Page 6A • The People-Sentinel • Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Black History Month
Celebrating a Proud Heritage
Black History Firsts 1922
1947
1967
Bessie Coleman
Jackie Robinson
Thurgood Marshall
Became the first female AfricanAmerican Pilot.
Became the first African-American Major League Baseball player.
Became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.
Do you know your black history facts?
Barnwell ‘Doin’ the Charleston’ The ‘Charleston’ dance and the author have ties to Barnwell County
1. Who was the first African American man to hold the World Heavyweight Champion boxing title? 2. In what year did he earn this title? 3. What famous AfricanAmerican developed over 300 different products from peanuts? 4. Who was the first AfricanAmerican man elected to the United States Senate? 5. In what year was he elected?
Answers: 1) Jack Johnson, 2) 1908, 3) George Washington Carver, 4) Hiram Rhodes Revels, 5) 1870
Inspiration “I detest racialism because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a Black man or a White man.” Nelson Mandela
Mark Jones Susan C. Delk Managing Editor susan.delk@morris.com
One of the hottest and maybe the first dance craze, the Charleston, has ties to Barnwell County and so does a new book. Rev. Daniel Jenkins, a freed slave from Barnwell, moved to Charleston where he opened an ophanage for African-American children. Without much local support, Rev. Jenkins needed
income for the orphanage. The children of the orphanage had learned to play musical instruments and Rev. Jenkins took the show on the road as a fundraising campaign. A t a p e r f o rmance in New York, the children’s “Geechie steps” were transformed into what would become known as the Charleston. ‘Doin’ the Charleston’ is a book about the history of the “Black roots of American Popular Music and the Jenkins Orphanage Legacy.” Its author also has ties to Barnwell County. Mark Jones lived in Barnwell for several years and graduated from Barnwell High School in 1977. Jones will return to Barnwell Feb. 9 for an Black History Month presentation at the Barnwell County Museum on his latest book, ‘Doin’ the Charleston.’ Jones is the author and editor of six books and is a historian and tour guide currently based in Charleston. Jones will present a program on his latest book at 3 p.m. Feb. 9. “The history of the Roaring 20s cannot be discussed without the Charleston,” Jones said in an email. “I spent five-
years researching the book,” he said. This included traveling to London for research, talking to jazz historians and musicians from six countries, and collecting 400 images and songs. “The book details a South Carolina legacy that most people are unaware of, and ... it’s just a great story! I am a writer and tour guide because I love telling stories and this is one of the best ones I get to tell,” Jones said. “I love the audience’s reaction to several of the “story twists” as they come along. I’m waiting for Denzel Washington to volunteer to play the role of Rev. Daniel Jenkins. What a movie it would make!” Jones exclaimed. “My first two books, Wicked Charleston, Vol I and II grew out of my research as a Charleston tour guide. I was looking for tidbits of history to use on my tours and uncovered a treasure trove of unsavory stories dealing with murder, prostitution and political shenanigans,” Jones said. “Books three and four, South Carolina Killers & Palmetto Predators, were collections of South Carolina’s most notorious murder cases of the 20th century. Book five was Doin the Charleston and book six was a volume I edited in October 2013 called Kingdom By The Sea:
Edgar Allan Poe’s Charleston Tales.” Jones’ father, J.R. Jones, was a Methodist minister at Barnwell UMC from 1972-1977, and his mother Ruth worked at the Barnwell County Hospital. “I had the great fortune of living across the street from Mrs. Louise Mazursky on Washington Street (and the greater fortune to have her as my Advanced Composition teacher for two years in HS); she was my mentor who inspired me into becoming a writer and historian,” Jones said. Jones called living in Barnwell “some of the best years of my life.” For more information, visit www.markjonesbooks.com.
Rev. Daniel Jenkins
Williston School Distict 29 Dr. Tom Siler, Superintendent 12255 Main Street Williston, South Carolina 29853 Telephone: 803-266-7878 “Expect the Best” #1001690310 (2col, 3.42in x 3in) 02/03/2014 13:29 EST
TOWN OF WILLISTON Mayor Jason W. Stapleton Councilman Dewayne Cagle Councilman Sammie Baxley Councilman Chris Rivers Councilman Eric Moody Councilman Brett Williams Councilman Scott Valentine Town Administrator Kenny Cook #1001690309 (2col, 3.42in x 2in) 02/03/2014 21:37 EST