Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth-Century Tourism

University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2006-7: Penn Humanities Forum Undergraduate Travel Research Fellows April 2007 Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth-Century Tourism Ellen Louise Mossman University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2007 Mossman, Ellen Louise, "Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth- Century Tourism" (2007). Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2006-7: Travel. 6. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2007/6 2006-2007 Penn Humanities Forum on Travel, Undergraduate Mellon Research Fellows. URL: http://humanities.sas.upenn.edu/06-07/uhf_fellows.shtml This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2007/6 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth- Century Tourism Abstract An innocuous tourist pamphlet? The hyperbolic claim of a self-important city? Or the relics of slavery-era paternalism and nostalgia in a twentieth century Southern city dominated by an elite class obsessed with heritage. The associations that leap from this pamphlet, published and widely distributed in the 1930s and 1940s advertising Charleston as a tourist destination for those seeking the aesthetic and historic, raise illuminating questions about the nature of tourism in Charleston. The artist could have chosen anybody to hold the door open to the incoming public, but he chose an elderly black gentleman, grasping the gate with a huge grin on his face, having taken his hat off, and with a slightly bowed posture. Inside the gate, the luscious gardens and blooming azaleas beckon, along with the steeples of the city’s churches in the distance. The image, in short, seems to invite a very specific audience into Charleston. This brochure markets Charleston tourism as packaged for tourists seeking to go back to olden times; they desired to view gardens, historic houses and landmarks, and in essence experience the Charleston of an antebellum planter, complete with a happily subservient and very visible black population. Comments 2006-2007 Penn Humanities Forum on Travel, Undergraduate Mellon Research Fellows. URL: http://humanities.sas.upenn.edu/06-07/uhf_fellows.shtml This presentation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2007/6 Charming Charleston Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth-Century Tourism Ellen Louise Mossman, College ‘07 University of Pennsylvania 2006-2007 Penn Humanities Forum on Travel Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellow Final Project Paper April 2007 Excerpted from Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in History Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellowship Paper Ellen Louise Mossman 10 Introduction Charleston: Opening the Gate for Tourists to Stop and Smell the Proverbial Flowers An innocuous tourist pamphlet? The hyperbolic claim of a self-important city? Or the relics of slavery-era paternalism and nostalgia in a twentieth century Southern city dominated by an elite class obsessed with heritage. The associations that leap from this pamphlet, published and widely distributed in the 1930s and 1940s advertising Charleston as a tourist destination for those seeking the aesthetic and historic, raise illuminating questions about the nature of tourism in Charleston. The artist could have chosen anybody to hold the door open to the incoming public, but he chose an elderly black gentleman, grasping the gate with a huge grin on his face, having taken his hat off, and with a slightly bowed posture. Inside the gate, the luscious gardens and blooming azaleas beckon, along with the steeples of the city’s churches in the distance. The image, in short, seems to invite a very specific audience into Charleston. This brochure markets Charleston tourism as packaged for tourists seeking to go back to olden times; they desired to view gardens, historic houses and landmarks, and in essence experience the Charleston of an antebellum planter, complete with a happily subservient and very visible black population. In a twenty-first century mindset, this sort of racial stereotyping and idealization of a history wrought with injustice and conflict is baffling. This prevalent idealization of a charming past, clinging to the relics, modes and manners of a time gone by, prevailed in twentieth century Charleston, especially as conveyed to the touring population. Twentieth century tourism in Charleston was marked by an adherence to the old over the new, the persistence of a southern tradition and the portrait of uncontroversial and nostalgic race relations. This work will trace the evolution of these trends— exploring the reasons for their origins, manifestations in Charleston through the 1970s and how Charleston’s portrayals of the past aided its touristic development. Charleston’s antiquated and persistent social hierarchy, a relic from its colonization that resembled an aristocracy, allowed the producers of Charleston’s commemorated past to be particularly rigid to any types of change. Instead, Charleston’s promoters of memory clung to ideas of the city as Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellowship Paper Ellen Louise Mossman 11 historic and romantic, adherent to the ideals of the Old South, including patronizing racial stereotypes and an idealized history. The Charleston that these elites presented to the world, through their influence in the city government, tourist organizations, preservation societies and cultural endeavors such as art and prose was of a charming city—“Historic and Picturesque Charleston,” “America’s Most Historic City.”1 This image presented thus shaped both what tourists desired to see and actually viewed in Charleston, enjoying their journey into the past with untroubled eyes, tourists saw an “untainted” Charleston mostly blind to the problems confronting what was a twentieth century city. Irregularities appeared in this pattern from time to time, when the tensions of the present day collided with the commemoration of the past, such as in the development of industry, and in the escalation of the Civil Rights Movement. Yet for the most part, the image that tourists and elite Charlestonians preferred was the romantic and nostalgic image of a time gone by, where beauty and tradition were valued over progress and modernity. This thesis will explore the aforementioned topics thematically, emphasizing tourism trends in Charleston in their relation to overarching trends of the twentieth century: modernization and industrialization, sectional and regional differences and racial friction. The first chapter will delve into the background information necessary to understand the thematic trends in Charleston. First it will explore Charleston’s history, which had a great influence on the tourism industry as it appeared in the twentieth century and on the nature of Charleston’s elite population. It will also delve briefly into tourism theory, exploring the desires of tourists and how organizations go about gratifying these desires. The crux of the chapter will explore, through use of primary sources, the development of various tourism organizations in Charleston, from the city government and the Chamber of Commerce to preservation organizations founded through the course of the century. Finally, because much of understanding Charleston relies on a visual image and plan of the city, this first Chapter will end with a survey of the types of tourist attractions, their locations and the various historic images they project. 1 These are titles of various pamphlets, guidebooks or promotional materials produced in and about Charleston. All are from the Historic Charleston Foundation Archives, Charleston, SC. Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellowship Paper Ellen Louise Mossman 12 The second chapter establishes Charlestonians’ urban mindset, both in their rigidity to change and their responses to the modern demands of industry and tourism. I argue that the Charlestonians’ reluctance to accept modern changes stemmed from their deeply engrained elite blood lines and their commitment to preserving this pseudo-aristocracy through a celebration of their collective family histories. The confrontation between Charleston and industrial development in the twentieth century had complicated implications. On the one hand, industry would help Charleston’s economic revitalization, greatly needed after times of economic depression, and bring Charleston into the twentieth century; on the other hand, industry would threaten the integrity of their historical endeavors and façade, corrupting the skyline with smoke and de-emphasizing bloodlines over bank accounts with the influx of commercial adventurers. This opposition to industry and the desire to celebrate and conserve the past led to the development of a slew of preservation organizations and efforts, which in turn aided in bringing travelers to Charleston. Ironically, many tourists in fact demanded certain modern comforts and amenities, a repeated dilemma for the promoters of Charleston in blending the past and present in an authentic and aesthetically pleasing way. The third chapter delves into the experiences of Northern tourists in Charleston, their fascination with certain aspects of Charleston’s history and manners, and the Charlestonians’ responses to this invasion of Yankees. Northern

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