays. He learned to hunt and fish from an older black man, Daddy Ben, who lived in a cabin at Hopsewee. In his high school years he had a summer job building the new bridge over the North Santee River. Wilkinson went to USC for undergraduate studies, starting in engineering and shifting to business administration. After college he worked at Cat Island doing construction work, and the owner of the property, an ornithologist, suggested he consider a biological career. After a meeting with Jim Webb, director of the state wildlife department, he went on to get a masters degree from Auburn. Webb offered him a job at a newly acquired state property, Dirleton Plantation. During his time at Dirleton Wilkinson met Tom Yawkey, owner of South Island plantation. He recruited Wilkinson to work for him on his properties doing wildlife management, with a primary focus on waterfowl by managing impoundments and their plant ecology. He hunted quail often with Yawkey. Wilkinson imagined the Santee Delta when the virgin forest still existed, and considered the changes after the damming of the Santee River. Wilkinson gave his own perspective on dealing with biting insects. He told two stories of personal adventures in the Delta: the “Pine Top” story, and another about discovering alligator poachers. After his employment with Tom Yawkey ended, he worked for the state on endangered species, and began a long period of study of alligators, primarily on South Island. Wilkinson reflected on potential threats to the Santee Delta, and the significant conservation efforts. He compared the labor of transforming the Delta into rice fields to the building of several pyramids. He finished up by reading a poem he authored entitled “Daddy Ben”.
- Collection Title:
- Voices of the Santee Delta Oral History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- South Carolina Historical Society
- Media Type:
- Oral Histories
- Geographic Subject:
- Santee River Delta (S.C.), Santee River Region (S.C.)--History, and Santee River Region (S.C.)--Social life and customs
- S.C. County:
- Charleston County (S.C.) and Georgetown County (S.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Date Digital:
- 2016-03-15
- Digitization Specifications:
- Mp3 derivative audio created with Audacity software. Archival masters are wav files.
- Internet Media Type:
- audio/mpeg
- Copyright Status Statement:
- Copyright © South Carolina Historical Society.
- Access Statement:
- All rights reserved.
- Access Information:
- For more information contact the South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, SC.
- Admin ID:
- 221068
Permalink