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).
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.
Reviewed by Darryl Woods: The conceit of this nonfiction book about the hit 90’s sitcom Seinfeld is that Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and the writers of the show were able to create a strange cross-dimensional plateau where the lines between real lives and fictional characters meet and those lines become blurred.
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.
A Young Adult novel by Elizabeth Wein This YA title is the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Code Name Verity, but familiarity with that book is not necessary to enjoy this one. To be honest, the ongoing exposition at the beginning of this World War II novel is a little taxing, but there is a pay-off for those who stick with […]
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.
after Lucille Clifton | For people who believe: # Black Lives Don’t Matter
By Glenis Redmond, special to Charleston Currents
I wish you the ability to bear only black fruit
I wish you only sons
I wish them black
spilled from your loins like black ink
I wish you code words like: inner city urban hip-hop
I wish you Baltimore, DC, Newark, Philly, Ferguson, Charleston, Charlotte
and Greenville and so on…
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.
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.
Reviewed by Delores Schweitzer: “Hamilton, winner of 11 Tony awards, is the hottest show on Broadway and has generated phenomenal interest in the Founding Fathers, as reinterpreted for modern day America. With show tickets near-impossible to come by, it’s nice to know you can experience the history, culture and music of Hamilton at your local library. “
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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