Charleston Currents

Redcliffe Plantation, now a state historic site.

HISTORY: Redcliffe

Constructed between 1857 and 1859, Redcliffe was the homeplace of South Carolina Governor James Henry Hammond and three generations of his descendants. Located in western Aiken County near Beech Island, Redcliffe served as an architectural and horticultural showplace, as well as the center of domestic life for the Hammond family. By 1860 it functioned primarily as a headquarters for Hammond’s extensive cotton plantations, which were sustained by more than three hundred slaves.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The Martian

The Martian: A novel by Andy Weir. Mark Watney is pretty much the perfect man: a problem-solver with a wry sense of humor, he thinks on his feet and is cool under pressure. Unfortunately, he’s an astronaut stranded on Mars and left for dead with literally the entire Universe working against him. Fortunately, he’s Spaceman MacGyver and can build a new spaceship out of canvas, duct tape and potatoes. Ok, I exaggerate, but not by much.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Christopher Gadsden

Patriot and merchant Christopher Gadsden was born in Charleston on February 16, 1724, the son of Elizabeth and Thomas Gadsden, a collector of customs.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/13/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Under the Dome

If ever there was a book with a theme, this is it, and King wants you to know it: A person may be smart and reasonable, but a group of people are easily manipulated by fear and are in no way reasonable.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/13/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

Columbia, after Sherman's troops went through in 1865

HISTORY: Last months of the Civil War

End of the Civil War: Whether bitter amid defeat, devastation, and memories of the past or optimistic amid victory, freedom, and expectations for the future, South Carolinians would struggle with the results—and the legacy—of the war for generations to come.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/06/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Girls Like Us

Biddy and Quincy, two young women with mental disabilities, have graduated from high school and been placed together as roommates in the home of Miss Lizzy, an older woman in their community who is in need of assistance. They are as different as can be — Biddy, sweet and pliable; and Quincy, hostile and aggressively independent — except for their mutual experiences of abuse, neglect, and insults.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/06/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Mules

A mule is a hybrid animal that results from breeding a male donkey with a female horse. Although mules have gender (males are called “horse mules” and females “mare mules”), they are sterile and cannot reproduce.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The Quiet Streets of Winslow

The Quiet Streets of Winslow is a starkly beautiful work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. The calm, lyric tone of Judy Troy’s prose takes her reader away to the sparse, open spaces of northern Arizona and into the hearts of her characters.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews