Full issue, 6/1: James Island library, developers, tourism, poem

SUMMER IN THE CITY. You can tell summer is here just by looking out your window. You’ll find all sorts of flowers, such as this Black-eyed Susan that bloomed last week. Another clue: Kids are out of school, or about to be, and their energy is filling the air. Now if we could just bottle it … (Photo by Andy Brack.)

IN THIS EDITION | June 1, 2015 | Number 7.30

IN THIS ISSUE

PHOTO:  Black-eyed Susan
FOCUS: Call to action on James Island library
BRACK: State needs to stop kowtowing to developers
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  SCIWAY
MONEY: The hidden jewel that’s no longer hidden
PALMETTO POEM: My Poems, by Joanna Crowell
GOOD NEWS: Center for Women series, Shepard Fairey, more
FEEDBACK: Two letters on Folly
CALENDAR: June 1+: Dock Street, Pat Conroy, Museum, more
REVIEW:  Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy
MYSTERY:  Where is this old house?
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Classical music in South Carolina

TODAY’S FOCUS

Call to action on James Island library

Contact county council members now for best site (updated)

By Carol Tempel  and Stewart Weinberg
Special to Charleston Currents

JUNE 1, 2015  |   The future of the James Island library is at stake this month.  The Charleston County Council is scheduled June 16 will have a final vote for the location of the new library on James Island.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: The vote on the library’s location originally was scheduled for June 2, but has been postponed until later this month.  We hear the vote is now set to be June 16.]

Last week, the library board presented a report to county council on available sites for the James Island Library.  Many of us had ideas for a location, but we waited until the report was presented to the council before voicing a preference.  The report confirmed our thinking…the Bi-Lo site or the Dills Bluff land owned by the James Island Public Service District would be the best choice.

The library board developed a score sheet to provide objective criteria to rank sites for new libraries in West Ashley and James Island.  The criteria included geographic centrality, density of the population, site size (building, parking and possible expansion), access to the site from all parts of James Island, visibility and the environment, such as possible re-use of an existing building.

After examining all of the sites using the criteria listed above, the library board recommended six acres owned by the James Island PSD on Dills Bluff Road — a location very near the existing library.  But because that land may not be available at a reasonable price, the board recommended a second site just down the road — up to 25,000 square feet next to the Bi-Lo grocery store on Folly Road.

Since the PSD is requesting an inflated price for its land, the Bi-Lo site is the best site for matching all of the criteria adopted by the board. It would also be the most economical and most centrally located for the residents and schools on James Island.  In fact, the county would save almost $2 million by re-using the Bi-Lo building, in part, because infrastructure like utilities, a parking lot and more are already in place.

At county council’s finance committee meeting on Thursday, May 28, the council, voting as a committee of the whole, ignored the library board’s recommendation — making a motion before the library board had a chance to present its data and the public could make comments.

At the finance committee meeting, county council voted 5-2 for the old Baxter Patrick school property next to James Island Elementary School on Grimball Road at the south end of James Island.  This site does not meet the criteria established by the library board as well as the Bi-Lo site does. Not only is it not central to most people, only 13,000 people live within two miles of the site.  That’s half the density of the Bi-Lo site.

Comments were made at an earlier meeting that the majority of community members voiced their support for the Baxter Patrick site. This support came from petitions that were not widely circulated on the island and that misinformed members of the adjacent community that if the Baxter Patrick site were not chosen for the new library, that the school district might use it for a bus parking lot.

Next steps

Now is the time to do something to ensure that new James Island library is built near most of the people and schools on the island, not just people at the south end of the island.  It’s time for your voice to be heard today and tomorrow before the 5 p.m. Tuesday meeting at county council’s chambers, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston.

Let our elected representatives know that you want the new library located on the Bi-Lo site.  You should thank council members Joe Qualey of James Island and Herb Sass of Mount Pleasant for voting against the Baxter Patrick site.  Ask them to do what they can to get three more votes to make the Bi-Lo site the home to our new library.

You should contact the two members of council who abstained — Colleen Condon of West Ashley and Dickie Schweers of Mount Pleasant — and encourage them to do the right thing for James Island by voting for the Bi-Lo site.

And you should write the five members who supported a bad decision to locate the library away from most people and schools on James Island.  Let Anna Johnson of John’s Island; Teddie Pryor, Henry Darby and Elliott Summey, all of North Charleston; and Vic Rawl of West Ashley know they voted against most people’s interest.

Contact info

Send emails and phone today.  And if you can attend the meeting on Tuesday — even better.  Let them know in person what they should do:

Thank you:

• Joe Qualey joequaley@qlawfirm.com
• Herb Sass hsass@sassherrin.com

Don’t abstain and do vote for Bi-Lo:

• Colleen Condon  colleen@colleencondonlaw.com
• Dickie Schweers dickieschweers@tds.net

Don’t make a bad decision:

• Anna Johnson ajohnson@charlestoncounty.org
• Teddie Pryor tpryor@charlestoncounty.org
• Henry Darby henrydarby@msn.com
• Elliott Summey esummey@charlestoncounty.org
• Vic Rawl AVRawl@aol.com

Click here to find their phone numbers.

Carol Tempel and Stewart Weinberg live on James Island. George Tempel and Margaret Weinberg also contributed to this article. 

COMMENTARY

State needs to stop kowtowing to developers

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher

MAY 29, 2015 | Are there any sacred or special places in South Carolina that are safe from developers?

Sure, there are parks and land protected by owners, but it seems developers generally have the upper hand whenever there’s a way for somebody to make a buck — whether it’s to build another subdivision that will bloat sprawl in urban areas, add yet another hotel in a tourist area or pack another mega-mansion as close to the beach as possible.

At issue now is a plan by developers to build 50 new, expensive homes on Captain Sam’s Spit, a fragile, 150-acre, low piece of coastal land between Kiawah and Seabrook islands. This week, regulators at the state Department of Health and Environmental Control approved a plan permit that would allow a road to be built on the spit and would lead to development. The project won a stormwater permit from the state earlier this month.

“The decision to issue this permit is a repudiation of the law, three years of judicial rulings and basic common sense,” S.C. Coastal Conservation League Executive Director Dana Beach told us this week. “It is hard to imagine a more nonsensical action and discouraging to think that the agency that is charged with more complex questions of protecting our environment is so incapable of dealing with an issue this simple and straightforward.”

Hear, hear. But it’s even worse and crazier than you think: There’s just not a huge need for more homes in the area. A quick real estate check shows there are 46 million-dollar homes on Kiawah and Seabrook that are for sale right now. In other words, there’s enough rich people housing stock in place near where developers want to build, but they’re obviously blinded by maximizing profit on land that has a big “hit me, hurricane” sign on it. Their mission, it seems, is to fill as much space on the coast as possible — the hell with the consequences.

Retired state Sen. Phil Leventis of Sumter blames the federal flood insurance program as one of the big culprits. For years, South Carolinians had small getaway cabins along the coast. Few built because of the danger of being blown away. And when they did build, they didn’t spend much. In other words, they took a risk, but not a big one.

Then came the flood insurance program in the 1960s, which allowed people to build bigger homes and live at the beach, more or less, year round. But what the program also meant was that if these homes got smashed, the subsidized, federal flood insurance program fueled by all taxpayers would help them rebuild.

“That was the first in a series of developments that switched liability from individuals to the group, with the group being the rest of the citizens,” he said.

Do you imagine, Leventis wondered, whether these millionaires would build homes on Captain Sam’s Spit if they couldn’t get insurance, which banks now require before loaning money to build the homes? (As an aside, why do you think banks would require flood insurance? Because they know the “investment” could go south with just one storm.)

“People aren’t willing to admit that they’re in a dangerous place so they put these mechanisms in place so they could share the [financial] responsibility with folks who could never, ever afford homes in these places.” [NOTE: We’ve learned since the original publication of this column that the homes to be built on the spit are not eligible for subsidized flood insurance and would have to have unsubsidized insurance.]

State environmental regulators need to stop kowtowing to development interests and realize that the public interest trumps greed. They need to enforce the state’s tough beachfront management law, which includes moving setback lines seaward when beaches have built up, not delaying so developers like those at Captain Sam’s Spit can build more houses. Citizens should demand that the state follow the law, not put up with legislators who create exceptions, such as a measure last year that is allowing an exclusive Georgetown County gated community to build a new seawall — the first in 27 years.

If we don’t get a handle on the overbuilding of special parts of South Carolina, we’ll lose a part of our heritage that sets us apart from New Jersey and coastal blight. And that, my friends, will create the opposite of smiling faces and beautiful places.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report, where this commentary first appeared. Send feedback to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

SCIWAY

MONEY

The hidden jewel that’s no longer hidden

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor

June 1, 2015 | The nature of Charleston’s hidden jewel qualities is like a cell tower sending out signals to the world – “Come visit. Come visit. I have preserved history, world-class restaurants, renowned golf courses, beaches, shopping, burgeoning theater and a thriving arts community.” The world is receiving the signals and responding. The tourists are here.

This is not a new phenomenon for Charleston. The first “Tourism Impact and Management Study” I found was done in 1977. It noted:

“The dramatic increase in tourist-related activity in Charleston over the past few years has provoked expressions of alarm by residents concerned with maintaining the amenities and quality for which the City is known. Moreover, there is general recognition that the City is not equipped adequately to serve and manage growing numbers of visitors.”

This message was repeated in the “Tourism Management Plan 2015 Plan Update”:

“It [tourism] also represents a challenge for our community. We must remain vigilant that tourism does not damage the city’s authenticity and sense of place or negatively impact residents’ quality of life.”

When I read both the studies from 1977 and 2015 on tourism, at first I was both puzzled and amused that the identified problems are still the same. Transportation systems are insufficient. Parking is a problem. Public facilities are needed within tourist destinations. The carriage rides through historic areas cause undue congestion. Even the control and management of the cruise ships are in both reports.

One of the interesting facts that I learned about was that tourism is not only regarding people who are “from-off.”   Our residents participate in and enjoy the many of the same attractions that bring the tourists to our community. SEWE, The Wine and Food Festival, and Spoleto are just a few of the events that both attract tourists and encourage my friends and family to come spend a few nights at La Maison Du Morris. Whether we enjoy these destinations like the James Beard-awarded restaurants alone or with our visiting friends and family, we, as locals, are part of the tourism impact.

The recent advent of Boeing created an urgency of action to relook at all the growth occurring in Charleston. Charleston attracted a major corporation to relocate vital parts of their business to our community. Their appearance on our horizon quickly compounded the need for more attention to the same issues that tourism study identified.   Many of the Boeing employees move to Charleston from other parts of not only America but the world. These employees themselves may act like tourists at first, and over time they have their friends and family come to enjoy the Charleston attractions also.

The infrastructure to manage the flow of visitors to, from and around our tourist attractions is insufficient. We had and still have no functioning public transportation nor do we encourage alternative modes of bicycles or safe-attractive pedestrian paths. Cars are the still the means of getting around. Yet the streets are quite narrow. Then once you get to where you want to go, where do you park?

Charleston’s tourism attractions are also “real.”   We have real historical, well-preserved buildings and real historical residential neighborhoods. We have real locally-owned and -run restaurants and shops. We have real rivers that create our peninsula and surrounding areas. We have real beaches and other wild life areas.   It’s this “realness” that makes it more difficult to solve these problems. If we harm the “realness,” we harm both our quality of life and the charm that attracts the tourists.

Usually I like to write something that shows a problem and then suggests a solution. I have no solutions for these issues. Competent, respected community leaders have been discussing these same things for over 37 years. I do believe though that we – all of us in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville and all the municipalities and communities in the tri-county area – need to break down the political barriers and work together to project thoughtfully into the future regarding these issues.

Our ability to make Charleston more desirable is happening daily. We are a global, world-class community, and we’re continuing to get better at the things that make people want to come here both to visit and to live. Since 1977, we have been working on the issues of transportation, traffic congestion, parking, preserving green space and wildlife refuges, yet they are still major concerns that have not been resolved while the numbers of tourists continue to increase. Our hidden jewel is no longer hidden, and we can’t take it back. Let’s come together as a whole community to sustain Charleston’s gem-like qualities now and for our children’s children.

Kyra Hollowell Morris, a Certified Financial Planner, is CEO of Morris Financial Concepts, Inc., in Mount Pleasant. A national leader in the financial planning profession, she has been named several times by leading magazines as one of the country’s top financial planners.

PALMETTO POEM

My Poems

By Joanna Crowell

He asks,

“What do you do with your poems?”

I reply:

I play with them. I fight with them. I flirt with them. I avert from them. I dress up for them. I am stripped down by them. I skinny dip into them. I dance naked on them. Yeah, I even get jiggy wit’ em! I sing the blues out of them. I pour the joy back into them. I open my French doors for them. I abstain from them. I get wet waiting for them. I am a drunken fool for them. I take twelve steps toward them. I am sobered by them.

I carve them. I chip away at them. I get into the grooves of them. I smooth my surfaces with them. I accept my flaws because of them. I am flattered by them. I am humbled in them. I am beautiful. To them.

I stop to smell the roses with them. I notice every detail in them. I pick them. I am pricked by them. I bleed with them. I die in them. I ascend to them. I am reborn through them. I birth them.

I hold hands with them. I face my fears with them. I tremble in them. I share my secrets with them. I share my secrets with the world through them. I cry for the world on them. My tears are caught by them. I am baptized by them. I drown in them. I float above them. I am consoled by them. I find my soul in them. I am emboldened by them. I am subtle in them. I cuddle with them. I like to spoon with them. I become consumed by them. I taste every vowel of them. I swallow the sum of them. I drink every consonant of them. I am quenched by them.

I breathe them. I live them.

I am them.

And then

           I give them away.

Joanna Crowell is the author of the book I Ate a Rainbow for Breakfast: Poems & Performances. She is also a playwright, an actress, a creative writing workshop facilitator, and a mother. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and Social Justice and Peace studies from the University of Western Ontario. Joanna currently manages Remedy Internal Medicine & Wellness Center in Charleston, while at the same time is working on producing a healthy eating video series with her 10-year-old son.  More: www.joannacrowell.com

GOOD NEWS

Center for Women launches “Founder’s Lab” for women entrepreneurs

Have you thought about starting your own business, but just don’t know where to start? The path to your entrepreneurial future begins with Founder’s Lab, a new program through the S.C. Women’s Business Center (SCWBC) at the Center for Women. Founder’s Lab will take place in the Charleston, Columbia and Greenville areas where the C4W currently has Women’s Business Center offices.

“We created Founder’s Lab to be the launching pad for women in the state of South Carolina who want to start a business,” says Shauna Mackenzie, SCWBC Program Consultant at the Center for Women. “Our goal when designing this event was for attendees to be able to walk in with just an idea and walk out with an action plan, a business blueprint, personalized strategic coaching, and all the resources they would need to get started immediately. “

The pilot course is set for 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 16 at The Harbor Entrepreneur Center in downtown Charleston. This program is for any aspiring entrepreneur and will cost $75, which includes dinner, an official SCWBC resource guide, a presentation, speed-coaching and three free business coaching sessions. Some major benefits of attending include:

• The lab is held once a quarter in each city;
• It begins with a 60-minute inspirational presentation on how to ready yourself as an entrepreneur, an outline of the tools, resources and financials you’ll need to start your venture, and what to expect in your first year in business.
• Following the presentation, you get hands-on mentorship from successful business owners and coaches during our hour-long speed-coaching, which includes two rounds of personalized feedback in areas where you need immediate advice.

• For more information and to register, please call (843) 763-7333 or go to www.c4women.org/scwbc

Other good news:

Fairey works on display at Terrace. Two works by native-born, nationally-known artist Shepard Fairey will be on display in the lobby of The Terrace Theater on James Island as a result of the artist’s response to a request by the theater.

“Studio Number One, Obey Giant Art, and Shepard Fairey were thoroughly positive about the idea of Shepard’s work being displayed at the Terrace.  It was an email and a letter, and they were right behind it,” says an ecstatic Terrace Theater owner Paul Brown.

The two artist’s proofs are indicative of the truly independent style of the Terrace and most importantly, Shepard Fairey.

“Music by David Lynch is a work from 2015 and as the Terrace has constantly supported the work of Mr. Lynch, it is a natural fit.  I was so happy they agreed to send this piece,” Brown said. The other work, Oh Susanna, is a 2012 screen print and favorite of the Terrace.

Leadership Charleston is building next class. This professional development program by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce is now accepting applications for its 2016 class. For more than 40 years, Leadership Charleston has been identifying and developing leaders in our community, producing more than 2,000 graduates that have become leaders in local, regional and global industries, legislative appointments and civic stewardship.

The program focuses on the primary issues facing our region, including crime, infrastructure, workforce development and business advocacy. Participants hear from prominent speakers, including alumni and regional leaders, during programs designed to enhance civic knowledge while developing the necessary skills to assume leadership roles. The 10-month program, which beings in September with a two-day orientation and is followed by one-day sessions each month, allows participants to connect with other influential regional leaders and exposes them to community involvement opportunities.

Leadership Charleston is open to all members of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. Applications can be submitted until June 30, 2015. Application and more details.

TEDxCharleston videos now online. If you missed speakers at Embrace Chaos, the 2015 version of the independently-organized TED event in Charleston, you now can see what speakers had to say online here.  Topics include “The science of yogic breathing,” with radiation oncology researcher Sundar Balasubramanian; “Classical fusion” by 24-year-old violinist Set Gilliard; “College: Necessary, but insufficient,” by computer app developer Will Jamieson; and 17 more presentations.

FEEDBACK

Stop investing in ephemeral coastal infrastructure

To the editor:

The Folly Beach County Park restoration will benefit tourism and relieve parking congestion, and has received recognition from a trade association, wonderful! But the whole concept of building groins to relieve beach erosion, however the Army Corps of Engineers may wish to sell it, is a zero-sum game in which sands trapped on one side are excavated from the other.

Whatever we do, currents are going to push the sand around, and we might as well throw our money into the water for all the good it will do, even in the short run. We need to stop investing in ephemeral coastal infrastructure and learn to love the transitory nature of the littoral environment.

The pelicans and turtles that supposedly benefit from this project have been adapting to these shifts for eons and are better off without our interference.

— Katherine Williams, Charleston, S.C.

Charleston County Parks won award

To the editor:

Your piece on the award for restoring “Folly Beach” left out a critical piece of information: the award went to the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) for restoring the beach inside the county park on the west end of Folly.

That was a private restoration, done with a great deal of care and some engineering innovation by CCPRC.  One critical piece was that they were allowed to draw sand from the adjacent Folly River, sand that came from the beach in the first place.

The rest of the beach was restored later by the Corps of Engineers.  I think everyone would agree that it was a pretty wretched job.  The borrow area was a limestone pit five miles out, and the beach was covered with sand mixed with pieces of limestone and fossils.  Just about everyone on Folly now has shark’s teeth.  The limestone occasionally turns the water Caribbean blue, but otherwise, it’s a pain.

We are on our second rock removal project – as the sand settles in (and moves seaward), more rocks surface.  The cost for this botch-up?  $30 million, with $4.5 million coming from little old Folly.

— Susan Breslin, Folly Beach, S.C.

Rant.  Rave.  Tell us what you really think.  If you have an opinion on something we’ve offered or on a subject related to the Lowcountry, please send your letters of 150 words or less to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. Our feedback policy.

CALENDAR

Dock Street lecture: 6 p.m., June 2, Main Library, 68 Calhoun St., Charleston. Just in time for Spoleto — you can learn all about the muddy origins of Charleston’s famous Dock Street at this free history presentation. More.

(NEW) Pat Conroy and writers: 6 p.m., June 5, Charleston Library Society, 164 King St., Charleston. Join author Pat Conroy and a number of Story River Authors, including Maggie Schein, John Lane and Bernie Schein for this literary event. Tickets are $10 for members; $15 for non-members. More.

(NEW) Nighttime at the Museum: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., June 5, Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting Street, Charleston. Ever wonder what happens at the museum after it closes? Kids and adults will enjoy how history comes alive during this two-hour special event with costumed characters, special displays, learning stations, craft-making, a scavenger hunt and more. Food and ice cream will be provided. Tickets can be purchased online here. ($25 for non-member adults; $10 for kids; members get a break.)

(NEW) Reggae nights resume: 8:30 a.m. June 5, James Island County Park. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. as the Reggae Nights Summer Concert Series resumes with Columbia-based Coolie G & Lion Soul Reggae Band. Ahead: ReggaeInfinity, June 26; Mystic Vibrations, July 10; and Jah Works, July 31. More: CharlestonCountyParks.com.

(NEW) New Dorothea Benton Frank novel: Noon, June 10, Stars Restaurant, 495 King Street, Charleston. Best-selling author Dorothea Benton Frank will sign copies of her brand new book, All the Single Ladies, during a special luncheon, talk and signing by Blue Bicycle Books. The book is to be released the previous day. Tickets are $60 and include the book. More.

(NEW) Palliative care event: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., June 10, Roper St. Francis Cancer Center board room, 2095 Henry Tecklenburg Drive, Charleston. Palliative care focuses on providing patients with relief from symptoms, pain and stress of any serious illness. Health care workers, patients and lawmakers will meet at this event to discuss the impact of public policy on patient quality of life issues during the “Quality of Life: Removing the Barriers of Care” educational forum. More info.

Knife-sharpening.  The Coastal Cupboard will hold a knife-sharpening event from June 11 to 14 to benefit East Cooper Meals on Wheels.  $1 per knife.  More.

Black history of S.C. Trident Technical College’s Division of Continuing Education and Economic Development is offering a new series of workshops through June 12 on the black history of South Carolina. The series, which covers from the time of the American Revolution to the civil rights era, will be held at the main campus of the college at 7000 Rivers Ave., North Charleston. Cost is $25 per student. More.

Book sale: June 19 to 21, Main Library, 68 Calhoun St., Charleston. The Charleston Friends of the Library will present its second annual book sale of the year with great bargains, good books and a chance to support your library system. More info.

Shaking a leg. The Folly Beach Pier is set to have more Moonlight Mixers throughout the summer starting at 7 p.m. A DJ will spin great old tunes to keep your feet moving. Other dates are June 19, July 24, Aug. 21 and Sept. 18. In Mount Pleasant, the Shaggin’ on the Cooper series will be held June 13, July 18, Aug. 15 and Sept. 12. Click here for more.

Fishing tournaments. The county’s monthly fishing tournaments kickoff in May with contests at the Mount Pleasant and Folly Beach piers. Both cast-off tournaments feature several awards and prizes for anglers from 3 years old to seniors. Tournaments in Mount Pleasant are slated for June 27, Sept. 5 and Oct. 3. Tournaments are to be held on Folly Beach Pier on June 20, July 18 and Aug. 15. More info.

Uncle Sam Jam. You can celebrate July 4 at the Mount Pleasant Pier with this annual Independence Day party by Charleston County Parks. Gates open at 7 p.m. with music by Permanent Vacation starting an hour later. Food and drink will be available. Limited spaces will be sold for the Uncle Sam Jam, so reserve your spot soon! Admission is $10, or $8 in advance for residents of Charleston County. More: CharlestonCountyParks.com

Natural history exhibit: Through Aug. 10, 2015. “From Land to Sea: 35 Million Years of Whale Evolution” will be featured in The Charleston Museum’s lobby gallery with displays of whale fossils from millions of years ago. There’s limited availability for an overview by Natural History Curator Matthew Gibson on opening night. Learn more. 

Cool shark exhibit. The newest exhibit at the S.C. Aquarium is now open and allows visitors to touch sharks and rays in an innovative outdoor exhibit. “Shark Shallows” features a 20,000-gallon touch tank designed for sharks, rays and skates. Learn more here.

Bird walks: 8:30 a.m. to noon, every Wednesday and Saturday. This is the time of year that a great variety of migrating birds fly through the Lowcountry so what better time to take part in one of the regular early morning bird walks at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel. Pre-registration is suggested. Cost is $5. Walks also are conducted on James Island and Folly Beach. Learn more online.

If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to editor@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration.  The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.

REVIEW

Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy

An historical novel by Peter Carlson

Few Civil War histories seem suitable for toes-in-the-sand beach-reading, but Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy manages to fit that bill with wondrous delight. Weaving the tale of two war-weary journalists who find themselves captured and thrown into a Confederate prison, Peter Carlson sheds new light on a time period perhaps overly examined and scrutinized, especially in this sesquicentennial era. The titular characters, Junius Browne and Albert Richardson, encounter a slew of interesting individuals along their journey, and are aided in their escape by a band of altruistic heroes, both black and white. As the story unfolds, the reader gains new insight about Southern society and the intricacies that lie within.

Carlson, a former journalist himself, unfurls the story – equal parts adventure, buddy comedy, and war history – with true genius. The characters (sometimes resonant of Bill and Ted, other times Felix and Oscar), are endearingly mischievous and courageous. Their tale, whether embellished post-war or not, will find the reader feverishly turning the pages and longing for more, right until the final twist. You need not be a scholar or history to frolic along with Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy.

— Jennifer Lively, Main Library, Charleston, S.C.

Find this and similar titles from Charleston County Public Library. This item available as a book. To learn more or place a hold, visit www.ccpl.org or call 843-805-6930.

MYSTERY PHOTO

Where is this building?

You can spy two lavender-colored garlic bulbs in front of this old house in the tri-county area. Where is it and why is it important. First AND second to guess each win a pair of tickets to a Charleston RiverDogs’ game. Send your guess, name and contact information to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

Last week’s Mystery Photo was so tough that only one person guessed that the pair of elephants, including a pink one, wasn’t in the area. But Noah Winecoff of Charleston recalled that the elephants were at Papa Joe’s Fireworks and Souvenirs off U.S. Highway 17 in Jasper County near the Georgia state line. Congrats, Noah! Enjoy the baseball game.

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA

Classical music in South Carolina

S.C. Encyclopedia | The first permanent English settlers in South Carolina arrived in 1670, bringing their European musical traditions with them. Psalmody (the singing of psalms in divine worship) was the primary music of the colonists, and by 1700 singing schools provided both musical and devotional training. Although sacred music remained the predominant music of the colonies, the flourishing musical patronage of Charleston, which was the fourth-largest city in British North America by 1742, continued to cultivate the European classical style. As early as 1732 the South-Carolina Gazette reported on the second public concert given in the colonies. The St. Cecilia Society, the oldest musical society in the United States, was formed in 1762, providing formal musical instruction and offering concerts until 1822, when it became an exclusive social cotillion.

In the upstate, English, Scots, and Irish settlers brought the secular, oral tradition of the ballad, whose early influence on the development of art music is evidenced by the 1735 production of Colley Cibber’s Flora, or Hob in the Well. The English Ballad Opera Company presented this first performance of an opera in America in a courtroom above Shepheard’s Tavern in Charleston.

By 1800 northeastern singing schools were virtually extinct, although they remained active throughout the rural southern areas well into the nineteenth century. The singing master William Walker, born near Cross Keys in Union County, compiled Southern Harmony, which was first published in 1835 in Spartanburg. According to its author, the revolutionary tune book sold more than 600,000 copies and contained hymns, psalms, and anthems published in the popular shape-note tradition designed to assist untrained musicians.

While sacred music was thriving in the rural areas, the refined musical tastes of Charleston’s society continued to prefer the European secular tradition. In addition to the active concert life, the dissemination of western art music persisted during the heyday of American piano production during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Because of the great demand for classical and, eventually, popular sheet music, the Seigling Music House (1819–1970) established a retail music store on King Street in Charleston and also operated a music-publishing firm, issuing the works and arrangements of local and European composers. Julian Selby of Columbia was another publisher who issued general and music materials during the 1860s.

After the Civil War, the South’s musical activities were slow to resume, but South Carolina’s cultural life soon prospered with the construction of music halls such as the Newberry Opera House (1881), the establishment of schools such as the Charleston Conservatory (1884), and the founding of numerous ensembles such as the state’s first all-black touring group, the Jenkins Orphanage Band (circa 1895), which played a mixture of ragtime, military, and popular music.

By the twentieth century, classical music was melding with indigenous influences, initiating the shift to a distinctly American musical style and the emergence of native composers such as George Gershwin, who incorporated American idioms into Porgy and Bess (1935), the most frequently performed American opera. Set on Cabbage Row (Gershwin called it Catfish Row) in Charleston, the opera includes a mixture of indigenous Gullah spirituals, hymns, and blues, which Gershwin studied during his 1934 visit to Folly Island.

The two most prominent composers native to the state are Lily Strickland (1887–1958) of Anderson and Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926) of Latta. Strickland incorporated spirituals, lullabies, and ethnic folk music into more than four hundred vocal and instrumental compositions, her most famous being “Mah Lindy Lou.” Floyd, best known for his opera Susannah, has composed several other operas, song cycles, music for piano, and music for orchestra and chorus. Although not native South Carolinians, two other important twentieth-century composers who have impacted musical activity in the state are Ernst Bacon (1898–1990), former dean of and piano professor at Converse College (1938–1945), and Don Gillis (1912–1978), composer in residence and director of the media arts institute at the University of South Carolina from 1973 until his death in 1978.

Musical endeavors continue to prosper in the state’s educational institutions as well as in amateur and professional performing groups such as the Charleston Symphony (founded in 1936), the Greenville Symphony (founded in 1948), and the South Carolina Philharmonic (founded in 1963). South Carolina is also home to the internationally renowned Spoleto Festival, which serves as a forum for traditional

– Excerpted from the entry by Jennifer Ottervik. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)

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