VOLUME
58 ISSUE â„– 02
Historically Speaking
WINTER 2019
A NEWSLETTER OF HISTORIC COLUMBIA
Letter from the Executive Director H
istoric places serve as touchstones to our past. Some are easy to identify. Others may not be recognizable at-a-glance as historic, but they may be well-known in the community as the location of a key cultural event or where an historic figure made a life – take for example 2025 Marion Street.
When Modjeska Monteith Simkins died in April 1992 her modest home would not have been deemed architecturally significant; however, her association with the site over the span of 60 years made it so. Her dedication to marshalling decades of civil rights and social justice efforts from the living room of her home (and far beyond) made it a place worth saving. Neighbors and community members know that she housed important Civil Rights leaders in the rear dependency building, held strategic meetings for all manner of activism and ran political leaflets on the mimeograph machine in her front room. Her story is well-known and welldocumented. As a result, her home at 2025 Marion Street is protected. (You will find details about our efforts to cement her legacy in this issue of Historically Speaking.) But what about the places that are not easily identifiable, whose importance is not widely known, whose stories are not immediately evident? How do we ensure that those places are retained, and those stories are not lost? Places like the Abbott Cigar Building on Main Street, George Elmore’s store on Gervais Street, the old jail at the corner of Laurel and Hampton streets, the home of Matthew J. Perry in Waverly – are significant losses that could have been prevented had more people been aware of their cultural value. Currently, the City of Columbia boasts more than 160 individual historic landmark buildings and 15 historic residential and commercial districts that enjoy some level of protection from demolition. While this is an impressive number, there are no doubt hundreds of other buildings that would benefit from some level of oversight. An important tool to assist in this effort is a Demolition Delay Ordinance, which would allow city staff a short period of time to review a request for demolition of a structure that could be a contributing element to our rich and diverse history. Many cities within our region utilize these protective measures. It is time for Columbia to catch up with those more preservation-savvy communities and adopt a Demolition Delay Ordinance.
Historically Speaking Winter 2019 | Volume 58 | Issue 2
President
Robert Lewis 1st Vice President
Gina Lesslie 2nd Vice President
Dr. Isabelle Mandell Treasurer
Jamie Keller Secretary
Mark Jones
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 Demolition Delay Ordinance & BullStreet Tours 4 Modjeska Monteith Simkins 6 Hampton-Preston Phase III & Columbia City of Women 7 Behind-The-Scenes & Silent Auction Returns & Summer Camp Registration
As a community, we must ensure that places like the home of Modjeska Simkins and that built by the progeny of Celia Mann do not become the poster children of an underrepresented past, but as publicly accessible examples of a vast array of places representing a rich story that our neighborhoods and commercial districts have to tell.
Robin Waites
Executive Director
Cover image: Modjeska Monteith Simkins, photographed in 1920 by Richard Samuel Roberts in his studio at 1119 Washington Street, Columbia, South Carolina. Image courtesy of Richland Library
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HISTOR I C C OLUMB I A | NEWSLETTER
Visit us on the web: HistoricColumbia.org
Former site of entrepreneur and political activist George A. Elmore’s Waverly Five and Dime. The building was demolished only one week after an historical marker was erected at the site in 2012.
Support the Demolition Delay Ordinance Since 2012, Historic Columbia has been working with the City of Columbia to institute a Demolition Delay Ordinance, which would allow a brief reprieve and review period before a building with historic significance is demolished. This idea was catalyzed six years ago when the George Elmore Store on Gervais Street was demolished one week after a historic marker was erected at the site. Currently, the sites for which demolition permits are reviewed are individual buildings and contributing buildings within historic districts that have been designated as historic by the City of Columbia. This includes 15 neighborhoods and more than 160 individual landmarks. There are major gaps in the areas of protection, which has resulted in the loss of historic assets. Since 2013, 12 buildings in the proposed coverage areas have been demolished. Of those buildings, at least six would have been eligible for the demolition delay review. The proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance will address some of those gaps by placing an overlay across the City Center Design District as well as three major commercial corridors. There are 112 buildings in the City Center that would be eligible for review under the proposed ordinance.
The former Greyhound Bus Station on Blanding Street is a culturally and architecturally significant building that is not currently protected from demolition review.
Key examples include: • The Greyhound Bus Station on Blanding Street • The Columbia Electric Railway building on Assembly Street • USC’s McKissick Museum • The YMCA building on Sumter Street • Richard Samuel Roberts’ house on Wayne Street In addition to the City Center, demolition permits would be reviewed along three corridors: Devine Street (18 buildings), Gervais Street (8 buildings), and North Main Street (18 buildings). In order to qualify for demolition delay a building must be 50 years or older and meet one or more of the following criteria: • Individually listed in or has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places • Contributes to a Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places • Importantly associated with one or more historic persons or events, or with the broad architectural, cultural, economic or social history of the city • Architecturally or historically significant by itself or in the context of a group Every investment has pros and cons and should be considered through the lens of a cost-benefit analysis. In the case of our built and cultural heritage, the evidence favors preservation. Contact your city council representative today to help protect the buildings that make Columbia unique!
Tour Columbia’s Historic BullStreet District Saturday, March 9 | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Explore the past, present and future of the former Department of Mental Health campus for an exclusive tour of the BullStreet District. Once a city within a city, Columbia’s BullStreet offers an exciting blend of historic landmark buildings and modern amenities. Some of the highlighted sites on the tour will include the Babcock Building, the former Laundry, the Williams building, the former Bakery and the former power plant, in addition to the Ensor Building—today home to Bone-In BBQ.
The Babcock Building dome overlooking the BullStreet District. Photo by Burton W. Fowles.
Tours will take place on Sunday, March 9 and will be offered at the top of the hour starting at 9 a.m. and ending with the last tour at 3 p.m. Admission will include food from local chef Scott Hall, owner of BoneIn Barbeque. Tickets are $35 for Historic Columbia members and $50 for non-members. These tours are expected to sell out. Hurry and reserve your spot at HistoricColumbia.org/BullStreetTours. W I N T E R 20 19
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Modjeska Simkins photographed on the front porch of her Marion Street home by Steve Hunt on May 25, 1981. Image courtesy of The State Newspaper Photograph Collection, Richland Library
Advertisement for Motel Simbeth, published in the 1955 program for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, South Carolina Conference’s meeting in Columbia. Image courtesy of South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina, Columbia
Modjeska Monteith Simkins:
An Advocate for the People By Katharine Allen, Research and Archives Manager
Modjeska Monteith Simkins was born in Columbia, S.C. on December 5, 1899, into a society that legally dispossessed women and people of color of their civil liberties. Over the course of her 92 years, she displayed a courage and perseverance that many argue was unmatched. Today, Simkins is rightfully lauded as a major pioneer in South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement as well as an advocate for healthcare, women’s rights and the environment. Her life’s work has resulted in numerous accolades from media outlets, friends and her many mentees over the last several decades. As we approach the 120th anniversary of Simkins’ birth, Historic Columbia embarks on an awareness campaign to honor her life, her legacy and her home.
Published from 1936-1967, The Green Book was a resource for African American families traveling across America during the Jim Crow era. On Monday, Feb. 25, The Green Book: Guide to Freedom, a Smithsonian Channel documentary, will debut shining a light on sun-down towns, resorts, and other businesses featured in the guide, including Motel Simbeth.
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HISTOR I C C OLUMB I A | NEWSLETTER
Simkins lived at 2025 Marion Street, a house built in the 1890s, from 1934 until her death in 1992. After becoming the contractual steward of this city-owned landmark in 2006, Historic Columbia endeavored to keep the former home and its dependency available to school groups and community meetings. (The site was home to the South Carolina Progressive Network and ColumbiaSC63 until 2018.) The site is currently closed while it undergoes a substantial rehabilitation funded by an African American Civil Rights Grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. This work includes repairs to the interior plaster and the brick foundation, window restoration, a new HVAC system and updates to plumbing and electrical systems, as well as a paved driveway with new handicap parking space and ramp. To complement the physical work at the site, Historic Columbia, in partnership with scholars and archivists, plans to disseminate comprehensive documentation of Simkins’ life and the causes and organizations she championed during the early Civil Rights Movement. Simkins leaves behind a substantial oral history archive, including more than seven hours of discussion about her life with noted Professor Emerita of History Jacquelyn Dowd Hall (UNC Chapel Hill). These recordings, in conjunction with various memorials, provide the foundation for our primary goal: to emphasize and contextualize the same set of facts and fundamental truths that Simkins used in her lifelong fight against what she called “the power structure.” By doing so, we hope to broaden the public’s understanding of individual issues prevalent in Simkins’ lifetime – such as unequal access to health care, economic discrimination based on race, gender, and class, and denial of the ballot – and how they continue to resonate today.
Support Modjeska Simkins’ Legacy
Modjeska Simkins photographed inside her home on Marion Street by Ginger Pinson on November 13, 1984. Image courtesy of The State Newspaper Photograph Collection, Richland Library
Throughout the spring, Historic Columbia and its partners will publish a series of short essays that will closely examine different aspects of these issues as they relate to Columbia and Richland County. The first will examine the history of African American tourist homes in Columbia found in the Green Book, including Motel Simbeth, owned by Simkins, as well as the use of 2025 Marion Street as a place where key Civil Rights figures, including Thurgood Marshall, often stayed and strategized. Another will contextualize the reports written and published by Simkins in her role as Director of Negro Work for the South Carolina Tuberculosis Association from 1931 until 1942, a position that gave her direct access to a variety of quantitative and qualitative data on the differences in health care for white and black South Carolinians. Other planned topics include the 1946 meeting of the Southern Youth Legislature (Southern Negro Youth Congress), held in Columbia and co-organized by Simkins, and hyper-local examinations of Simkins’ involvement in landmark cases, including Elmore v. Rice and Briggs v. Elliott. By utilizing relevant primary documents in innovative ways, these stories will create the framework for engaging directly with visitors of all ages, whether through lesson plans addressing civil rights issues, public programming featuring past, present and future community leaders, or by serving as inspiration for citizens that will use the site as a makerspace.
Each year, Historic Columbia’s Annual Fund supports a meaningful project that will have lasting impact on our community. This year ’s Annual Fund is focused on interpretative and educational upgrades at the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House. The exhibits and educational activities will focus on Modjeska Simkins’ life and work under four major themes: • • • • •
Citizenship and activism Health disparities and remedies Economic discrimination and self-sufficiency Political inequalities and action
The themes will be addressed using interactive exhibits, dynamic classroom and makerspace activities, and public programming – focused on understanding historic and addressing contemporary civil rights issues. Your Annual Fund gift will help Historic Columbia to once again make the home of Modjeska Simkins a center of engagement and action for the community. To make a donation, please use the enclosed envelope, visit HistoricColumbia.org /AnnualFund or contact Megan Plott at mplott@historiccolumbia.org or (803) 252.7742 x12.
Simkins’ personal letterhead once included the phrase, “An advocate for the people.” Historic Columbia, in partnership with the family of Modjeska M. Simkins, plan to return her home to a place that is central to engagement and action for the community—one that can aid others in advocating for the rights of all human beings. We invite you to follow along as we release these stories at HistoricColumbia.org/ModjeskaSimkins.
“
”
I woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom.
Modjeska Monteith Simkins
W I N T E R 20 19
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The sunken patio feature re-establishes the footprint of the house’s ca. 1848/50 addition that was later removed.
Hampton-Preston Phase III Begins
During the coming months, the basement and Northfacing side of Hampton-Preston will be transformed into a handicap accessible education and venue space.
2019 brings exciting changes to the rear section and lawn of the Hampton-Preston Mansion & Gardens. Thanks to the generous support of the Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation, Historic Columbia has kicked-off the third phase of the garden restoration at the HamptonPreston site. The Primary goal of this project is to increase the site’s capacity to meet the needs of multiple constituents, including students, groups, rental guests and the general public. We aim to enhance the site’s usefulness from an education perspective with two new classrooms, restrooms and a rear “patio” feature. These features, as well as an added bridal party suite and sitting room, will also greatly contribute the site’s role as a rental venue. Most importantly, the sunken patio will mark the perimeter of the 1848 addition, which was demolished in 1969. Follow along on Historic Columbia’s social media for ongoing project updates.
New Initiative to Honor Women in Columbia Have you ever noticed that very few cities, streets, and statues are named for women? In Columbia, only 4% of the 145 landmarks are specifically named for women, and the only downtown street named for a woman is Lady Street – after Martha Washington. Historic Columbia is teaming up with WREN to bring forward the stories of our city’s remarkable women through a new initiative called “City of Women.” Join use on March 31 as we honor 12 women – both historic and contemporary – who have made a significant impact on Columbia. This project was made possible in part by the City of Columbia and the Knight Foundation Fund at the Central Carolina Community Foundation. Learn more at ColumbiaCityofWomen.com. 6
HISTOR I C C OLUMB I A | NEWSLETTER
Behind-The-Scenes Tours Explore Columbia’s Historic Sites Thursday, February 28 | 6 – 7:30 p.m What do the Palmetto Compress, Claussen’s Bakery and Hendrix all have in common? They are all examples of local preservation done well and have recently been featured on Historic Columbia’s BehindThe-Scenes tours. These tours allow exclusive access to sites before renovation or while renovations are in process. The next Behind-The-Scenes Tour, presented by 2nd Wind Heating and Air, will be at the Keenan building (1310 Lady Street), which was originally built as a six-story structure in 1921 and will soon be transformed into 109 apartments. This tour will take place from 6–7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28. Tickets will sell out quickly, so hurry and register today at HistoricColumbia.org.
15th Annual Silent Auction Returns on March 21 Thursday, March 21 | 7 – 10 p.m Join Historic Columbia’s Palladium for their 15th annual Bluegrass, Bidding & BBQ silent auction presented by Jaguar Land Rover Columbia. Enjoy live music by Willie Wells & the Blue Ridge Mountain Grass, local food from Bone-In Barbeque, specialty drinks and a variety of exciting auction items. All proceeds will benefit the educational programs and initiatives of Historic Columbia. Tickets are $30 for Palladium members, $40 for Historic Columbia members and $50 for non-members. To purchase tickets, visit HistoricColumbia.org/BBQ or call 803-252-7742 x15.
Summer Camp Registration is Now Open June 24 – 28 | July 8 – 12 Looking for a summer camp packed full of fun, history and slime? We got it, dude! Campers ages 8 to 12 are invited to take an adventure through the ‘90s and see history come to life through interactive activities and exploration of Historic Columbia’s gardens, grounds and houses. Learn about the founding of Columbia in the 1790s, play historic games from the 1890s, and throwback to the slime and boy bands of the 1990s! Camp will take place June 24-28 and July 8-12 for ages 8 to 12. Register today by calling 803-252-1770 x26 or at HistoricColumbia.org/SummerCamp. W I N T E R 20 19
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Matchbooks from Motel Simbeth reading, “ ‘REST for the Weary on THIS SIDE of the Jordan’ MOTEL SIMBETH EXCLUSIVE ACCOMODATIONS FOR COLORED TOURISTS” on front. The back reads, “On U.S. 1, Eight Miles North Route 3, Box 988, Sunset 7-9156 COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA Sam Wilson, Manager.” The matchbook interior reads, “When in Columbia, see THE VICTORY SAVINGS BANK owned and operated by Negroes for almost 40 years. Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Over One Million Dollars in assets. Henry D. Monteith, President.” Historic Columbia collection, HCF 2012.4.2 A-B
1601 Richland Street
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Columbia, SC 29201
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www.historiccolumbia.org
NONPROFIT ORG USPOSTAGE PAID COLUMBIA, SC PERMIT #1000