216 Pages) South Caroliniana Library--University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina Scholar Commons University South Caroliniana Society - Annual South Caroliniana Library Report of Gifts 4-28-2018 Caroliniana Society Annual Gifts Report - 2018 (216 pages) South Caroliniana Library--University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/scs_anpgm Part of the Library and Information Science Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation University South Caroliniana Society. (2018). "2018 Caroliniana Society Annual Gifts Report." Columbia, SC: The ocS iety. This Newsletter is brought to you by the South Caroliniana Library at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in University South Caroliniana Society - Annual Report of Gifts yb an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The The South Carolina South Caroliniana College Library Library 1840 1940 THE UNIVERSITY SOUTH CAROLINIANA SOCIETY EIGHTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Saturday, April 28, 2018 Mr. Wilmot B. Irvin, President, Presiding Luncheon . ....... ...... .......................... 12:00 p.m. Capstone Campus Room Business Meeting Welcome Reports of the Executive Council ... ......... Mr. Wilmot B. Irvin Address ............................... Dr. Barbara L. Bellows 2018 Report of Gifts to the Library by Members of the Society Announced at the 82nd Meeting of the University South Caroliniana Society (the Friends of the Library) Annual Program 28 April 2018 World War I: A Century Later – 2017 Keynote Address - Mr. A. Scott Berg Gifts of Manuscript South Caroliniana Gifts of Printed South Caroliniana Gifts of Pictorial South Caroliniana Endowments and Funds to Benefit the Library Guardian Society and New Members South Caroliniana Library (Columbia, SC) A special collection documenting all periods of South Carolina history. http://library.sc.edu/socar University of South Carolina Contact – [email protected] PRESIDENTS THE UNIVERSITY SOUTH CAROLINIANA SOCIETY 1937–1943 ............................................................................. M.L. Bonham 1944–1953 .................................................................... J. Heyward Gibbes 1954 ................................................................................. Samuel L. Prince 1954–1960 ........................................................ Caroline McKissick Belser 1960–1963 ................................................................. James H. Hammond 1963–1966 .................................................................. Robert H. Wienefeld 1966–1969 ....................................................................... Edwin H. Cooper 1969–1972 ..................................................................... Claude H. Neuffer 1972–1974 ..................................................................... Henry Savage, Jr. 1974–1978 ........................................................... William D. Workman, Jr. 1978–1981 ......................................................................... Daniel W. Hollis 1981–1984 ...........................................................................Mary H. Taylor 1984–1987 ......................................................................... Walter B. Edgar 1987–1990 ......................................................................... Flynn T. Harrell 1990–1993 ................................................................. Walton J. McLeod III 1993–1996 ............................................................................ Jane C. Davis 1996–1999 .......................................................................... Harvey S. Teal 1999–2000 ................................................................ Harry M. Lightsey, Jr. 2001 ............................................................................... Ronald E. Bridwell 2002–2005 ........................................................................ John B. McLeod 2005–2008 ............................................................................. Steve Griffith 2008–2011 .................................................................. Robert K. Ackerman 2011–2017 ...................................................................... Kenneth L. Childs 2017– .................................................................................. Wilmot B. Irvin WORLD WAR I: A CENTURY LATER 81ST ANNUAL MEETING ADDRESS ADDRESS BY MR. A. SCOTT BERG (Presented 22 April 2017) It is a genuine pleasure being back in Columbia, where I addressed some of you a few years ago on the subject of favorite son Woodrow Wilson. This afternoon, I will talk about the most crucial event in his life and, in many ways, the most important but least known event of the last century—World War I. For the last two or three years, every country in Europe has been commemorating this catastrophe, while here in the United States, there has been virtually no conversation on the subject, despite our nation’s entering the war exactly one hundred years ago this month. For Americans, I’m sorry to say, the First World War has become an almost forgotten incident; and I find that neglect historically criminal. Wars are game-changers—each with milestones that mark turning points in history. World War I has left the United States the most lasting legacy of all the wars in modern times—more reminders than any event in the last century, changes that affect our very identity—who we are as a nation. And yet, it steadily recedes in the public memory. I will take these next few minutes as an opportunity to recollect our past as we reconsider the present. In order to appreciate the impact of this great cataclysm, it bears my recalling a few significant points about Woodrow Wilson, who was not only the most commanding voice of the age but also, in my opinion, the most influential figure of the Twentieth Century. Beyond the fact that I consider his the most dramatic personal story ever to unfold in the White 3 House, his influence continues to be felt in this country and around the world to this day. In order to understand the ways in which his influence flowered, it would help to consider his roots, not least of all those in this city’s soil. Above all, one needs to know that Woodrow Wilson was the most religious president this country has ever had. Now, I know we have had a lot of presidents who were religious—usually about once every four years, when they got very religious. Woodrow Wilson was religious every moment of his life. This was a man who got on his knees twice a day to pray, who read Scripture every night, and who said grace before every meal. Every thought, every deed, every word Woodrow Wilson ever spoke was informed by his religion. As many of you in this city know, he was descended from generations of Presbyterian ministers; and if you ever have any question about how his religion came to him, go to his boyhood house here in Columbia and then step into the glorious First Presbyterian Church nearby. Sitting in a pew up front, one can easily imagine the sermons delivered in his father’s booming voice and how a boy would think he was listening to the voice of God. The second thing to remember about Wilson is that after the Civil War, he was the first Southerner to be elected President of the United States. This was a monumentally historic fact, because, until that election in 1912, it appeared as though the United States of America might never be truly reunited. The country began coming together because of the Southernness of Woodrow Wilson—something often overlooked or simply forgotten: Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, in 1856, and was raised in Augusta, Georgia, and then here in Columbia. He spent about a year in Wilmington, before going to Davidson College in North Carolina. Not until he went to Princeton, New Jersey, for his four undergraduate 4 years, did he leave the South, toting its history and lore with him. Wilson’s first memory—one he talked about for the rest of his life— lingered from when he was three and a half and living in Augusta, in November of 1860: he heard somebody say, “Lincoln just won the election. There’s going to be a war.” Young Woodrow Wilson—called “Tommy” in those days—carried that memory with him for the rest of his life. Beyond that, he remembered the war in Augusta and how it had struck his family. He remembered the devastation, the deprivation, and, ultimately, the degradation of that war as the Wilsons moved to Columbia (S.C.). He remembered Reconstruction, which troubled him deeply, recogniz- ing that the era was fraught with corruption and that many of the governmental institutions had become a mockery. Thus, this period— especially his years in Georgia and South Carolina—shaped Woodrow Wilson; and how could they not? He never shook his bitter memories of the war, all of which were haunting enough to make him fight with every fiber to keep his country out of the First World War, as you will soon hear. Woodrow Wilson, you should remember, is the only President of the United States to have grown up in a country that lost a war—the Confederate States of America; and like several succeeding generations of Southerners, he carried those psychic wounds. The third major point to remember about Wilson is that he still stands as the most educated president the nation has ever produced. After his false start at Davidson, he attended Princeton where he proved to be a tireless and brilliant scholar. He read law at the University

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