VOLUME
59 ISSUE â„– 03
Historically Speaking
SPRING 2020 A NEWSLETTER OF HISTORIC COLUMBIA
From the Executive Director
O
ne of the great gifts of working at Historic Columbia is that each day includes an exploration of our community’s rich and diverse history. Before the COVID-19 crisis, at our house museums, research roundtables, and guided walking tours, we shared stories of trauma and resilience, success and failure, life and death, war and peace. Through these various access points, we invited participants to reflect on how their experiences and those of previous generations have shaped us today. As we move through this very challenging time of change and uncertainty, we offer, through digital media, these stories as touchstones of hope, perseverance, and strength.
In an effort to keep perspective during this unprecedented time, we know the historic places we manage have endured centuries marked by war, fire, and social and economic strife. Still, they stand as tangible links to a past that remains relevant today. These places matter. Although we closed the doors to tours, programs and events on March 14, the board and staff continues to work diligently to ensure that Historic Columbia will reopen when the time is right. While most staff members are working remotely, our grounds team is installing beautiful new gardens at Robert Mills and Hampton-Preston, thanks to support from the Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation. Our facilities staff is taking care of longstanding maintenance issues that could not be addressed while staff and visitors were roaming the sites. From their homes, our education team is exploring new ways to engage youth and families in a post-COVID world. The cultural resources staff is diving deeply into place-based histories and uncovering new stories to share each day. Keeping you up-to-date on all this work and new content is a dynamic communications team using video, social media, and new interactive techniques to engage audiences. In November 2021, Historic Columbia will celebrate its 60th year as a key player in the cultural and civic life of our community. At the Board of Trustees retreat in January, we began work on a new strategic plan that would propel us into our seventh decade. While there is no doubt that we will find ways to mark this important organizational milestone, with the onset of COVID-19 there is much uncertainty about how the next few months and years will unfold for HC, for our community, and indeed for our nation and world. Know that in this historic and challenging time, we will endure. We are going to need your help to do so, but as is evidenced by the tremendous outpouring of support since we closed our doors, I am confident that you will be with us.
Historically Speaking Spring 2020 | Volume 59 | Issue 03 President Gina Lesslie 1st Vice President Mark Jones 2nd Vice President Kim Jamieson Treasurer Jamie Keller Secretary Jeff Payne The mission of Historic Columbia is to nurture, support and protect the historical and cultural heritage of Columbia and Richland County through programs of advocacy, education and preservation.
In This Issue 3 4-5 6 7
Cultural Resources Update Why Preservation Matters Collections Spotlight, At-Home Educational Activity Ways to Stay Connected With HC
On the cover As detailed in this issue, Historic Columbia plays a vital role in preservation across Columbia and Richland County using the sites it manages as exemplary models for preservation best practices. Pictured here, the final touches of paint are being applied in the new bridal suite at Hampton-Preston – one of the many amenities now available to guests thanks to the Boyd Foundation’s vision and transformative support at this site. Historic Columbia
Robin Waites Executive Director
Visit us on the web: www.historiccolumbia.org
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HISTORIC COLUMBIA | NEWSLETTER
Discovery, Renewal,
Hope
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iscovery, renewal, and hope — words applicable to every spring season — may not be the first things to come to one’s mind during these days of unprecedented uncertainty. Nonetheless, they aptly describe the activities Historic Columbia’s Cultural Resources Department stewards have been engaged in since HC’s last newsletter. Work large and small — in research, horticulture, museums, interpretation, and historic preservation — has yielded a bumper crop of accomplishments that should resonate for you and other constituents during the coming, weeks, months, and years. Naturally, the promise of spring manifests itself in our impressive gardens, whose beauty this year is the culmination of more than 15 years of collective work by staff, dedicated volunteers and donors. Thanks to the vision and commitment of one donor — Susan Boyd and the support
Advertisement for Shandon Terrace, The Columbia Record, January 31, 1914. Newsbank
This plat, updated October 1, 1912, shows the extent of Shandon’s development by that date. Note the large, one-acre lots on the western side. The dotted lines indicate land purchased by the Shandon Terrace Company. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia
A comprehensive reinterpretation of the Modjeska Montieth Simkins Site is set to debut this fall. Historic Columbia
of the Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation — excitement abounds at the Robert Mills House and Gardens, where our horticultural staff have completed capital improvements. For those who have had the opportunity to rediscover your own yards and gardens recently, this work at the historic property will prove inspiring. Caring for the facilities that complement our 14 acres of grounds and gardens drives day-to-day tasks and weekly projects shouldered by the Director of Museums, Fielding Freed, and Kevin Jennings, Coordinator of Facilities. Notable gains include new amenities at Mann-Simons such as enhanced picket fencing and lattice screening; rebuilt and freshly painted gates at the Robert Mills carriage house; and extensive cleaning from the winter months. Future tours and programs at HC’s historic houses will deliver a host of new interpretation and recently acquired artifacts. Chief among these is the comprehensive reinterpretation of the Modjeska Montieth Simkins Site, where the exhaustive efforts of Kat Allen, Director of Research, Education Department staff, and Duncan Graham, head of collections for South Caroliniana Library, will inform the design and fabrication of a much-anticipated exhibit highlighting the early life and achievements of South Carolina’s matriarch of human rights. Debuting this
fall, this multi-media, hands-on platform will be the culmination of years of “bricks and mortar” historic preservation work and extensive research. This was all made possible through grants from the National Park Service and Richland County Commission and the generous support of Historic Columbia’s annual fund donors. In research and preservation advocacy efforts beyond the historic properties, Historic Columbia stewards have engaged commercial entrepreneurs and private home owners at a depth and breadth previously unknown. Historic property reports have enriched the lives of private property owners in the Shandon Terrace and Wales Garden neighborhoods who have commissioned these tailor-made chronicles of their residences. Inspired by previous and continued collaboration with residents of Hollywood-Rose Hill and Wales Garden, these in-depth historical and architectural analyses are the result of combined efforts on the parts of Allen, Research Coordinator Chris Tenney, and John Sherrer, Director of Cultural Resources. A personalized account of your historic property can be had through this fee-for-service research Historic Columbia offers at a discount for its members. Wherever this article finds you — whether it be in your garden, your home office, or your den — know that Historic Columbia appreciates your support of the cultural resources entrusted to our care throughout our shared communities.
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hile his wife drove, John Sherrer sat in the passenger seat and flipped. And flipped. And flipped. He had a huge box full of negatives on the floorboard and a stunned expression on his face. “It took my breath away,” Sherrer said. “I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me.’” Sherrer is Historic Columbia’s Director of Cultural Resources. And over a decade ago, he had what he called an “amazing moment” on the job. It started with a phone call from the family of John Hensel, a World War II veteran who started a professional photography business in Columbia in the late 1940s. After Hensel passed away, the family was in the final stages of cleaning out his house when they ran across his negative collection. This prompted the call from Hensel’s son to Sherrer. “We have a collection of his negatives,” Sherrer recalled Hensel’s son telling him. “A box of them. If you’re interested in them, come get them. If you’re not, they’re going to the street by 4 o’clock.”
Mast General Store on Main Street. Image courtesy Benton Henry Photography
Sherrer happily made that deadline. The next move was to assess what had just literally landed at his feet. “We’re talking thousands of negatives,” Sherrer said. “Most of which – but not all – were in perfect condition.” Hensel shot everything there was to shoot in Columbia. He shot for individual property owners, local fraternal organizations, and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He had photos of schools and kids. He had shots of political and religious leaders such as Strom Thurmond and Billy Graham.
Discovery of John Hensel’s negatives collection helped Historic Columbia’s preservation efforts along the 1600 block of Main Street. Image courtesy the John Hensel Photograph Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia
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HISTORIC COLUMBIA | NEWSLETTER
But while Sherrer was flipping through the images, he didn’t just see cool photos. He saw an opportunity for preservation. Hensel’s photos, which have since been digitized and added to the collection of the South Caroliniana Library, “had the date the image was taken and basic biographical information,” Sherrer said, “which is key to what we do. It told us
where the things were when they were, which is great.” The collection has helped Historic Columbia strengthen one of its longestablished pillars. “What has helped us from a historic preservation perspective is (Hensel’s) extensive photography of landmark structures on Main Street and in the downtown area. The images have allowed contemporary historic preservationists and developers to harness the power of historic tax credits for adaptive use and rehabilitation of properties because you have a visual representation of exactly what a building looked like at a certain time,” Sherrer said. Hensel’s photo collection has led to preservation efforts along the 1600 block of Main Street. The Palmetto Compress building (top) and HunterGatherer Brewery (bottom) are two of Historic Columbia’s many preservation projects throughout Columbia and Richland County. Historic Columbia
This is just a sliver of the work Sherrer’s team does. Through extensive research and the production of annotated site briefs, Historic Columbia continues to work in tandem with the city, Richland County, architects, and preservation consultants, among others, to assist with tax credits, easements, and nominations for the National Register of Historic Places. Sherrer’s team, including Director of Research Kat Allen, works on 15-25 of these projects a year. “Historic Columbia promotes an atmosphere in Columbia towards preservation,” said Fred Delk, executive director of Columbia Development Corporation. “It really begins in the neighborhoods, where Historic Columbia has been so interested in taking the historic neighborhoods and recognizing them and helping the neighborhoods figure out how to preserve themselves. “That creates this base of interest in Columbia, where people understand the inherent character of the city and that Columbia neighborhoods are uniquely Columbia and not like anywhere else. And that preservation ethic and basic community ethic at the neighborhood level, over the last 20 years, has come over to the commercial side and has really helped the commercial redevelopment.”
Delk’s endorsement of HC is echoed throughout the city. Amy Moore, Principal Preservation Planner for the City of Columbia, pointed to the advocacy work done to help save the Palmetto Compress building as a chief example of HC’s value. “That was a really difficult building and that was something that a lot of us were working in a lot of different ways on,” Moore said. “And I think Historic Columbia’s done a great job with pulling different folks together to problem solve and advocate for that building. There were a lot of pieces to that puzzle that helped that building remain and be redeveloped. And Historic Columbia played a really important role there.”
Sherrer is most proud of a handful of preservation projects he’s been involved with since coming to Historic Columbia nearly 24 years ago. They include work on Hunter-Gatherer Brewery, on the site of the historic Curtiss-Wright Hangar, work on the establishment of Columbia’s Commercial Historic District, advancements to the 1600 block of Main Street, and publishing Remembering Columbia, which includes many Hensel images and has been integral in preservation advocacy. “Preservation is important because our buildings give us our unique sense of place,” Moore said. “Our buildings tell the story of what the city was like and how it developed over time. We truly appreciate Historic Columbia’s efforts in telling that story.”
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Collections Spotlight: Two Symbolic Chairs
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hey are so common that we take them for granted, but when we need one, they can make all the difference in our physical comfort. The object in question? Chairs. They are such a part of our everyday life that they are hardly noticed. Yet how often do you sit in a chair and wonder about the possibilities of who sat there before or perhaps the craftsperson who made it? Historic Columbia’s museum collection includes more than 90 chairs. There are tiny ones for a dollhouse, armchairs made by the famous New York craftsman Duncan Phyfe, and of note a recently donated pair once owned by Dr. and Mrs. James Woodrow. The maternal uncle of President Woodrow Wilson (known as Tommy while a young man here in Columbia), Dr. Woodrow’s academic career was groundbreaking. He held the first academic position devoted to studying
Mills House, where Dr. Woodrow once worked, in the Columbia Theological Seminary room.
These recently donated chairs can soon be seen in HC’s Museum of Reconstruction and the Robert Mills House. Historic Columbia
Two humble chairs will now encourage us to pause and reflect not just on who used them, but also how simple objects can help discover relationships between people of past.
pring is a great time to plant seeds and talk about how plants grow in the gardens at Historic Columbia. Even though our gardens are closed right now, you can still learn about the life cycle of a plant and what plants need to grow from home! In one of our favorite educational activities, you and your children will be able to create your own garden in a glove and watch your seeds sprout and grow from your own window.
lock bag, you’ll line the bottom of the bag with wet cotton balls.
Materials you’ll need for this activity:
Next, tape your garden in a glove (or bag) on a window that gets lots of sun. Make sure you don’t seal your bag as plants need oxygen to grow! Now all that’s left is to wait. You should see your seeds begin to sprout within 7-14 days, depending on the type of seed you’ve used.
• Clear or translucent glove (or a zip-lock bag if you don’t have gloves) • Cotton balls • Water
• Seeds (we recommend beans, but any seed works) • Tape
This activity is very simple to get started. First, you’ll wet five cotton balls, and insert a cotton ball into the very tip of each finger in your glove. If you’re using a zip-
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Normally we would keep a pair of matching chairs together, but in this case, they will be split to benefit two house museums rather than just one. The Woodrow Wilson Family Home and Museum of Reconstruction will use one to illustrate the close relationship between the Woodrows and the Wilsons. The other will be exhibited at the Robert
the relationship between science and religion. Mrs. Woodrow, known as Fellie to family, was a favorite aunt of Tommy.
Education Activity: Garden in a Glove
S
Passed down through the Woodrow family until their recent donation to HC, the simple, woven seat chairs are a matching pair, according to donor Fitz Woodrow. Fitz Woodrow said it’s possible that Tommy and Dr. Woodrow may have sat in the chairs. “Another meaningful thing about the Dr. James Woodrow chairs,” Fitz continued, “is that I believe he was a reason Rev. Thomas R. Wilson got the job at Columbia Theological Seminary … without that happening there would not be a Wilson family house in Columbia.”
Once you’ve got your cotton balls in place, you’ll drop a seed into each finger of the glove so they’re sitting on or next to a wet cotton ball. If you’re using a zip-lock bag, you’ll want to drop two or three seeds among the cotton balls – make sure to spread them out so the plants don’t get crowded after they sprout.
While you’re waiting for the seeds to sprout, encourage your children to think like scientists and think of their garden
HISTORIC COLUMBIA | NEWSLETTER
Blooming flowers at Hampton-Preston. Historic Columbia
as an experiment. Ask them what they think will happen, and encourage them to write their prediction in a garden journal and jot down their observations each day. At the end of their experiment, have them write down their conclusions and what they learned about plants. Want to expand the activity? E-mail Kelly Kinard, the Youth and Family Programs Coordinator, at kkinard@historiccolumbia.org for a printable craft that helps teach the parts of a plant!
Stay Engaged Kids at play on HC grounds in summer 2019. Historic Columbia
L
ike the rest of the world, Historic Columbia will be feeling the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis for some time. With our buildings shuttered and programs and events cancelled, we will likely have no earned revenue through the end of the year and are projecting a drastic decrease in revenue for 2020-21. That makes the financial support you contribute more important than ever before. We have been humbled by the generosity of our board and longtime supporters in the immediate response to this crisis. Our donors are on the forward edge of a national trend. As Dianne Bailey, who serves as Bank of America’s National Philanthropic Strategy Executive, recently shared, “Our research and experience celebrate the generosity of donors who give in response to a disaster – 94% of them maintain or increase their overall giving.” If you have the capacity, please consider making Historic Columbia a priority for your charitable giving in 2020. We will put your donation to work in a way that ensures HC can continue to meet its mission, albeit through digital platforms, until we can resume the in-person interactions that you know and love. We are grateful for the steadfast support each of you have shown us through the years and know that together, we will get through this too. Visit historiccolumbia.org/donate to give online or reach out to Megan Plott at mplott@historiccolumbia.org or 803.587.0483.
We’ve Gone Digital! Education Kelly Kinard, Youth & Family Programs Coordinator, brings activities that will help kids better understand history. From archaeology fun to historic games to making butter, children will get a glimpse into the past with some fun along the way.
Connect on Social Media Facebook.com/HistoricColumbia Instagram.com/HistoricColumbia Twitter.com/HistColumbia
Online Tours Our Education team has been sharing glimpses into HC’s historic properties through video, while our website’s online tours allow people to explore Columbia neighborhoods virtually or by foot.
Gardens The gardens have been in bloom and lots of changes have been taking place! We’ve been sharing some of those beautiful moments through our “zen” videos so you can enjoy the sights of sounds of nature at any moment during the day.
Staff Spotlights Get to know our team a little more through staff spotlights on our blog! Historiccolumbia.org/blog
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love
I Historic Columbia. You all are essential to the of our great city, and I am grateful for all you do so that we can remember our yesterdays to inspire greater todays and tomorrows.”- Beth Richardson
You’re a real
treasure
not only to Columbia but the entire state of South Carolina.” - Brandolyn Thomas Pinkston
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