Charleston Currents – Special to Charleston Currents

Articles by: Special to Charleston Currents

HISTORY: Joseph Alston, governor

Scion of one of the great rice planting families of Georgetown District, Joseph Alston was born ca. 1778, the son of William “King Billy” Alston and Mary Ashe. Educated by private tutors, Alston attended the College of Charleston from 1793 to 1794. In 1795 he entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), but withdrew before graduating. Alston studied law under Edward Rutledge, who predicted a brilliant future for his pupil. Admitted to the bar in 1799, Alston practiced only occasionally, devoting his career to the management of his extensive rice plantations in All Saints Parish, comprising 6,287 acres and 204 slaves.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/31/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: South Caroliniana Library

S.C. Encyclopedia | The South Caroliniana Library building was completed in 1840 as the central library building for South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina). It was the first freestanding college library building in the United States, predating those of Harvard (1841), Yale (1846), and Princeton (1873).

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/24/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Susan Pringle Frost (1873-1960)

S.C. Encyclopedia | Susan Pringle Frost was born in Charleston on January 21, 1873, the daughter of Dr. Francis LeJau Frost and Rebecca Brewton Pringle. With ties to several distinguished Charleston families dating back to the eighteenth century, Frost seemed destined to be a lady of leisure following a privileged childhood and two years (1889-1891) at the prominent Saint Mary’s Episcopal boarding school in Raleigh, North Carolina.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/17/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Hurricanes

S.C. Encyclopedia | The term “hurricane” comes from the West Indian word “huracan,” which means “big wind” and is used to describe severe tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/09/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Bernice Robinson (1914-1994)

S.C. Encyclopedia | Educator and civil rights activist Bernice Violanthe Robinson was born in Charleston on February 7, 1914. Her father was a bricklayer, plasterer, and tile setter, which made the family financially independent. As such, Robinson’s parents discouraged their nine children from seeking jobs as domestic workers in white Charleston homes. Robinson grew to realize the value of education, a lesson that served her well. She married in the 1930s and had a daughter, Jacquelyn, but her husband left to find work and never returned. During the 1940s Robinson left Charleston for New York City with intentions of becoming a musician. Instead she worked in garment factories, as a beautician, and eventually as a civil servant. In New York she enjoyed the privilege of living in a nonsegregated community.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/03/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Esau Jenkins

S.C. Encyclopedia | Born on July 3, 1910, on Johns Island, Jenkins was the only child of Peter Jenkins and Eva Campbell. He was forced to end his formal education in the fourth grade to help supplement the family’s income. At age seventeen, he married Janie Jones. Of their thirteen children, seven survived, all of whom earned college degrees.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/26/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Football in South Carolina

S.C. Encyclopedia | South Carolinians have been playing football since the late nineteenth century. The sport was first played in the Northeast, and in the decades after the Civil War it spread south as cultural ties between the regions were reestablished. College students were the first to play the game, and club teams were formed on campuses across the state. As the sport became more popular, official college teams were organized and intercollegiate play began.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/19/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: The Post and Courier

S.C. Encyclopedia | Published in Charleston, the Post and Courier is the oldest daily newspaper in South Carolina. The publication’s lineage can be traced through three newspapers. The oldest, the Charleston Courier, began publication on January 10, 1803. It was founded by Massachusetts native Aaron Smith Willington and several partners. The newspaper opposed nullification in the 1830s and secession in the 1850s, ensuring that it would remain in conflict with its chief rival, the pro-states’-rights Charleston Mercury. The Charleston Courier advocated secession in 1860 but counseled moderation during the Civil War. The newspaper was seized by William T. Sherman’s army at the close of the war and was briefly published by two Union war correspondents. In November 1865 control of the paper was turned over to Charleston native Thomas Y. Simons under the auspices of A. S. Willington & Co.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/12/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Loggerhead turtle, state reptile

S.C. Encyclopedia | The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), a threatened species, was named the state reptile in an act signed by Gov. Carroll Campbell on June 1, 1988. Recognizing the loggerhead as “an important part of the marine ecosystem” and that South Carolina’s coastline provides “some of the most pristine nesting areas” for the turtle on the East Coast, the General Assembly declared that the state’s responsibility is “to preserve and protect our wildlife and natural resources.”

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/05/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Ernest F. Hollings

S.C. Encyclopedia | “Fritz” Hollings was born in Charleston on New Year’s Day 1922 to the salesman Adolph G. Hollings and Wilhelmine Meyer. He received his bachelor of arts degree from the Citadel in 1942 and entered the U.S. Army, serving in World War II in North Africa and France. On his return from the war in 1945, Hollings entered the University of South Carolina School of Law. On March 30, 1946, he married Martha Patricia Salley. They had five children, two of whom died young. Hollings received his bachelor of laws degree in 1947 and joined the Charleston law firm of Meyer, Goldberg and Hollings.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 08/29/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia