Charleston Currents

HISTORY: Civilian Conservation Corps

S.C. Encyclopedia | President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a New Deal federal initiative that put millions of unemployed men to work on conservation projects. Initially known as the Emergency Conservation Work program, the CCC represented an unprecedented effort to combine social welfare with conservation on public and private lands. Between 1933 and 1942 South Carolina’s CCC camps employed more than 49,000 workers, many between the ages of 18 and 25. In countless hours of backbreaking and often tedious work, CCC workers fought soil erosion and wildfires, created a state parks system, built roads and trails, erected fire towers, and carried out extensive reforestation projects. Wages sent home by CCC workers helped many families weather the Great Depression.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Inside the O’Briens

Inside the O’Briens: I recently read the new book by Lisa Genova, called Inside the O’Briens. I loved her first book, Still Alice, as well. Genova is a neuroscientist, and although she writes fiction, her books explore various neurological issues, and it’s obvious that she knows what she’s talking about.

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

PALMETTO POEM: Music of doves ascending

Music of doves ascending, by Marjory Wentworth:
Yellow crime tape tied to the rod iron fence
weaves through bouquets of flowers
and wreaths made of white ribbons,
like rivers of bright pain flowing through the hours.

by Palmetto Poem · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

HISTORY: South Carolina’s connection to Barbados

S.C. Encyclopedia | One of the enduring myths of American history is the centuries-old assertion that the thirteen original colonies were “English” colonies. While they were governed by the English, the colonies were not peopled only by individuals of English ancestry.

by Charleston Currents · 09/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Factory Man

The Bassett Furniture Company, once the world’s largest wood furniture manufacturer, was run by the same powerful Virginia family for generations.

by Charleston Currents · 09/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Early S.C. gardens

S.C. Encyclopedia | Both home and commercial gardening were essential to the survival of colonial settlements in South Carolina. Early commercial growing was limited to fruit and vegetable crops grown near towns, and consisted mostly of small plots surrounded by wattle or split rail “worm” fences. Home gardening included mostly food crops that could be pickled or stored dry, as the winter climate was too warm for root cellars. Few vegetables were eaten raw, and being more fibrous than today’s varieties, were usually overcooked. To this day, the term sallet or sallet greens is applied by some rural South Carolinians to greens grown to be cooked: mustard, turnip, and rape, for example.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 08/31/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Hausfrau: a novel

On Hausfrau: You would think that Anna, a 37-year-old American, would be a happy and content person. She’s married to a handsome Swiss banker, has a nice home, three beautiful children, and lives in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. However, Anna is miserable. She’s never learned Schwiizerdutsch, which is the language spoken in the Zurich region. It’s similar to German, but enough differences make it difficult to understand. She really hasn’t learned German either, even though she’s lived there for nine years.

by Charleston Currents · 08/31/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Prisons and penitentiaries

S.C. Encyclopedia | The first significant jail in South Carolina, a twelve-foot square designed to accommodate sixteen prisoners, was built in Charleston in 1769. Additional jails were built following the division of South Carolina into judicial districts. According to one account, “These jails were forbidding structures, reared to prevent escape and make life gloomy for their inmates.”

by Special to Charleston Currents · 08/17/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Carsick, a film by John Waters

John Waters is commonly known as the Prince of Puke, the Pope of Trash, or just a plain weirdo. In Carsick, Waters chronicles his real-life hitchhiking journey from Baltimore to San Francisco.

by Charleston Currents · 08/17/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

REVIEW: The Travels of Daniel Ascher

A novel by Déborah Lévy-Bertherat, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter: Don’t let the size of this book fool you—it’s petite but rich in historical scope, emotional depth, and intricately woven story lines. In The Travels of Daniel Ascher, Hélène is a student at the Institute of Archaeology in Paris, occupying a room in her frequently traveling great-uncle’s home.

by Charleston Currents · 08/10/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia