History of Communication How do people communicate? Communicating People have been finding ways to communicate with each other for thousands in South Carolina of years. At first, information could only be shared through spoken word and in the 21st Century stories passed down through generations as folklore. South Carolinians have found unique ways to communicate information to each other King Charles of England ordered the colonial governors for the last 350 years! Today, we still use some of these techniques. People learn Some cultures started sharing information through drawings. The Egyptians 1736-1750 to builld the Kings Highway to connect the colonies from 1865-1877 to speak new languages, read the newspaper, and write using pencil and paper. used hieroglyphs, drawings on walls, to relay information and record history. Boston south to Charleston. The project started in 1650, but the South During Reconstruction, African In the 21st Century, television provides 24 hour news broadcasting so we don’t have By the 16th century BC, the Phoenecians developed an alphabet similar to Carolina portion was built from 1736-1750. The highway followed trading Americans began circulating to wait to hear the news from around the world. We use computers, smart phones, the one we use today. paths constructed by the Native Americans, and the colonists used it to send newspapers specifically tied and social media to share information, pictures, tell stories, and even video chat. mail and transport goods. Today, Highway 17 follows the same path of the to their communities, sharing We read weather maps on our phones and receive instant warnings if there is a Keeping track of information really took off in the first 100 years AD when Kings Highway, and in some parts of the state, like around Myrtle Beach, the news and information. These storm nearby. With GPS, we don’t even need paper maps to know where we are! the Chinese invented paper and then again in 1250 AD when writing with road is still referred to as the Kings Highway. publications included South quills became the standard writing tool. Carolina Leader, Charleston What forms of communication will we see in the future?! Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph and Advocate, Missionary Record, The Gullah Geechee people 1836 the specific code of dots and dashes used to transmit Free Press, the Georgetown Planet, and the Orangeburg 1700s descended from Africans messages over the wire. Morse’s career began as an artist, South Carolina Leader, enslaved in the Lowcountry. They and he spent several winters in Charleston Free Citizen. October 7, 1865 created their own culture with a unique in his studio. When Morse received news Library of Congress language, music, food, and art that that his wife died, he failed to make it home merged their various African roots with in time for the burial due to slow mail Novelist and poet Josephine Pinckney the European influences in the colonies. service. The need for rapid message 1941-1948 used this Smith-Corona Sterling model transmittion sparked his creation of the typewriter, owned by four generations of the Pinckney telegraph and communication method, Samuel Morse, 1845 Library of Congress family, to write her creative works: Hilton Head (’41), Morse Code. Three O’Clock Dinner (’45), and Great Mischief (’48). By the mid-1900s, the sending and receiving In January 1917, Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, 1947-1990 of information and news to the public took sent a coded telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico. This 19171917 off, partly due to the technological electronic message offered Mexico Germany’s support in attacking the United Dr. Henry Woodward, the first British advances that came from World War II. States and reclaiming the lands lost during colonist to settle in the Carolina Colony, The first commercial television broadcast 1666 the Texas Revolution (1836) and the Mexican was one of the first Europeans to traverse the During the Revolutionary War, a watchman in occurred in 1947, allowing people to War (1845). In return Mexico had to join the entire length of the the bell tower of receive the news quicker than waiting 1776 Central Powers against the Allies. The British Great Catawba Trading St. Michael’s Church in for the daily or weekly newspaper. Only intercepted this telegram, and the United Path. He spent a year Charleston kept lookout for three decades later, in 1976, the first States published in contents in newspapers in the vicinity of Port British war ships. Citizens personal computer was created and by across the country in March 1917. The Royal, learning Native also used the church tower 1990, the modern day format of the Zimmermann Telegram served as one of American languages as a lookout for fires. If the internet, the World Wide Web, setting the reasons the US joined the fight in World and establishing trade watchman spotted a fire, the foundation for instant communication, War I. Over 65,000 South Carolinians fought contacts. he rang the bells and hung Cliff Berryman cartoon in the newspaper news updates, and sharing images with Dr. Henry Woodward in The Great War. published alongside the Zimmermann Telegram South Carolina Historical Society a red light in the tower. Looking south on Meeting Street, Fireproof Library of Congress family and friends. Building on left with St. Michael’s Church. South Carolina Historical Society Collection Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone Lord Proprietor Anthony Ashley 1900-1910 in 1876, and within three years Charleston had a During World War II, the Cooper works with John Locke to telephone exchange. The Columbia Exchange opened in 1880 and Weather Bureau's primary role 1670 the Newberry and Greenville in 1882. The Greenville Exchange had 1943-1945 create the Grand Model. These documents People used quill pens, made from was to provide meteorological information to the detail the economic development and an lines to other more rural areas so that textile executives could Army and Navy for military campaigns. The fear 1820 the five outer feathers of geese or communicate to mill personnel in outlying areas. urban plan for the new colony. swans, to write for hundreds of years. The end that the enemy could take advantage of those The British Postal Law of 1710 was shaped to a point and the hollow feather reports led to the stoppage of displaying signal It was not until the first decade of the flags that shared the forecast among other 1710 created a charter for the post shaft was the ink reservoir. Mass production 1900s that this handy tool became a Colonists used taverns and security measures. The displaying of the flags office in the colonies and led to the of dip pens began in 1820. common and affordable houseold item. coffee houses to gather and was reinstated after the war, and then ceased 1670-1800 funding of packet boats. The packet Even though some had phones in their share information. The Carolina Coffee House again in 1989. was a medium-sized ship whose main homes, they could not dial directly to the in London served as a gathering place for people pupose was to transport mail and other person they wanted to call. Instead, when hoping to learn news from the Carolina Colony or small packages on a regular schedule. they picked up the phone, they told the to pick up mail from their friends and family in During the American Civil War, armies used switchboard operator who they wanted to Carolina. 1861-1865 drummer boys to convey call. The operator connected the two wires orders during battle because soldiers could from the two houses at the switchboard. not hear their commanders over the sound At that time, the operator was supposed The SC legislature established of cannon and gunfire. These young boys, to disconnect, and let the two parties talk, a letter office in Charleston at 1694-1695 sometimes under the age of ten, were but often, the operator stayed on to hear William Smith’s house. This house became the targeted by enemy troops because without Wall telephone ca. 1900-1910 the latest gossip! South Carolina Historical Society start of the post office system in South Carolina. the musical directions troops did not know Union Drummer Boy what to do next during battle. Library of Congress.