Charleston Currents

HISTORY: Francis Butler Simkins

S.C. Encyclopedia | Historian Francis Butler Simkins was born on December 14, 1897, in Edgefield, the son of Samuel McGowan Simkins and Sarah Raven Lewis. He attended school in Edgefield and in 1918 received his B.A. from the University of South Carolina. He attended Columbia University in New York City and earned his M.A. in 1920 and a Ph.D. in 1926. In 1928 he accepted a position at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia, and remained there until his retirement in 1966, except for various positions at other institutions as a visiting professor.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/18/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois

A novel by Sophie Perinot, reviewed by Darcy Coover: Opening in 1564, Médicis Daughter recounts the early life of Marguerite of Valois, the last surviving member of the French House of Valois.

by Charleston Currents · 04/11/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Public health

S.C. Encyclopedia | The historian Edward H. Beardsley concluded that the story of public health in South Carolina is a “history of neglect.” Indeed, since 1914, when data on vital statistics in South Carolina were first collected, the state’s residents have been significantly less healthy than most Americans.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/11/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Parable of the Sower

Fiction by Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower was written in 1993 and is considered a classic amongst lovers of realistic dystopian literature. There are no zombies, vampires or modern-day gladiator games; only the harsh reality of world order destroyed by greed.

by Charleston Currents · 04/04/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: South Carolina’s mottoes

S.C. Encyclopedia | South Carolina has two official mottoes. These were engraved on the original great seal in 1777: “Animis opibusque parati” and “Dum spero spiro.”

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/04/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

PALMETTO POEM: Charcoal

Palmetto Poem by Vera Gómez

Charcoal can be found almost anywhere
there has been fire. Among the ash,
dust to dust, among the embers set aglow.
Almost anywhere: in the streak
of teared-lace mascara, in the remnant
of a striked match, in the man cremated.

by Palmetto Poem · 04/04/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

REVIEW: When Crickets Cry

Marilyn Bowman, Edisto Island Public Library: “This book looks at how different people react to tragedies in their lives, yet it is very uplifting. A man who has an unexplained tragedy in his past meets a 7-year-old girl who is living a tragedy in her life now. However, the author makes us love these characters and ultimately come to root for them.”

by Charleston Currents · 03/28/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: S.C. Christian Action Council

S.C. Encyclopedia | The South Carolina Christian Action Council is a statewide ecumenical agency embracing many of the state’s major Christian denominations. It provides educational programs for its constituents and a Christian witness in public affairs. Its origins can be traced to 1933 and the formation of the South Carolina Federated Forces for Temperance and Law Observance. Temperance education and alcohol control provided the focus of activity in the early years.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 03/28/2016 · Comments are Disabled · S.C. Encyclopedia

CALENDAR, March 21+: “Shear Madness” to Easter to wining it down

On the calendar for the week of March 21, 2016 — Shear Madness, Easter Promenade, Goat Island oyster roast, “A Sudden Spontaneous Event, more.

by Charleston Currents · 03/21/2016 · Comments are Disabled · calendar, Features, Uncategorized

HISTORY: S.C. Public Service Authority

S.C. Encyclopedia | The South Carolina Public Service Authority was established by the General Assembly in 1934 with the power to provide for navigation and flood control on the Santee, Congaree and Cooper Rivers; to generate electricity; to reclaim swampland; and to reforest the state’s watersheds. The prospect of using New Deal funds to build a hydroelectric generating station in the Lowcountry excited many of that area’s powerful legislators. These men envisioned a small industrial empire in the Lowcountry, supplied with Santee Cooper power. They created the Public Service Authority to negotiate with and receive funding from the federal government.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 03/21/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia