Cultural Models, Landscapes, and Large Dams: an Ethnographic And

CULTURAL MODELS, LANDSCAPES, AND LARGE DAMS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE SANTEE COOPER PROJECT, 1938-1942 by ELIZABETH MARIE HARVEY LOVERN (Under the Direction of J. Peter Brosius) ABSTRACT This work systematically explores the discourse of the human and environmental impact of the Santee Cooper hydroelectric system developed in the South Carolina coastal plain. This federal New Deal government project occurred during 1938-1942 and inundated over 160,000 acres of wetlands and climax forest, displacing many long-time residents, their homes, farms, and communities, with dammed lakes and hydroelectric facilities. A major question addressed by this research is, “How do people perceive large-scale environmental change?” In a text analysis of primary documents, I analyze the discourse strategies the promoters of the development and those protesting it employed to support their assertions about the Santee basin landscape. I then introduce a broader cultural model framework in the form of an oral history ethnography to show how citizens in Berkeley County remember and currently interpret the changes wrought on the local landscape and in their lives. Shared by each of the cultural models through analysis are the themes of progress and destruction attributed to the development of the project. INDEX WORDS: Cultural Models, Landscape Anthropology, Environmental History, Memory, Political Ecology, South Carolina Coastal Plain CULTURAL MODELS, LANDSCAPES, AND LARGE DAMS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE SANTEE COOPER PROJECT, 1938-1942 by ELIZABETH MARIE HARVEY LOVERN B.S., Georgetown University, 1996 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Elizabeth Marie Harvey Lovern All Rights Reserved CULTURAL MODELS, LANDSCAPES, AND LARGE DAMS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE SANTEE COOPER PROJECT, 1938-1942 by ELIZABETH MARIE HARVEY LOVERN Major Professor: J. Peter Brosius Committee: Ervan Garrison Paul Sutter Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2007 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is lovingly dedicated to my parents, Troy and Sallie Harvey v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was funded by a National Science Foundation Cultural Anthropology Dissertation Research Award. The support and encouragement of many people enabled me to complete this dissertation. I would first like to thank Dr. Pete Brosius for accepting me as a student in the middle of my graduate school career and allowing me to follow my interests and goals. He also gave me sound guidance and constructive suggestions at many stages. I admire him for his passion to the discipline and for ensuring that anthropology can make a difference in worldwide conservation efforts. I would also like to thank the distinguished members of my Doctoral Committee: Dr. Ervan Garrison from the Department of Anthropology and Dr. Paul Sutter from the Department of History at the University of Georgia. Their feedback was instrumental in making my dissertation more relevant to the disciplines of anthropology and environmental history. I am also grateful to Dr. Benjamin Blount, who helped to shape my research and interests early in my graduate school career. There is another special person from our Anthropology Department who deserves much of my appreciation. Margie Floyd, our graduate student secretary, gave me compassion and cheer that heartened me as well as helped me with many steps throughout this process. Next I would like to thank those who supported me while I was conducting my research. The participants with whom I engaged in oral history ethnography were so kind, encouraging, and interested in my project. They deserve much of the credit for making the history of Santee Cooper come to life for me. Marietta and Todd Hicks are wonderful for providing me with a great place to stay, and I will never forget their enthusiasm about my project and the helpful leads I received from them. One of the highlights of my field research was sharing and vi discussing the day’s findings with Marietta. I also thank the employees of Santee Cooper I spoke to who were so open and willing to provide me with information, photocopies, pictures, and their time, even on days when I was asking for a lot! Since much of the dissertation also involves the use of archival sources, I want to thank the archivists and librarians who helped me with their extensive knowledge of collections as well as their generosity. The staff at the South Caroliniana Library, the South Carolina Historical Society, Suzanne Krebsbach at Santee Cooper Library, and the staff of the Santee Cooper Archives were most instrumental in my quest for the best materials. I was lucky to receive transcription and editing help from Megan Hall, whose skillful and thorough corrections improved the dissertation immeasurably. The foundation that has allowed me to achieve my academic goals came from my family’s emotional support. They gave me so much time and help these many years. First of all, I owe a lifetime of gratitude to my parents, Sallie and Troy Harvey, for their unconditional love and belief that I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to achieve. They gave me the essential passion for education and instilled in me confidence to follow my dreams. I would not have finished my academic program without the pillars of generosity, grace, and strength that are my in-laws, Aileen and Wayne Lovern. The wholehearted encouragement of Bonnie Harvey, Valerie Alexander, and David Alexander was great because they were always within a phone’s reach to share both burdens and laughter. I also want to thank Emily and Ed Chadwick and Hazel King for their love and support. Finally, I would like to express my love and appreciation for the joy and devotion given to me by my irrepressibly cheerful son Charlie and my steadfast and patient husband Daniel. Words are not enough to express how much they both mean to me. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi PREFACE.................................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Overview ...................................................................................................................1 Theoretical Background ............................................................................................3 Cognitive Anthropology and Cultural Models..........................................................4 Cultural Models and Memory ...................................................................................8 Cultural Models and Landscape..............................................................................11 Environmental History and Landscape ...................................................................17 Political Ecology and Dams ....................................................................................21 Methods...................................................................................................................24 Analysis...................................................................................................................28 Limitations...............................................................................................................30 Organization of the Dissertation .............................................................................32 2 BACKGROUND OF THE SANTEE COOPER BASIN ............................................34 Physical Features.....................................................................................................34 History and Ecology in the Basin Landscape..........................................................36 Historical Beginnings of Santee Cooper .................................................................54 3 PROMOTING A LANDSCAPE OF PROGRESS......................................................69 viii The Architects of Change ......................................................................................72 A Schema of Progress .............................................................................................76 Industry, Opportunity, and Prosperity ....................................................................80 Electricity, Employment, and Transportation ........................................................88 Natural Resources ...................................................................................................95 Outside or Inside the Main Model: Two Political Schemas..................................100 Summary ...............................................................................................................110 4 DECRYING THE DESTRUCTION OF A LANDSCAPE.......................................113 The Protestors of Change ......................................................................................113 Destruction and Loss of Homes and Land ............................................................117 Doubt over the Project...........................................................................................128

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