DOCOMO PACIFIC sponsors “A Year on the Island of Guam 1899-1900” with Jillette Torre Leon Guerrero
Local service provider, DOCOMO PACIFIC sponsors Jillette Torre Leon-Guerrero’s project to fund hardbound copies of “A Year on the Island of Guam 1899-1900”. The book is a collection of extracts from the notebook of de facto Governor during the time, William E. Safford, a renaissance man whose knowledge of language, island cultures, botany, and justice endeared him to the people of Guam.
A Year on the Island of Guam 1899-1900 is the journal of U.S. Navy Lieutenant William E. Safford, assigned to Guam shortly after the Spanish-American War. Safford who was appointed as the aide to the first American Governor of the island functioned more like a de facto Governor. Governor Richard Leary did not want to be bothered with issues related to the inhabitants of the island and tasked Safford with dealing with the civilian population. Safford, whose sensibilities lay with the people, was a perfect choice for this. During his brief tenure in Guam, Safford made good use of his time. He recorded the history of the island from documents contained in the Spanish archives, wrote the first Chamorro-English grammar book and conducted a survey of the plants and wildlife contained on the island. This survey resulted in the published work, “The Useful Plants of Guam” originally published in 1905.
In 2015, Jillette published an annotated eBook with hundreds of images, web links and audio clips. Following feedback received from readers, students, and teachers, she immediately went to work on producing the hardbound edition. With production costs totaling more than $15,000, partners like DOCOMO PACIFIC, help bring this valuable account of our island’s history closer to reality.
Packed with information and visually pleasing, it would be a shame to leave this book on the shelves of the archives. Partners like DOCOMO PACIFIC help to bring awareness to the rich history of our island home.
To contribute to this project, please go to: http://goo.gl/ILdVXr
