St. Helena Island native Ron Daise has been awarded the S.C. Governor’s Award in the Humanities as an author, performing artist, and educator who has shared stories, music, and lectures about history, culture, and faith across the country.
Daise is known by many as “Mr. Ron” from “Gullah Gullah Island,” the Nick Jr. TV’s award-winning children’s program of the 1990s. He also is a past chairman and charter member of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and a charter member of the Sea Island Translation Team & Literacy Project, which began translation of the Gullah Bible.
Since 2004, Daise has served as Vice President for Creative Education at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC, and has created and implemented programs, events, and exhibits that showcase the significance of Gullah Geechee heritage, including Gulla Geechee Gaardin.
Current work
His current affiliations include the Furman University Diversity Leadership Initiative, the SC Arts Commission’s Leo Twiggs Advisory Council, SC Rural Resource Coalition, and House of God Church in Pawleys Island, SC. A graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, VA, Daise and his wife Natalie reside in Georgetown, SC, and are parents of three adult children.
Established in 1991, the Governor’s Awards in the Humanities recognize outstanding achievement in humanities research, teaching, and scholarship; institutional and individual participation in helping communities in South Carolina better understand our cultural heritage or ideas and issues related to the humanities; excellence defining South Carolina’s cultural life to the nation or world; and exemplary support for public humanities programs.
Daise will receive his award at the South Carolina Humanities 2019 Governor’s Awards in the Humanities Luncheon & Award Ceremony in Columbia, SC on Thursday, October 24, 2019.
See the full announcement of the award from South Carolina Humanities here.
