Charleston Currents

HISTORY: Voorhees College

S.C. Encyclopedia | Located in Denmark, Voorhees College is a four-year liberal arts undergraduate institution. Founded in 1897 by Elizabeth Evelyn Wright and Jessie Dorsey, the school was first known as the Denmark Industrial School and was based on Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute. Wright was Washington’s protégée and had determined that she wanted to “be the same type of woman as Mr. Washington was of a man.” On graduation she set out for South Carolina to develop a second Tuskegee.

by Charleston Currents · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The Bees

The Bees, A novel by Laline Paull — Worker bee Flora 717 does not calmly enter into this world; she explodes into it, tearing through the waxy constraints of her womb room. Born into the lowest caste of the hive, Flora should be a mute bee who works her sanitation job diligently and without question, but that’s not the case.

by Charleston Currents · 11/23/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Josephine Lyons Scott Pinckney

S.C. Encyclopedia | Josephine Pinckney was born January 25, 1895, at Charleston into a family long prominent in the state’s history. She was a direct descendant of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Governor Thomas Pinckney.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/23/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Operation Lost Trust

S.C. Encyclopedia | Operation Lost Trust was arguably South Carolina’s largest and longest-running political scandal. Including the investigation, trials, and retrials, the Operation Lost Trust saga extended from 1989 to 1999.

by Charleston Currents · 11/16/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

POEM: Written at the North

By Samuel Henry Dickson

I sigh for the land of the Cypress and Pine,
Where the Jessamine blooms, and the gay Woodbine;
Where the moss droops low from the green Oak tree,
Oh! that sunbright land is the land for me.

by Palmetto Poem · 11/09/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

A run-down motel in Allendale, S.C. Photo by Michael Kaynard.

REVIEW: Deep South

Deep South, Nonfiction by Paul Theroux

Reviewed by Andy Brack | Noted travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux’s new book about our region, Deep South, causes me to have very mixed reactions. On more than one occasion, I wondered, “Where does this guy get off saying that?” And I grab the book and want to hurl it through the window. These fits particularly came after one of Theroux’s elitist, degrading attempts at phonetically capturing the Southern accent.

by Andy Brack · 11/09/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Allendale County, S.C.

S.C. Encyclopedia | Formed in 1919, Allendale is South Carolina’s youngest county, yet it contains the oldest known human habitation in the state. Archaeological investigations in Allendale have found evidence of human settlement dating back more than sixteen thousand years. These prehistoric people used “Allendale Chert” in making stone tools.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/09/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

HISTORY: Boykin Spaniel

S.C. Encyclopedia | The Boykin spaniel was originally bred in South Carolina before the 1920s. This amiable, small, dark brown retriever is a superb hunter and loving family pet. It was bred to provide an ideal dog for hunting fowl in the swamps along the Wateree River, which demanded a sturdy, compact dog built for boat travel and capable of retrieving on land or water.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/02/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Evolutionary Enlightenment

Nonfiction by Andrew Cohen: Up until recently, the sages of the past had a set formula and definition for enlightenment. Though the paths to enlightenment are varied and individualistic, the final goal is to transcend the ego and achieve unshakable peace. In Evolutionary Enlightenment Andrew Cohen proposes a new goal, a new awakened consciousness, expanding on the teachings of ancient sages.

by Charleston Currents · 11/02/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

REVIEW: Moriarty

Moriarty is the second in the Sherlock Holmes series by Anthony Horowitz, the first being House of Silk. This is one of the few written works endorsed by Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. The plots from these two books are completely different and therefore they do not have to be read in order.

by Charleston Currents · 10/26/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews