#101: *We're back!* The history of Spoleto, raising The Hunley submarine, and the Hampton County Watermelon Festival
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
I’m back!! And excited to rev up our SC History adventures once again!
➳ Quick housekeeping note that the SC History Newsletter will now become a WEEKLY publication and will be published on Monday mornings.
I hope everyone out there is well, and that y’all have had a wonderful start to the summer.
I am grateful to have had a few weeks’ time off from the newsletter to rest and regroup after my 100-day writing sprint.
Reflecting back on the past 4 months…
I can now share that in my initial “100 newsletters in 100 days” experiment for the newsletter, I calculated that I have done over 300 hours of research into South Carolina history… and wow, we have learned so much together so far, and we have so much more exciting learning to come!
In the first 100 days of the newsletter, many amazing things happened, including:
We launched a SC History Newsletter Facebook Group where we have 52 members and counting. People have shared photos from their travels, suggestions for historical sites and topics, and more. Join us if you haven’t already!
After I wrote about the Founding of USC in Newsletter #56, one of our wonderful readers, named David M., wrote to me that he is the 4th great grandson of Thomas Jefferson (how amazing is that?!), and that his 2nd great grandfather Francis Waynes Eppes went to South Carolina College (as it was called back then) when the school was new. David was generous enough to send me correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Francis Waynes Eppes when he was a freshman, and it was fascinating to read — from the subjects Francis was studying, to his impressions of the Southern climate and culture — I transcribed some of their correspondence in SC History Newsletter #66 — check it out! And thank you to David, who has been such a great supporter of the newsletter. How lucky are we to have him in our community!
I have connected with fantastic high school teachers and professors who teach (or previously taught) SC history, distinguished SC History authors (lookin’ at you
!), realtors who love the history of our state, and people who are NEW to South Carolina — I am excited that this newsletter and our Facebook Community can be a great place to welcome these new friends to SC!
I have some exciting new ideas for the newsletter as we head into the summer, and I’ll keep you abreast of progress and developments.
In the meantime, I’d like to continue to encourage y’all to send me your SC History Questions and Topic Ideas for me to cover in the newsletter. Please send to me via the links below!
Additionally, please join us & keep the conversation going by becoming a member of our SC History Newsletter Facebook Community here! I can’t wait to meet you.
And now, let’s learn some South Carolina history!
Yours truly,
Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
➳ Featured SC History Events
Please enjoy our featured SC History Event below, and click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the upcoming SC history events I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the calendar! Reply to this email, send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com, or use the button below to send me your events.
Event Recommendation of the Week:
June 15-22 | “82nd Annual Hampton County Watermelon Festival” | Events held at various locations in Hampton County, SC | Event ticketing information & website here
“Hampton County is the home of the world's original Watermelon Festival. Since 1939, the Hampton County Watermelon Festival has grown to become South Carolina's oldest continuing festival. From the beginning, it has been a celebration of, for, and by the people of this friendly Lowcountry County, timed to the melon harvest every summer.
Hampton County's place among the state's top watermelon producers is what gave birth to the first festival. Appropriately, watermelons, for which Hampton County has become famous, have continued to provide a colorful vehicle for year-round promotion of the area - and Hampton County's symbol of hospitality…
The first watermelon festival was a three-day event held in July. Events included baseball games, parades, band concerts, barbecues, and "speakings."
The U.S. Marine Corps band from nearby Parris Island was a special attraction for the first parade, and held a concert on the courthouse square afterward. They have returned for almost every festival since.
Since then, the festival has grown into a kaleidoscope of events that now span the course of eight days — including a beauty contest, Battle of the Towns, Mud Run, parade, arts and crafts, a street dance and many more…”
➳ [NEW!] SC History Book & Article Recommendations
I’m adding a new section here as I would love for us to share SC History book and article recommendations, both for our collective learning, and for us also to support authors and scholars who are writing about South Carolina history. Perhaps we can even invite these authors to speak to us on the newsletter!
Book recommendation of the week:
I recently read “Raising The Hunley” by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf and it was an absolutely riveting account of the history, disappearance, and discovery of the world’s first combat submarine used by the Confederate army during the Civil War. From the harrowing, and deadly, initial trials of the submarine, to how they kept “the weapon” a secret, to General P.G.T. Beauregard’s excitement and then extreme fear of using the vessel, to the night it attacked the USS Housatonic and it’s 100-year disappearance, the authors/award-winning journalists Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf weave an astonishing tale that has now made me BEYOND excited to visit The Hunley in its saltwater bath at the Hunley Museum in Charleston!
Do you have a book or article on South Carolina History that has captivated you? Submit below!
➳ SC History Topic of the Week
Did you know that Charleston’s renowned Spoleto music & culture festival originated from a festival in Italy?
The Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston just took place from May 22 - June 9th and while I have never attended the festival myself (though I plan to next year!), I am curious about its history and wanted to dive into it today.
The Spoleto Festival USA is held annually in Charleston, and is a vibrant celebration of the arts that was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti.
Menotti sought to create an American counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which he founded in 1958.
“Looking for a city that would provide the charm of Spoleto as well as its wealth of theaters, churches and other performances spaces,” Menotti selected Charleston as the ideal location.
The historic city of Charleston provided a perfect fit: “it was intimate enough that the Festival would captivate the entire city, yet cosmopolitan enough to provide an enthusiastic audience and robust infrastructure.”
Championed by a young Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. and College of Charleston’s then-president Theodore Stern, Spoleto Festival USA held its inaugural season in 1977.
From its inception, the Spoleto Festival USA aimed to present innovative and high-quality productions that pushed the boundaries of traditional artistic expression. The festival's commitment to excellence in the arts quickly garnered acclaim, attracting renowned artists, directors, and performers from around the world to showcase their talents on Charleston's stages.
The festival's programming includes a diverse range of artistic disciplines, including opera and theater productions, dance performances, chamber music concerts, and jazz performances.
With its popularity and impact over the years, Spoleto has served as a catalyst for cultural change in Charleston, aiding in the city’s flourishing as a top destination. Together with the city and community leaders, Spoleto has “spearheaded the renovations of numerous performance spaces: Festival Hall, Dock Street Theatre, College of Charleston Sottile Theatre, and the Charleston Gaillard Center.”
Here are just some of the renowned artists who have graced the stages of the Spoleto festival:
Opera and Classical Music:
Renée Fleming (Opera Singer)
Yo-Yo Ma (Cellist)
Joshua Bell (Violinist)
Theater and Dance:
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Mark Morris Dance Group
Jazz and Contemporary Music:
Wynton Marsalis (Trumpeter)
Branford Marsalis (Saxophonist)
Esperanza Spalding (Jazz Bassist and Singer)
The festival's commitment to showcasing emerging artists alongside established talents has helped cultivate a vibrant and dynamic cultural scene in Charleston and beyond.
In a typical season, Spoleto mounts 150 performances in more than 10 venues. The Festival also produces its own operas, specializing in rarely performed masterpieces by well-known composers, American premieres, and traditional works presented in new ways.
In its 45 year history, The Spoleto Festival USA has produced and/or presented more than 20 opera, dance, and theater world premieres including Tennessee Williams’s Creve Coeur (1978); Arthur Miller’s The American Clock (1980); Laurie Anderson’s Empty Places (1989); Urban Bush Women’s Praise House (1990); Philip Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox (1990); Lee Breuer’s Lulu Noire (1997); Huang Ruo’s Paradise Interrupted (2015); Carrie Mae Weems’s Grace Notes: Reflections for Now (2016); Ayodele Casel’s While I Have the Floor (2017); Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar (2022).
Over the years, Spoleto has expanded its reach and influence, engaging with local communities through educational outreach programs, artist residencies, and collaborations with regional arts organizations. These initiatives have further solidified the festival's role as a catalyst for cultural enrichment and artistic innovation.
Today, Spoleto continues to thrive as one of the country's preeminent cultural festivals, attracting 70,000+ visitors from the around the world annually to Charleston for its world-class performances and events. The festival has also propelled Charleston into the spotlight as a top global travel destination, while the festival itself is an economic engine for the city — “generating nearly $42.7 million annually in economic impact.”
Please scroll to the bottom of this email for my source for this section
Have you been to the Spoleto Festival? Tell us about about it! Please leave a comment below!
➳ SC History Quote of the Week
“It is more dangerous to those who use it than to the enemy.”
—Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, writing about The Hunley submarine used during the Civil War. Read more in “Raising The Hunley” by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf!
Spoleto article sources:
“History | Spoleto Festival USA 2024.” Spoleto Festival USA 2024, https://spoletousa.org/about/program-history-2/. Accessed 16 June 2024.
Hogan, Chloe. “Spoleto Festival USA Director Mena Mark Hanna Sparks a New Era - Charleston City Paper.” Charleston City Paper, 26 May 2023, https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2023/05/26/spoleto-festival-usa-director-mena-mark-hanna-sparks-a-new-era/. Accessed 16 June 2024.
“Spoleto Festival (2024) | May 24 - June 9, 2024.” Visit Historic Charleston, https://www.visit-historic-charleston.com/spoleto-festival.html#gallery[pageGallery]/3/. Accessed 16 June 2024.
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