Mapping the Archive Gift Shop

Perfect for all your last minute holiday needs,

as well as for teachers, students, and history lovers of all kinds.

Come meet Dutch, and he'll give you a real special deal.











And if you like maps, check out the online gift shop,

where you can purchase books and maps like these:
Reproduction 1825 mills atlas Maps In Color
28 districts available:

Abbeville, Barnwell, Beaufort
Charleston, Chester, Chesterfield, Colleton
Darlington, Edgefield, Fairfield
Georgetown, Greenville, Horry
Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington
Marion, Marlborough, Newberry
Orangeburgh, Pendleton, Richland
Spartanburg, Sumter, Union
Williamsburgh, York

SCDAH Gone Global

Well, in the spirit of holiday giving, thanks to you, our audience. Recent reports of traffic across our blog is promising, with visitors from 333 cities and 29 countries around the world - hello Hong Kong! - and over 1700 hits in the first three months alone. Not bad for a baby blog getting off the ground.

Now if only y'all would learn how to use the comment function!

Thanks, to everyone who's reading, and to everyone who's contributing. We couldn't do it without you.

Holiday Party 2009

The holiday party has come and gone, so let’s address the pressing concerns first:

Contrary to all sartorial expectations and hopes, SCDAH director Eric did not, in fact, wear a bow tie. Instead, he chose a normal tie, red with blue stripes.

And the food was excellent.

Also, the beautiful table decorations, hand-made by our own Ben Hornsby, garnered high praise. The gift baskets were lovely, the crowd congenial, the guests appreciated, the punch divine. If you missed it, we probably talked about you in your absence, because after all, we wished you could be there.

Many thanks to our overworked committee, and to those who helped bring food, and to those who suffered fools for the camera in accordance with the recent Directorial Coercive Digital Photography Policy of Dec. 2009, which was contrived at the last moment to compensate for the fact that the archives has no working video camera to record such events. We apologize for the inconvenience, and point and laugh as well.

State library people, we love you. Art people, too. Former employees - you too.

Paul (left) claims to not show up in photos, but he does. Barely.

Also left, our own, rarely spotted, Darlin' Patrick of the Archives.

Gift bags!

Bidding Bon Voyage to a National Historic Landmark

An important duty of the State Historic Preservation Office is to organize and host meetings for the South Carolina State Board of Review for the National Register of Historic Places. At its last meeting the board voted to recommend the addition of four properties (two plantations and two historic schools) to the National Register. Then in the last item of business, board members considered a request that was extraordinary.

The board was asked to approve the transfer of a National Historic Landmark from one state to another. The landmark in question is the USCGC Ingham (WPG-35), a Coast Guard cutter that served in both World War II and Vietnam, and which had been part of the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant. Patriots Point can no longer afford necessary maintenance on the Ingham, so it wished to transfer ownership of the ship to the Miami-Dade Historical Maritime Museum in Key West. Patriots Point noted that Key West would be a historically appropriate setting for the ship, since the Ingham played a major role in the 1980 Mariel Boatlift.

The board gave its blessing to the transfer, though the ship was already in transit to Key West. We can only guess what would have happened if the board had denied the request. A more pressing question is what will happen when the state is faced with repair bills, which are estimated at over $100 million, on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. In the current economic climate, will the state continue to pay to maintain the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Laffey, and the submarine USS Clamagore, or will we bid bon voyage to the remaining floating Historic Landmarks in South Carolina? This is the question of the week for Anonymous, who comments on so many of our blogs. We know that you won’t let us down.

I Come From the Land of Plenty

Yes, I just quoted Men At Work at you, and no, I don't feel bad about it. Let's kick off the holiday season with a brief talk - not about the strong whiff of retail despair coming from the stores in the mall, but about Revisionist History. Changing the story. Straying from the truth. Embellishing, if you will.

You've all seen those little historical themed holiday villages, right? The kind that come with the inevitable Victorian manor, general store, ice skating pond, and several cute figurines in clothing appropriate for some time between 1880-1930? Iron lampposts, fake snow, a couple of decorated trees - they're everywhere. And yours, my dear friend, is vastly incomplete. Because you don't have a Wal-Mart.

I can't find it online - I keep getting lost in Village People stuff and bread - but at least in stores, Wal-Mart is offering an addition - an historicized Wal-Mart store to add to your quaint village for only $12. Never mind that Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962. Now you can pretend it's always been around. Discount corsets, stiff original gold-rush-era Levis, depression glass, firewood, and cast-iron irons for all!

(Anyone with the time to find this product online and link it would be appreciated.) -AL

An Archival Thanksgiving

This year, I am thankful for getting back to the simple things in life:

- Money, as in having, as in not having enough, but having barely enough to splurge all out a few months ago and purchase health insurance for the entire family for the first time ever, for at least the next six months.

- The lights are on, at least partially, some of the time, but not in the hallways, and that means we can still pay our power bill, barely, and we’re not archiving by candlelight, which everyone knows is a royal fire hazard, as seen in the Great Fire of Archive #47 back in 1927 when a sleepy archivist forgot to snuff his flame before dozing on his desk, destroying most of the records of the record-breaking Blass-Hoyton merger; the company going up in smoke in the crash of ’29 and both founders ending their lives ignobly selling apples on the corner, singing Disney songs.

- Paper. I can print things, things like recipes that will never actually get made because really, we’re too tired to cook, and who actually has five roasting pans anyway?

- A rolly office chair. It’s fun to scoot around in circles when no one is watching. The chair doesn’t corner very well, so maybe Santa can bring an upgrade. Also, that time I raced a cart down the corridor – good times.

- The last company holiday party I attended, I left with so much swag I nearly fell out of the car. They even splurged on the fancy battery-operated blinky-light trinkets that are not only reusable – the batteries can be replaced – they have actual off switches. (Clearly, this wasn’t an archive event – batteries are not archival material.)

- Tweed newsboy caps. Why not? Hats should make a comeback, so that we can then bring back manners. As in, take your hat off when you walk inside a building, unless you’re a woman, in which case your hat cost so much and looks so fabulous we may well just bury you in it, and wouldn’t you be the best-dressed person in a coffin at that funeral?

- Worst case scenario, we still have a few personal belongings that could be sold to replace income, such as one car, a television, and possibly my spouse’s cat.

- Dave Barry could be working here. No one would be safe then. -AL

A Noble Profession?

Do you remember the fuss about a couple years back, when there was a spike in couples marrying on the seventh of July, 2007, all for the auspicious anniversary combination 7-7-2007? Imagine what it will be like on July 7, 7007. Yes, five thousand years from now. All those sevens. And what will these luck-chasing optimists know of us today?

You see, we have records from five thousand years ago, in one way or another. We have archaeological remains of temples and homes, we have bodies and mummies and bones, we have dendrochronology telling of climate change, we have ice cores and pollen counts to tell us what was growing and how far along agricultural practices had developed, we have DNA to trace the domestication of animals, and we have the lasting trails of metals from Copper Age mines - five thousand years ago - showing us clearly that our ancient forefathers, in their ignorance, were subjecting themselves and their families to heavy metal poisoning all in the search for a better axe. We also have records, and languages, and enough to figure out a general idea of population movement and cultural change.

Archivists - and those who work in or with records management - and librarians - all of us - can get buried in the mundane chores, the technical hang-ups, the red tape. We forget that we're all in the same business and on the same team. We're here, every day, doing what we do, for the quiet glory and stubborn persistence enabling the preservation of the records of humanity.

Because one lucky day, a generation that cannot fathom us will stand on the cusp of their future. And some of them will look at brittle papers and ancient bindings, and some of them will ask questions, and some of them will dream of those who came before - us.
-AL

Happy Monday!

It's November, it's Monday, and you need this:


Eric, at the Robert Mills House, downtown, with one of the many scarecrow entries.

Public Records & A Giant Novelty Check

Who doesn’t love a giant novelty check? How about with your name on it?

On October 22 and 23, the Archives hosted the 2009 South Carolina Public Records Association (SCPRA) Conference at our facilities on Parklane Road. The theme for this year’s conference was “Dealing with Change in Records Management,” and SCDAH Records Management staff members did a stellar job as both hosts and participants.

The featured speaker on Thursday was South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who made a number of kind comments regarding SCDAH and its mission (whoo-hoo!).

In gratitude for the agency’s past contributions, the SCPRA generously contributed a large novelty check to SCDAH for the purchase of a new microfilm reader to be placed in the research room. (Then, because SCPRA is far too kind for cruel illusions, the actual check followed.)



Says the big E: “We are grateful to SCPRA for the “big check” and to the staff of SCDAH for all of their hard work. Once again you hit it out of the park.”

Afternoon Tea, or What Not To Do During A Fire Alarm

The creatures emerged slowly from the darkness, blinking in the sunlight, trailing slowly from the hulking building and straggling over to the Grassy Knoll,* squinting, stumbling, stalling, and eventually forming a loose conglomerate that in ancient Nordic lands would be called a Thing - a meeting of minds on a great hill.

And that's what it looks like when fifty or some-odd archive employees have to evacuate the building for an unannounced fire drill. Darlin' Patrick, looking sporty in his jacket. Elaine from reference, her hair gleaming prettily in the sun. Paul being chatty, Red congenially waving, Eric dapper as usual. All we needed was afternoon tea.

For the record, here's what NOT to do:
- Note the faint buzzing (different from the buzz of printers, lights, etc) filtering in over the music you're listening to while you work.
- Decide that the flickering light isn't the same flickering fluorescent light you always see, but coming from a new source, henceforth identified as the fire alarm.
- Stand there and try to decide if it could be a drill or a real fire.
- Realize there's probably no viable way to determine if there's a fire in one side of the building from the other.
- Try to gauge the flame susceptibility of your location, and in this case, bet whether the walls would be fireproof enough if there's concrete in their construction. Maybe you could keep working? There's a sprinkler head above your chair.
- Wonder if the sprinklers would go off if it was real, and if so, would it be acceptable to try and save your computer's back-up hard drive?
- Realize you haven't saved the file you were working on; save file.
- Check email, looking for a missed notice of an upcoming fire drill.
- Stick head in hallway, see no one.
- Wonder if everyone is outside.
- Wonder if everyone is managing to ignore the alarm.
- Wonder if you go out the closest door, if you'll be all by yourself.
- Wonder if the security system has an auto-lockdown feature in the event of emergencies, and could you be locked outside for the day?
- Wrap up ipod, pack up bag.
- Close down files on computer just in case.
- Stare at fire alarm in case it stops blinking. Hear a door slamming somewhere.
- Stick head back out in hallway. See person putting on jacket, heading outside. Decide to leave with said person, because at least you won't be the only lame duck in the event it's a joke.

Yep. Not advisable in the event of a real fire. If, that is, you believe it's a real fire, and not a drill.


(*yes, that Grassy Knoll - we have our own, you know). -AL

The Return of "Big Red?"

No, we are not writing about the Cornell University football team, which beat Yale 14 to 12 last weekend in a game noteworthy for the quality of the caviar and Scotch being consumed by tailgaters. We also are not referring to the cinnamon-flavored gum first introduced by Wrigley in the year of our nation's bicentennial. We definitely are not referring to the soda of the same name, which has been produced in Texas since 1937.

This “Big Red” is the historic banner upon which The Citadel based its current “spirit flag” and an important symbol for the school. According to historical sources, “Big Red” flew over an artillery battery on Morris Island, which was manned by Citadel cadets. These same cadets fired the first shots of “The War” on January 9, 1861, when they fired upon the Union re-supply ship Star of the West and prevented it from reaching Fort Sumter. An account of the incident can be found in the Journals of the South Carolina Executive Council for 1861, which are located at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Historians at The Citadel believe that they have located “Big Red” at the State Historical Society of Iowa, where it has been stored since being donated by a Union veteran in 1919. Other Civil War flag experts, including a staff member at SCDAH who conducted research on the banner, are somewhat skeptical that the flag located in Iowa is the same flag that flew over Morris Island. Regardless, The Citadel hopes to receive the flag from Iowa on long-term loan. The episode makes for a great story that ties the past to the present. You can read more about the flag at www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/02/historic-find-in-a-storage-closet/. Enjoy the article and remember that nothing excites/inspires/provokes/angers/incites South Carolinians more than a flag related to “The War.”

Building Great Schools (For All the Wrong Reasons)

Sung to the tune of Johnny Lee’s Country classic “Looking for Love”

Pop Quiz: Which Southern state passed its first sales tax (3%) and spent $124 million dollars on new schools and buses between 1951 and 1956 with the expressed purpose of keeping the state’s children segregated?

A. Georgia
B. Mississippi
C. South Carolina
D. Maryland
E. All of the above

If you answered C, you are correct. If you answered A or B, you get partial credit, since Georgia and Mississippi enacted similar programs. If you answered D, you, like many of that state’s residents, are under the delusion that Maryland is still considered a “Southern” state.

In 1951 South Carolina passed its first general sales tax in order to fund a statewide program of school construction in response to Briggs v. Elliott, a lawsuit based in Clarendon County, which challenged the state’s constitutional “separate but equal” education provision. This “equalization” program was intended to construct new African American elementary and high schools across South Carolina to circumvent a potential desegregation ruling by the Supreme Court. The multi-million dollar school building campaign utilized modern school design, materials, and architecture to build new rural, urban, black, and white schools in communities throughout the state.

SCDAH staffer Rebekah Dobrasko has done an outstanding job of documenting this fascinating, bizarre, shameful, and yet beneficial period in our state’s history through her research and the creation of a website entitled South Carolina’s Equalization Schools, 1951-1960 at http://scequalization.schools.officelive.com. The site is an example of the stimulating research being conducted by members of our busy and intellectually curious staff. Take a look at the website; you won’t be disappointed.

Teaching American History (Instead of "Sports 101")

“History is like an amusement park. Except instead of rides, you have dates to memorize.”

Marjorie Bouvier Simpson


Flash back to the 11th or 12th grade, and you and your classmates are sitting before your high school's assistant football coach. On this day, he is your “history teacher,” and he is supposed to lecture on the causes of World War I. You have read Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August to prepare for the lecture. Your “history teacher,” however, is so excited about Friday’s game that he breaks out the projector and shows grainy film footage of a night, ten years before, when he blew out his knee. He rewinds the film again and again to show the exact moment a white helmet crashed into his leg and negated a scholarship offer from a “big time college program” (if you can call Mars Hill a “big time college program”). The bell rings and you stumble to your next class wondering if Austria-Hungary would have been better served by an emperor with the attention span of your history teacher/coach.

Sound familiar? Well there is a program designed to ensure that budding young historians do not suffer at the hands of poorly-prepared teachers. For the past three years, SCDAH has been a co-sponsor of the Teaching American History in South Carolina program, which provides professional development support to teachers by offering a series of 10-day summer institutes, which take place in the Pee Dee, Upstate, and Midlands. A history professor, or master scholar, leads the course, and provides content instruction in American history. Participants also take part in master teacher workshops and cultural institution presentations. Classes are held at local museums, libraries, and historic sites across South Carolina, and all activities utilize local primary source materials or objects relating to the periods or themes being studied. Participants conduct primary-source research and create original lesson plans.

The program’s goal is to ensure that our state’s history teachers offer accurate and engaging curriculum to their students, instead of regaling them with tales about how they “won the big game” (which is more than Kaiser Wilhelm II could say). For more information about Teaching American History in South Carolina, please contact Don Stewart at stewart@scdah.state.sc.us or 803-896-6224, or visit the website at www.teachingushistory.org.

This Day in SC History: September to Remember

May you find what you are looking for. Chinese proverb (curse)

Charleston, September 15, 1752-South Carolina is suffering through the hottest (and driest) summer in memory, with temperatures consistently over ninety and often over one hundred degrees. Conditions are so severe that Governor James Glen declares July 24, 1752, a day of “fasting humiliation and prayer” with the hope that God “may be graciously pleased to send rain for the preservation of the Earth” (see the Wednesday, September 2, 2009 blog for the complete prayer).

On September 14 Charlestonians witness high clouds forming overhead and increasing winds, both signs that the drought will end soon. On September 15 the city is battered by the most devastating hurricane of the colonial period, with the worst of the storm taking place between eight and eleven in the morning. The storm surge is nine feet above record high tides, and Charlestonians flee to the upper floors of their homes, which were quickly engulfed in water. Fortunately for the city’s residents, the winds shift three hours before high tide, thus saving Charleston, and its frightened inhabitants, from even further destruction.

Charleston, and the coastal regions of the colony, are devastated (think Hugo, but without the 24-hour news coverage). The colony is in political and financial turmoil for months afterwards. Governor Glen, no doubt remembering the wildly successful day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer,” declares “a day of general and Public Thanksgiving,” this time thanking God for not destroying the city with the rain for which the colony has so diligently prayed.

By his Excellency James Glen Esq.r Govern.r in Chief and Captain General in and over his Majestys said Prov.e

A Proclamation

Whereas it pleased Almighty God at whose Command the winds blow and lift up the Waves of the Sea for the Punishment of our Manifold Transgressions lately to visit this Province with a terrible tempest and inundation yet of his infinite Goodness in the midst of deserved wrath to turn from the fierceness of his Anger And to remember mercy by Rebuking the Winds and the Seas and Stilling the rage thereof and thereby saving us from imminent and otherwise unavoidable distruction And whereas it hath pleased him to continue to be gracious to us by send.g favorable Weather since for ripening and gathering in the remaining fruits of the Earth and also by Blessing the Inhabitants with a greater share of Health than they usually enjoy at this Season of the Year and as all Persons in General must have been sinsible of the visible interposition of Providence in our Deliverance and of Gods Great mercies towards us it is the Duty of all to make their general and grateful acknowledgements for the same by paying the Tribute of their joint and just Praises and by offering up the Sacrifices of a General and Public thanksgiving to Almighty God for his Goodness I have therefore thought fit by the advice of His Majestys Council to Issue this my Proclamation for appointing a day of general and Public Thanksgiving to Almighty God throughout this Province And I do hereby appoint Thursday the 23.d Instant for that purpose Willing and Strictly requiring that all manner of Persons to observe the same in the most Solemn and religious manner as they tender the Divine favour and Protection and as they would avoid such Punishment as may be Lawfully inflicted upon all who refuse or neglect to do so.
Given under my Hand and the Great seal of His Majestys said Province at the Council Chamber in Charles Town this 15 day of Nov.r in the 26.th Year of His Majestys Reign.

By His Excellencys Command
W.m Pinckney Dep Sec.y James (L S) Glen

Meet Tracy Power, Story-Teller Emeritus

That’s Power, not Powers, for as he says, “I joke that we were too poor --- we came to America from Ireland not long before the Revolution --- to afford the extra letter.”

Tracy Power has worked at the archives for nearly 24 years, and he’s got a lot of stories to show for it. In fact, he’ll tell you up front that he probably talks too much, but he’s just being modest.

His interest in the Civil War began early – he was five years old when President Kennedy was assassinated. His kindergarten teacher used the experience to relate the students to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and from there, he fell into the Civil War, never to return. Fast forward a bit, and you’ll learn that Tracy got his doctorate in only seven years, while working full-time, which may not sound impressive until you realize the average time to completion for a history PhD is eight years for a full-time student. If he wasn’t working here, he’d be a professor.

Mr. Power’s official title is Staff Historian of the State Historic Preservation Office. Says Tracy, “My main duties are serving as co-coordinator of the National Register of Historic Places program in the state, coordinator of the Historical Marker Program, and staff liaison to the South Carolina Hall of Fame.” It’s a unique position which combines Tracy’s love of history with, among other things, his love of sports – he and his wife are season ticket holders for USC’s football, basketball, and baseball games.

Still, there’s more to Tracy than that. His most unusual job? “Probably weeding the parking lot at Jack's Hamburgers in Metro Atlanta, in the summer of 1976.” His very first job? “Reshelving books at the Lanier Lake Regional Library in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 1973, at the age of 15.” Tracy dreams of going back to Rome some day. He feels the defining moment of Beatles history was the day they announced their breakup in the spring of 1970. And in the event of a total suspension of reality, Mr. Power’s backup career plan is to be a clown in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

So when you see him, say hi to Tracy, or maybe just honk your big red clown nose.

History Detectives R Us

Congratulations to Patrick McCawley and Tracy Power for their stellar performance and hard work on the latest episode of the History Detectives. SCDAH’s recurring appearance on the show once again proves that this is truly the most sought after state archives in the United States. Really, what other state archives can brag about more appearances than South Carolina? How many times has the North Carolina State Archives been on History Detectives, hmm? They think they’re sooo great, with their ginormous staff, unending state appropriations, and decades old North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865 project. Well, we have a better staff, better collections, and, ummm, a sweet 1999 metallic-blue Ford Taurus Station Wagon with a rebuilt engine and close to 200,000 miles on the odometer. You can't top that pretty puppy with just anything.

Anyways, kudos to Patrick and Tracy. Thanks for making us proud.

Historical Markers are like Animal Crackers!

Work with me here.

So there you are, driving along, idly wondering if driving a more obnoxious car would get your more (or less?) notice from the police - and you don’t even realize you whiz past one of these:



Welcome to Historical Markers, where history is made not by scholars opining in an Ivory Tower, or politicians fussing in committee, but from the ground up, with all the stories, particulars, idiosyncrasies, and cultural uniqueness that comes with it.

State money doesn’t pay for historical markers, people do. Real people, raising money for real organizations, who think their piece of the world deserves a marker for being significant.


They raise the money, they write the text, and our own Tracy Power, Story Teller Emeritus, vets them. (That’s Emeritus by volume of stories, people, not by age.)

Think of markers like animal crackers – history for the modern age served up in bite-sized stories. And now the markers are all online in the newly launched Historical Marker Database, which is insanely addicting (just like animal crackers). Pick a town – any town! Pick a building – any building! You may get the horse or the elephant, you never know!

Make mine a llama. With pink icing.

Imagine this as a press conference – wigs optional

We find some interesting things in the records, such as this proclamation made by James Glen, Governor of South Carolina way back in 1752. Tucked among the legal stuff and deeds, a sincere – and desperate - plea for rain.

South Carolina

By his Excellency James Glen Esq.r Govern.r in Cheif and Captain General in and over his Majestys said Province

A Proclamation

Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to visit this Province with a severe drought whereby the fruits of the Earth are in great danger of perishing and whereas there is reason to fear that we may have offended Heaven by abusing the great Plenty of former years and as it is our duty to humble our Selves before God and to pray that he would yet continue to be gracious to us I have therefore Resolved by the advice of his Majestys Council that a day of fasting humiliation and prayer be observed throughout this Province and that all Ranks and degrees of persons in it may devoutly joint in sending up their Solemn Supplications to the divine majesty that he may be graciously pleased to send rain for the preservation of the Earth And that fryday next the 24th Instant be religiously observed for that purpose:

By his Excellencys Command
Wm Pinckney Dep Sect.

Given under my hand and the great Seal of his Majestys said
province in the Council Chamber at Charles Town this 18 day of
July 1752 & in the 26th year of his Majestys Reign

James (L S) Glen

Meet Eric, Our Delightfully (not) Dull Director

Eric Emerson, our enthusiastic new director and a fresh transplant from Charleston, aspires to be boring. Deeply, irrevocably boring. If you argue the point, he will vehemently insist that he is, in fact, dreadfully dull.

He loves his family, he loves his job, he loves his football team (U. Alabama), and he loves history. The Simpsons show makes him laugh. He doesn’t collect anything, calls himself a minimalist, claims to have no hobbies, and stands at a loss if you ask him his favorites. He goes fishing just often enough to barely mention it. He doesn’t have cable. If you suggest that he turn the beautiful courtyard outside into a petting zoo to generate additional revenue for the department, or perhaps put llamas on the premises, he will suggest goats would carry smaller start-up costs.

Still, Eric fails at boring, and that’s ok. There’s probably a trophy for that, even.

Eric has lived in Tuscaloosa, Charlotte, Asheville, Baltimore, Columbus (GA), and Kentucky (in his youth), but he swears the sun rises and sets in Charleston - although he concedes it does set, occasionally, in Columbia. He appreciates southern manners and polite drivers, and has been known to wear seersucker suits. (Don’t honk at him. Ever.)

He speaks in military acronyms with ease, and after his time in the army, Eric went to Charlotte for a stint in management at a bakery. Four years later he took his appreciation of the corporate ladder – and crackers - and went back to grad school for history, likely subsisting on the very same crackers he’d helped to make.

Now, Eric hates the disappointment he gets when house-hunting reveals the potential for bad neighbors. His office décor consists of 1940’s architectural drawings from various cities, and a few family photos. He likes jazz, not just the artists everyone likes, but musicians that have a take-em-or-leave-em appeal, like Chet Baker. He also listens to 70’s rock. His tastes run towards mid-century modern architecture, and he likes to reflect on the optimism and promise of the Long Decade of post-WWII America. It’s a wistful sort of reflection, the kind that ends with “and the economy was so strong.”

So here’s a warm welcome for Eric Emerson, our minimalist, professional new face of the agency. Like beauty, local pride, and an appreciation for bow ties, boring is in the eye of the beholder.

For Whom the Bells Toll

Today in SC History - August 31, 1886, 9:51pm.

The largest recorded earthquake in the history of the southeastern United States strikes Charleston, and is felt as far away as Boston, Chicago, and Cuba. The quake kills more than 100 and leaves hundreds of buildings destroyed.

An eyewitness account and photos from the Charleston Year Book of 1886:

“When the bells of St. Michael’s Church, in Charleston, chimed the third quarter after nine o’clock on the evening of Tuesday, August 31st, 1886, their familiar tones spoke peace and peace alone…There was no whispered warning in the well known sounds, or in any subdued voice of the night, to hint of the fearful calamity so near at hand... Within seven minutes after the last stroke of the chime…Charleston was in ruins.

“The rapid rolling of a heavy body…the rattle of window sashes, gas fixtures and other movable objects… floors were heaving underfoot, the surrounding walls and partitions visibly swayed to and fro, the crash of falling masses of stone and brick and mortar was overheard and without, the terrible roar filled the ears, and seemed to fill the mind and heart…it was only a question of death within the building or without, of being buried beneath the sinking roof or crushed by the falling walls.

“From every quarter arose the shrieks, the cries of pain and fear, the prayers and wailings of terrified women and children...The air was everywhere filled, to the height of the houses, with a whitish cloud of dry, stifling dust arising from the lime and mortar of shattered masonry...a woman lies prone and motionless on the pavement…a man in his shirtsleeves, with blood streaming over his clothing from a wound on his head, moves about…no one knows which way to turn…The reality seems strangely unreal…


“Four severe shocks occurred before midnight. Three others followed…"

Our House, In The Middle of the Storm

Who doesn't love an old building? The charm, the sense of past, the character, the architecture, the way the drafts just seep in and drive the utility bills sky high - well, everything has its price.

Now you can check out the weatherization guide for historic and older buildings. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has some great tips for energy efficiency and keeping costs down!

Cannons Over Columbia!

The scent of metal and gunpowder sharpened the air and hung heavily in the muggy stillness of the September noon. Shifting his canteen, Captain McCawley dragged his sleeve across the sweat beading on his forehead, and gazed over to where the cannon was being readied on the Grassy Knoll. The local men and women of the town had gathered below and now shifted about uneasily, speaking in murmurs, holding back nervously. The warning went up, the call went out, and Captain McCawley braced himself for the noise of cannon fire, hoping dearly that the glass windows of the commander’s office would not shatter.

Patrick McCawley, Accessions Archivist and Supervisor of Archival Processing, has fond memories of the 2006 Civil War Symposium, where the Chester Cannon was fired outside the archives. The cannon itself was dug up during a utility project in the county of Chester many years ago. The cannon was cleaned and refurbished, an old artillery shell was drilled out, and it was given a chance to perform on our very own Grassy Knoll.

In the end, the cannon fire did not break the windows of the Archives, the townspeople were greatly amused, the food was good, the walking tours superb, the speakers profound, and much revelry and merriment was had by all. And Captain McCawley, who isn’t really a captain at all, hung up his uniform, traded his canteen in for something eco-friendly and recyclable, went back to his records, and lived happily ever after.

Don’t miss this year’s Civil War Symposium, held September 18-19. Take it from Patrick himself – if you love to wear your period costumes, you won’t be alone. We have a few living historians coming this year!

We insist that you watch TV.

The Archives & History Center and our very own darling of the archives, Patrick McCawley, will be featured on the PBS series History Detectives on Monday September 7th at 9:00pm. For the fourth time in as many years, PBS' national series "The History Detectives" has found a mystery to solve in South Carolina. And this one might just redraw the maps of the Civil War!

We'll give you a teaser - it's about the true historical location of the Broad River Bridge, the same one that General Sherman would have used to march on Columbia, had the Confederates not burned it to the ground.

David Brinkman, also a featured speaker at our upcoming Civil War Symposium, will show his evidence that the current historical marker is in the wrong location and ought to be moved upstream of the current bridge. If he's correct, the maps will have to be redrawn, so pull out your encyclopedia, and stock up on Sharpies in advance. (We like the pen-style that don't bleed through pages.)

Look for more information about the Civil War Symposium coming soon!

Hope Springs Eternal

Or at least for a good while longer. Congratulations to the Hope School Community Center!

The Hope School Community Center is the name of a Rosenwald School located in rural Newberry County near Pomaria. This little gem of a building was named for the local family who donated the land upon which it was built. It also represented the hope for a better future of the African American children who attended this two-room school from 1925-1954.

And on Saturday August 22, 2009, “hope” captured the feeling of the many guests who gathered in the recently renovated building to celebrate its new life as a community center. Guests marveled at the natural sunlight flooding through the windows, the freshly painted walls and ceiling, the well-worn but newly shined wood floors, the beautifully restored metal roof. Folks in their 60s, 70s and beyond, told stories of what it was like to attend school in this sturdy building, of the miles walked each day, the fires built on cold mornings, of the discipline and love of their teachers.


The restoration process is a remarkable story of many folks coming together – alumni, children of alums, descendants of the Hopes, students at Clemson, and many others—to make the vision of a restored school possible. And it is through their generosity in donating original school desks and a pot belly stove, the school sign, and oral history interviews to the Smithsonian, that future visitors to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, will learn about and share in this hope as well.



To read more about the Hope School Community Center go to http://www.hopeschoolcenter.org/.
For more information about Rosenwald Schools in South Carolina go to http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/afamer/hprosenwald.htm
For more information about the national Rosenwald School Initiative go to http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/southern-region/rosenwald-schools/

Chillin' 'n da Stax

There is an online article regarding the SCDAH entitled “Historical Gems Should Be Preserved” in today’s South Carolina Statehouse Report. You can also find it off the main page under the commentary section.

Props to Chuck Lesser for giving another of his legendary tours to reporter Andy Brack.

So, have you seen John Locke's signature yet?

And remember, if you're going to the vaults, bring a sweater. Maybe even a down parka.

The Friend File

Friends are great - they support you, they let you know when you're making mistakes, they come over when something exciting is going on. We at the archives love our friends, and because we're professional collectors, we want even more. We want educators and teachers, students and families, genealogists and researchers, those who do historical reenacting and history buffs, people interested in preserving buildings and landmarks, anyone who likes museums and libraries, and even you who only have a casual, passing interest in history.

The archives has a lot to offer to you, and we want to be your friend, too. Add us to your web page, or follow us using the links and subscription options below. Tell your friends. Tell your kid's teacher. Tell your neighbor's kid's teacher's friend. Email us around the world, and help us collect all our friends in one place!

Twitter Feed

Hey everyone - got our twitter on, so we're easier to follow!

http://twitter.com/SCArchives (or you can check out our updates feeding at the bottom of this page!)

Past Meets Future!

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History is pleased to announce that we have a new blog! Content is under development and will be updated soon, so please visit again!

We are also on facebook and twitter as well - look for the links on our homepage, http://scdah.sc.gov/