Charleston Currents

Features

HISTORY: South Caroliniana Library

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).

The structure contains design elements from several architects, most notably the South Carolina native and federal architect Robert Mills. A typical Mills architectural feature is the curved stairway leading to the second-floor reading room, which was closely modeled after the original Library of Congress.

by Charleston Currents · 12/11/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

PALMETTO POEM: Two poems by Tim Conroy

A poem by Tim Conroy:

Is there a safe path
even with a light aimed
perfectly on the walkway
or upon the camellia bushes?
We imagine a world
with shadows everywhere,
lurking to steal lives….

by Palmetto Poem · 12/04/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

REVIEW: Magpie Murders

By Whitney Lebron, Mount Pleasant Regional Library | Susan Ryeland, editor for London based Clover books, receives a manuscript for the latest of the well-known and loved Atticus Pünd series by a not so endearing author Alan Conway. Thinking it’ll be the same traditional formula that has proven highly successful, Susan is caught off guard when she becomes convinced that there is a hidden story of real-life greed and ambition in the manuscript.

by Charleston Currents · 12/04/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: South Carolina barbecue

S.C. Encyclopedia | South Carolina barbecue is slowly cooked, hand-pulled or shredded pork that is flavored with a tangy sauce and usually served with side dishes such as rice, hash, coleslaw, sweet pickles, white bread, and iced tea. Barbecue often is served on festive occasions such as holidays, family reunions, weddings, church and community fundraisers, football tailgating parties, and political meetings. It varies widely across the state with respect to cooking methods, cuts of pork, sauce type, and side dishes served. Barbecue is often the topic of friendly debate since many South Carolinians have strong preferences for particular types that reflect the cultural character and identity of specific regions or places.

by Charleston Currents · 12/04/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Nonfiction by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan Reviewed by Jen McQueen, Mount Pleasant Regional Library | A few years ago, I complained to my husband that I just couldn’t get all of my work done — at home or on the job. He suggested that I delegate almost everything except the tasks that only I could do. Since I already […]

by Charleston Currents · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Edisto Memorial Gardens

S.C. Encyclopedia | Edisto Gardens were established in the 1920s when azaleas were planted to beautify five acres in the city of Orangeburg. “Memorial” was added to the garden’s name in 1950, and a large fountain at the entrance honors the memory of those who gave their lives in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and in Vietnam. Located on the Edisto River, the gardens feature Horne Wetlands Park, where a boardwalk, boat dock, gazebo, and educational interpretative shelter allow visitors to appreciate the flora and fauna of a free-flowing black-water river surrounded by old tupelo and cypress trees.

by Charleston Currents · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The Couple Next Door

The Couple Next Door (2016) is Shari Lapena’s first foray into the thriller genre and it is a winner. Anne and Marco Conti are good friends with their next-door neighbors, Cynthia and Graham. A dinner party planned for Cynthia’s house is in jeopardy because the Conti’s babysitter called off. Marco talks his wife into leaving the six-month old home alone, provided they check on her every 30 minutes. Anne is reluctant, but agrees. All is well until they decide to go home around 1:00 am and find the front door ajar and the baby gone.

by Charleston Currents · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

HISTORY: Debutante balls

S.C. Encyclopedia | The debutante ball as a rite of passage for young girls probably evolved from a seventeenth-century European custom in which aristocratic families presented their daughters at court to help them find suitable husbands. While a debutante may be presented to South Carolina society at an individual ball, tea dance, or other party given by her parents, the social events that accompany the debutante season across the state usually revolve around the official debutante balls held by organizations created specifically for that purpose.

by Charleston Currents · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

Medals of Honor awarded by the three branches of the U.S. military. Left to right are the Army, Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps, and Air Force. (Source: Wikipedia.)

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: S.C. Medal of Honor recipients

S.C. Encyclopedia | Approved by the United States Congress in 1862, the Medal of Honor is America’s highest award for military valor. Thirty native South Carolinians have been awarded the medal for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” above that of their comrades in arms. On rare occasions the Medal of Honor has been awarded for individual exploits taking place in peacetime. Among them is Shipfitter First Class George Huber Wheeler of Charleston, who received the award for extraordinary heroism during a fire at Coquimbo, Chile, on January 20, 1909.

The first South Carolinian to receive the award during military action was Ernest A. Garlington of Newberry, who earned the honor for “distinguished gallantry” against the Sioux Indians at the Battle of Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. Early in the following century, naval surgeon Middleton Stuart Elliott of Beaufort and Commander William A. Moffett of Charleston each received the decoration during hostilities against Mexican forces at Vera Cruz in April 1914.

by Charleston Currents · 11/13/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

PALMETTO POEM: It’s the Journey That Counts

Standing at the cockpit door, you told me,
Let’s go. Let’s sail beyond
How far beyond, I asked as we glided through the harbor.
Rusty boats at anchor, lines tightening like a noose.

Remember when the storm smacked us into a trough
and we jibed? You threw the tiller over and I
yanked at the mainsail.
I didn’t know it would be so hard….