Training Opportunity for Records, IT, and Emergency Management Officials

The Essential Records (ER) Webinar is one of two courses developed by the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project. Teams in each state and territory will be delivering these webinars to state and local governments and now is your chance to participate!

Who should take this course? State, local, territorial, and tribal employees who are responsible for creating and maintaining government records of any kind and in any format, both paper and electronic.

What is covered in this course? This course prepares participants to:

• Identify an agency's essential records


• Analyze and prioritize records, assessing risks and identifying protection strategies


• Specify time frames for essential records availability in emergencies


• Develop proceedures to ensure access to and security of essential records


• Outline an essential records plan for inclusion in COOP


• Become familiar with federal, state, and local regulations and procedures
  

The Essential Records Webinar is a 7.5 hour course delivered in four sessions, is offered as an instructor led webinar with content specific to your state, and is offered FREE of charge!

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) are offering a great opportunity for South Carolina state and local records officials, county emergency management personnel, state or local IT staff, and other interested officials to take the online FEMA approved webinar– Essential Records. Essential Records are a component of the Continuity of Operations Plans created by state and local agencies.

The four-part course will be offered on September 21, 23, 28 and 30th from 10:00am -12:00pm and will include participants from South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. This is an online webinar format that involves accessing the course slide show on the internet at iLinc and listening to the audio via your telephone. This course will use a toll free number so there will be no costs associated with these sessions for attendees. Several staff members from an agency may participate using one internet and one phone connection but each must register separately.

To register for the course, please go too http://rc.statearchivists.org/. Each participant will need to create an account (this is FREE) by selecting “Setting up Your Course Participant Account” under the “IPER Courses” tab. The page will instruct you on how to create your account. Once you have your account established, select the course titled ESS-ZZ-0001: Essential Records Webinar [Southeast region: AL-GA-SC-TN]. You will receive an email message confirming your registration.

For additional information on this FREE training, contact Heather South at 803-896-6112 or southh@scdahstate.sc.us

Summer Interns at the SHPO: Part 2

Much like the summer blockbuster movies this year, the State Historic Preservation Office has gone 3D! With help from summer intern Desmond Johnson, a native of Columbia and an architecture student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, the SHPO explored ways to use 3D models to document historic buildings and to enhance SHPO training programs for local design review boards. Desmond created models using free Google Sketchup software that allows architects and novices alike to create virtual built environments to scale in 3D. Desmond used measured drawings of historic buildings in the SHPO files to create the 3D models. Each model took, on average, 18 to 20 hours to construct.

Desmond first created a model of the historic Ridgeway Town Hall (based on drawings by Camden architect J. Stephen Smith). The Town Hall’s bell tower and arcaded corner entrance can be experienced in accurate detail and fully manipulated by the viewer to appreciate the building’s unique architecture from any angle. (see below)

Desmond also created a model of Darlington’s Carnegie Library (based on drawings by architect Benjamin Whitener of the Charleston firm of Cummings & McCrady). Recently renovated by the City of Darlington, the historic library is one of only a few surviving Carnegie Libraries in South Carolina. Sketchup allows the viewer to explore the architectural features of the old library, including its distinctive windows. (see below)

Not only was Desmond able to create stunning models of existing historic buildings, but he was also able to bring back to virtual life the historic Bethel A. M. E. Church in Laurens (based on drawings by Spartanburg architect Martin Meek) that, unfortunately, suffered catastrophic structural failure and partially collapsed in 2009. The church was forced to demolish the rest of the structure, but the architecture of historic Bethel A. M. E. Church can be experienced again thanks to the 3D model Desmond created. (see below) Desmond’s final 3D project this summer was to create a series of simple models that can be used to vividly illustrate concepts in design guidelines used by local historic design review boards and commissions. The models can be used by local officials and historic property owners to help in applying their local design review ordinance to proposed projects in their local historic districts. (see below)
This summer our interns helped us accomplish tasks and goals that otherwise would not have been possible with our staff focused on core duties. The SHPO appreciates their hard work and we look forward to working more in the future with this next generation of historic preservationists to preserve, promote, and protect South Carolina’s historic places.

Double Shipwreck in South Carolina by Caleb Miller

South Carolina is already known for a particularly famous wreck. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship and its wreck was raised on live TV. However, this state also is the site of two ships lying at the exact same spot as the other. The SS Georgiana was a Confederate ship that tried to get into Charleston on March 19, 1863 during the American Civil War. Federal ships attacked it and the ship was scuttled and burned by her crew in shallow waters, who than promptly abandoned it. On August 31, 1864 the Confederate blockade runner Mary Bowers tried to run the Federal blockade into Charleston. She ran right into the wreck of the Georgiana, which tore into her hull. The crew and passengers abandoned ship. The Mary Bowers sank to rest right on top of the Georgiana, where she remains to this day. E. Lee Spence discovered the two ships in 1965. Due to the shallow water, skin divers are capable of reaching the site easily. Multiple artifacts much have been recovered from the two shipwrecks. These two shipwrecks are a great example of how the sea is full of history.

For more information on these and other shipwrecks- check out the Sea Research Society Web page http://www.searesearchsociety.com/category/shipwrecks/

Summer Interns at the SHPO: Part 1

The State Historic Preservation Office had the opportunity to work with three college interns this summer. We want to thank them for their contributions and highlight their accomplishments. We feature projects by two of the interns in this post.

The National Register program was supported this summer by Evan Kutzler, a graduate student in the Public History program at the University of South Carolina. With Evan’s assistance, we were able to process National Register nominations for both the Southern Railway Depot in Ninety Six (see below) and the Retreat Rosenwald School near Westminster. Local supporters of the properties prepared the nominations, but it was Evan’s additional research and revisions that made it possible for both nominations to be ready for the July meeting of the State Board of Review. Evan also conducted research and compiled an extensive bibliography that can be used by the SHPO and others to evaluate historic properties from the “Recent Past” (1945-70) in Columbia. This research on the mid-twentieth century development of Columbia will be useful in identifying and evaluating the significance of modern architecture that is, or soon will be, old enough for consideration for the National Register.

Our ongoing collaboration with the City of Columbia’s Planning and Development department to identify “Recent Past” historic resources was further aided this summer by Adrienne Margolies, a history and architecture student from Clemson University. Adrienne conducted research to add information to an inventory of modern architecture compiled for the City by former SHPO graduate assistant Anjuli Grantham (now a graduate of USC’s Public History program). Adrienne looked specifically for residential and commercial properties designed by the architectural firm of Lyles, Bisset, Carlisle, and Wolf (LBC&W), a nationally prominent Columbia firm known for its modern high-rise apartment and office buildings in the 1950s and 1960s. Adrienne conducted research to find the locations of LBC&W projects in Columbia which we previously knew by name only. Adrienne’s research helps the SHPO have a more comprehensive understanding of LBC&W’s work in Columbia when properties are evaluated in the future. Shown below is The Christine Building on Millwood Avenue in Columbia.
Adrienne’s summer internship also resulted in an addendum to our “African American Historic Places” booklet (last published in 2009) that features all National Register listings and State Historical Markers for African American historic sites in South Carolina. Adrienne compiled and produced a companion booklet available on our web site that includes summaries of all the National Register listings and all of the marker texts for African American sites between July 2009 and June 2011.

Doolittle Raiders in South Carolina by Caleb Miller

America had many memorable moments in World War II. One of the earliest was the Doolittle Raiders’ bombing raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Three airmen died during the flight, three were executed, one died of disease, and four were held captive for the rest of the war. Fifty Japanese died and 400 were injured. Despite the damage being of small concern to the Japanese, this raid gave Americans hope for the coming struggle with Japan. Before they set out, the Raiders trained in this state at the location of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, which was an air base back then. They practiced at a bombing range. Other B-25 bomber groups notably did practice over Lake Murray. One of the islands was named “Bomb Island” in memory of that. Two of the Raiders came from South Carolina. Lieutenant Horace Ellis Sally Crouch came from Columbia, SC, while Lieutenant William G. Bill Farrow came from Darlington, SC. Lieutenant Farrow was captured and executed along with Sergeant Spatz and Lieutenant Hallmark by a Japanese firing squad on October 15, 1942. Lieutenant Ellis died on December 21, 2005. Today, there are annual celebrations for the Raiders, a fair bit of them in Columbia. A part of down-town Columbia’s streets has been named after them. We remember these brave pilots who trained here and made a mark in history by doing so.

Historical Marker Dedicated Near Site of Black Union Soldier's Cemetery on Folly Island

The newest official state historical marker was dedicated Friday, July 15th, at Folly River Park on Folly Island in Charleston County. It is near the site of a Civil War camp occupied by black Union soldiers (the official term at the time was United States Colored Troops) and the cemetery which contained the graves of their dead. The marker text reads:

CAMP OF WILD’S “AFRICANBRIGADE,” `1863-1864
Folly Beach Community Center, Folly River Park, 55 Center St., Folly Beach
(Front) Folly Island was occupied by Union troops April 1863-February 1865. Gen. Edward A. Wild’s “African Brigade” camped nearby from November 1863 to February 1864. The two regiments in Wild’s brigade were the 55th Massachusetts, made up largely of free blacks, and the 1st North Carolina, made up of former slaves.(Reverse)
WILD'S BRIGADE CEMETERY
A cemetery was laid out nearby for soldiers in Wild’s Brigade who died here in 1863-64. Most graves were removed after the war. In 1987 relic hunters discovered additional graves of U.S. Colored Troops. In 1987-88 archaeologists removed 19 burials and published their findings. These soldiers were reburied with full military honors at Beaufort National Cemetery in May 1989.
Erected by The Friends of the 55th Massachusetts, 2010

The South Carolina Historical Marker Program, with its origins as early as 1929 and formally established in 1936, has approved the texts for almost 1400 markers since that time under the direction of the South Carolina Historical Commission, the predecessor agency to today's South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Sponsoring organizations propose and pay for the cast aluminum markers which stand along streets and highways and interpret the places important to our state's rich history, and work with the Department of Archives and History to ensure that the texts are accurate and appropriate; the department approves an average of about 50 markers each year. J. Tracy Power, a historian in the State Historic Preservation Office at Archives and History, has been Coordinator of the Historical Marker Program since 1995.

For further information on the South Carolina Historical Marker Program, follow this link on the Archives and History website: http://shpo.sc.gov/properties/markers/. You may also contact Tracy Power at power@scdah.state.sc.us or (803) 896-6182.

For access to a searchable database containing the texts of all markers approved by the program since 1929, follow this link: http://www.scaet.org/markers/

For further information on the marker dedication on Folly Island, see:

Edward Fennell, "Salute to Black Union Soldiers," Charleston Post and Courier, Thursday, July 14th http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jul/14/salute-to-black-union-soldiers/

Edward Fennell, "PHOTOS: Black Union Soldiers Honored On Folly," Charleston Post and Courier, Saturday, July 16th http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jul/16/photos-black-union-soldiers-honored-folly/

Fort Wagner By Caleb Miller

July 18th is a special anniversary in the history of our state. On that day in 1863, Union troops attacked the Confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The Northern forces assaulted the place in an attempt to get through to Charleston. Among the attackers was the 54th Massachusetts regiment, a unit made up of African-American soldiers. This unit led the charge on the fortifications. Their colonel, Robert G. Shaw, cried “forward, 54th, forward!” and climbed onto a parapet and was shot through the heart. Ultimately, the Union forces were unable to capture the fort and suffered many casualties. The casualties were 246 killed, 880 wounded, and 389 captured for the Union and 36 killed, 133 wounded, and 5 captured for the Confederates. Only 315 men were left in the 54th after this battle out of the entire regiment. In addition to Shaw, three other leading officers died in battle or of their wounds. Shaw and his men were highly honored for their courage during the battle. A memorial for them is present at Boston as part of the Boston Black Heritage Trail. This was a significant symbol for the growing tolerance for blacks. Remember the men who fought at that island so long ago.


Image from the Library of Congress Collection- originally published in Courier and Ives