Call & Response News from the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission Spring/Summer 2010 Volume V, Number 2 Message from the Chair Leon A. Love, Chairperson httphttp://www.shpo.sc.gov/SCAAHC.htm://www.shpo.sc.gov/SCAAHC.htm Let me begin by welcoming two SCAAHC Board Members: new members to the Commission. Strauss Mr. Michael A. Allen Moore Shiple of York and Richard Walton Mount Pleasant of Greenville were appointed to the Dr. Abel A. Bartley Commission by the South Carolina Clemson Ms. Felicia FlemmingFlemming----McCallMcCall Archives and History Commission at its Cheraw March meeting. Ms. Jannie Harriot As fall approaches, the Commission Hartsville Mr. Bhakti Larry Hough is looking forward to and planning our Hemingway Annual Meeting, Preserving Our Places In Mr. Joseph J. James History awards program & Gala which will be held on Jan. 28, Columbia Mr. Terry James 2011 at the SC Archives and History Center, 8301 Parklane Florence Road, Columbia. Details will be available soon, so put it on your Dr. Barbara Williams Jenkins calendar because we promise you won’t want to miss this one. Manning Mr. Leon Love As is our custom, we begin each new fiscal year with a Lexington planning session. This year we traveled to Cheraw on Aug. 1-2. Mr. Joseph McGill, Jr. We held our opening session and dinner at the Household of Ladson Ms. Brenda Lee Pryce Faith Church #6 where the leader is Pastor John Nelson. We Spartanburg held our evening session at the Jameson Inn, and then Ms. Alada ShinaultShinault----SmallSmall continued the next day at the Southern African American North Charleston Ms. Strauss Moore Shiple Heritage Center, a great African American museum owned by York Commission member Felicia Flemming-McCall (see article on Mr. E. Richard Walton page 6.) A special thanks goes to the church and to Felicia and Greenville Mr. Bernie L. Wright her husband Norris McCall for hosting us. Orangeburg Finally, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History has revamped its website. You can find the Mr. Michael Bedenbaugh Ex officio, Palmetto Trust for Commission’s page at http://www.shpo.sc.gov/SCAAHC.htm . Historic Preservation The African American Heritage web page is now http:// Dr. Bobby Donaldson www.shpo.sc.gov/africanamericanheritage/ on the SCDAH Ex officio, University of SC Ms. Lisa Randle website, and the Rosenwald School survey page can now be Ex Officio, CLAW Program, found at http://www.shpo.sc.gov/rosenwaldschools.htm . College of Charleston Ms. Denise Riley Ex officio, The Governor’s Office Dr. Larry Watson Ex officio, SC State University The mission of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission is to identify and Ms. Joy Young promote the preservation of historic sites, structures, buildings, and culture of the African Ex officio, SC Arts Commission American experience in South Carolina and to assist and enhance the efforts of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. In The News shared pasts. Summer Diversity Forum in After the break, which many used to Charleston - a Big Success network, six others joined the panel to assist with A Shinault-Small the Q&A session. They were: Lakesha Adams, DuPont; Jim Darby, Santee-Lynches Council of Gov- ernment; Dawn Dawson-House, SC Parks, Recrea- On Sunday, June 27th, the Gullah/Geechee tion & Tourism; Elizabeth Johnson, SC Department Cultural Heritage Corridor (GGCHC) Commission and of Archives & History; Michelle McCollum, SC the SCAAHC presented A Dialog on Diversity at the National Heritage Corridor; Robert Stanton, National Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston as a pre- Park Service; and Joy Young, SC Arts Commission & conference session to the International Heritage SCAAHC ex-officio member. Development Conference (IHDC). Audience members were very receptive to The three-hour gathering drew nearly 100 what they had heard from the panelists, and had an persons from around the state and from the IHDC. array of questions, comments and concerns. It Presenters were (shown left to right below): Michael became very clear that the three-hour session could Allen, GGCHC Commission coordinator and SCAAHC have gone for three more hours easily. It was also commissioner; Morenga Hunt, independent arts clear that attendees jumped at the opportunity to consultant from NC; Emory Campbell, GGCHC Com- pose their questions, express their concerns and mission Chair, Facilitator; Leon Love, SCAAHC Chair; voice their needs to the various government, private and Tina Naremore Jones, University of West Ala- and non-profit reps who comprised the panel. bama faculty member & Chairman of the Board of Hopefully, all present were able to go back to their the Center for the Study of the Black Belt. respective communities with something gained that would make a positive difference, even if it were just a business card or two from people that they met or a piece of literature that they picked up from one of the tables. DuPont was the presenting sponsor, and Berkeley Electric Cooperative, Brockington Cultural Resources Consulting, the SC National Heritage Corridor and the National Trust for Historic Preserva- tion were also responsible for making the afternoon a reality. Their generosity is greatly appreciated. Anyone who attended the Diversity Forum SCAAHC Vice Chair Jannie Harriot gave the and has not yet received a complimentary welcome, introduced the panel and set the tone. copy and would like a set, which is 2 DVDs, Some of the key points that the panel mentioned to eee-e---mailmail [email protected] and establish and achieve inclusiveness were: 1) Host- put DF DVD on the subject line or call Jannie ing public meetings to allow the community to be a Harriot at 843843----332332332----35893589 ... part of the decision-making process and in turn, a part of the outcome. 2) Knowing and understanding If you did not attend and would like a set, one’s whole community and serving the whole. they are available for $10.00 which includes 3) Allowing people to define themselves for them- shipping. You may also visit the SC African selves. 4) Engaging in collaboratives is an absolute American Heritage Foundation’s website at must. 5) Focusing on community assets rather than www.scaaheritagefound.org and click on pain. Don’t forget the pain though, it’s a motivating donate for $10 and a set will be mailed to factor in creating change. And 6) Remembering that you. Just indicate that you want a copy of the art of Storytelling, an age-old Southern tradition, “A Dialog on Diversity.” can work miracles to heal, bond, and to identify 2 Summer Diversity Forum --- Charleston Left: Jannie Harriot, SCAAHC Vice Chair helped to facilitate the opening session. SCAAHC Chair Leon Love is in the background. Center: This attractive poster set in the hallway outside of the meeting room. Right: Some of the Q&A panelists (left to right) - Michelle McCollum, Emory Campbell, Joy Young, Tina Naremore Jones & Elizabeth Johnson. Photos by A. Shinault-Small Some of the folks who were in attendance 3 A Sesquicentennial Series: National Guard were free Blacks. Various accounts African Americans during the of what happened exist, but they fit into one of the Civil War - two: either the militia company purposely blocked the street to deny passage, or the carriage intention- Stony The Road They Trod ally drove into the head of the column. Words were Part 3: Post-War Drama exchanged, and the farmers complained about the & Trauma In Hamburg militia drilling on local streets and interrupting traffic. Abel Bartley The farmers complained of obstruction of a public Dr. Bartley is Director of the Pan African Studies road before the local court in Hamburg, and Captain Program & Associate Professor of African Adams was arrested. Local justice Prince Rivers American and Urban History, Clemson University handled the case. A trial was held on July 6th, where the local farmers complained about the obstruction of a public road by the militia. The case was contin- ued until the afternoon of July 8th when Matthew Calbraith Butler, Edgefield attorney, appeared as the farmers’ counsel. Butler was a former Confederate officer and the men referred to him as “General.” Although he had no official role, Butler demanded that the Hamburg company disband, and turn their guns over to him personally. He argued that the unit was illegally reformed because it had been dis- banded years earlier. The point of his argument was clear that Black men should not be given arms to In 1869, Governor Robert Kingston Scott have control over Whites. Butler was joined by a rifle organized a regiment of Black militia in Hamburg, club, made up of between 75-100 armed men who South Carolina in Aiken County. Hamburg, was a called themselves the Red Shirts. struggling market town on the Savannah River oppo- Before the courts could make a decision, a site Augusta, Georgia. During Reconstruction, the mob of some 200-300 armed White men came into town was repopulated by black freedmen. The town town demanding the unit’s arms. The armed White was a monument to Black achievement and a sym- men gathered and menaced the soldiers as the mili- bol of the potential African Americans had for inde- tia company refused to disarm. Meanwhile, Justice pendence and economic development. Scott, a na- Rivers had decided to submit to the mob’s demand. tive Pennsylvanian who had commanded an Ohio Captain Adams and his men refused to comply, regiment during the Civil War, wanted an effective however. The soldiers took up positions in their state controlled militia supplied with modern weap- armory in the Sibley Building near the Charlotte, ons to help keep the peace. During the worse parts Columbia and Augusta Railroad Bridge.