#18: Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones, a Spartan dog, and Women’s History Tour at the Joseph Manigault House
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #18 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
Welcome “ejbmommy and “sewchristy” to our SC History Newsletter community! Woohoo!
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions on South Carolina history you’d like to learn more about. I’m only a click away.
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)
3 ➳ Upcoming SC History Events
While I have curated the following 3 events below to feature in today’s newsletter, please click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the events I have featured in the newsletter to date, as well as others I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the list! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
I.
Saturday, March 2nd from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm | “Sweetgrass Basket Weaving Workshop” | Charleston Museum | Charleston, SC | Tickets: $75 (member), $105 (non-member)
“Join local artisan Sarah Edwards-Hammond for in-depth instruction on sweetgrass basketry which has been an integral part of the Lowcountry’s Gullah Geechee community since the 17th century. Edwards-Hammond comes from a long line of basket makers and has passed down the tradition to her family and others in the community. She will share a brief history of the artisanal craft of basket making. Participants will then spend the remainder of the class making their own basket guided by Edwards-Hammond. Come learn about an extraordinary craft that has been a staple of culture, art, and history in Charleston for centuries. All materials and instruction will be provided.”
II.
Saturdays, March 3, 10, 17, 24 from 3:00 - 3:30 pm | “Women’s History Tour at the Joseph Manigault House” | Joseph Manigault House | Charleston, SC | FREE for Members/FREE with admission to the Manigault House
“In celebration of Women’s History Month, a special tour will be offered every Sunday in March (March 3, 10, 17, and 24) to focus on the lives of the women who made history at the Joseph Manigault House. Guests on this tour will learn more about Charlotte Drayton Manigault, her daughter Ann, the enslaved women Affy and Bess, and the daily lives of ladies of the early 1800s. This special tour will also highlight the stories of how the house was saved by Susan Pringle Frost, Nell McColl Pringle, and Princess Henrietta Pignatelli. Guides will also highlight the House’s history as a USO post, Red Cross Training Facility and women’s dormitory during WWII.”
III.
Saturday, March 9th from 10:00 am - 12:30 pm | “Caw Caw: Walking on History” | Caw Caw Interpretive Center | Ravenel, SC | Tickets: $10 per person
“The Stono Rebellion, the largest uprising of people who were enslaved in the British colonies, took place in 1739 within a 15-mile radius of the Caw Caw Interpretive Center. Come and walk on the actual ground where a key event in the rebellion occurred. After the tour, a discussion of the event and the implications will be held. The Stono Rebellion changed the face of slavery and the consequences of the uprising centered the Gullah Geechee community. Join us for this very special walk.
What to expect: Accessible parking, accessible restrooms, accessible water fountains, and accessible picnic tables are available at this location. The program route is a flat loop and benches are available along the trail route. The trails are unpaved. The program speed is moderately slow.”
2 ➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Do you know the origins of Spartanburg’s name?
I was driving in Spartanburg the other day and had such an obvious but fun revelation that the word “Spartan” is in the city’s name and I had to know more. Were the early settlers really strong and powerful like the warriors of Sparta? Turns out…they were! Spartanburg was formed in 1785 “after a deal was make with the Cherokee tribe in 1753” and was named after a local militia called the Spartan Regiment in the Revolutionary War. The Spartan Regiment was commanded by Andrew Pickens and participated in the nearby Battle of Cowpens. The regiment was formed by John Thomas in 1775, and he held the first muster at his house. The regiment participated in the following battles:
Battle of Cowpens, serving under a brigade of four battalions under Colonel Andrew Pickens
Battle of Musgrove Mill, Spartan Regiment served under South Carolina militia under command of Col. James Williams and Major Samuel Hammond
Battle of Ramsour's Mill, led by Col. Thomas Brandon
Siege of Charleston, served under the 2nd brigade of South Carolina militia
Siege of Savage's Old Fields, led by Capt. John Lisle, Jr.
In my research, I also found that there was a 2nd Spartan Regiment, and their below flag was recently on display at The Museum of the American Revolution.
This flag is one of “fewer than half a dozen surviving Revolutionary War flags from the South.” The flag shows a “Spartan dog” as well as a rattlesnake. Revolutionaries often used the snake to represent the colonies and American resistance. But questions remain whether South Carolina is represented by the Spartan dog attacking the rattlesnake or does the snake represent the colonies fighting against their British opponents?
II.
Why is Spartanburg also called “Sparkle City” and “Hub City”?
At the turn of the 20th century, Spartanburg was an important railroad “hub” and if you were traveling by rail, Spartanburg was “on the way to just about everywhere.” Additionally, the city was a successful textile mill town (I’ll have to write more about that in another post), and the railroad shipped its textile goods to market via a variety of rail lines including “the Spartanburg & Asheville RR, the Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line, the Piedmont & Northern, the Charleston & Western Carolina, the Spartanburg & Union, and the Clinchfield.”
Right around 1925, the term “Hub City” starts to pop up in local marketing. In 1926, Hub City ice cream and Hub City Lumber Co. opened. By 1930 there was “a newspaper called the Hub City Observer, a diner called Hub City Lunch (which lasted until 1955), and Hub City Garage. In 1938 somebody opened The Hub department store, a Radio Service, and a Feed and Building Supply store.” And the nickname has stuck ever since!
And what about Sparkle City? While one might be inclined to think that this nickname comes from gem mining or mineral deposits, it actually derives from a late 1950s rockabilly group who hailed from Spartanburg called Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones. The group grew so famous they even performed on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand. The group “broke up in 1961 but did occasional reunion shows around South Carolina in the 1980s.” Here’s a video of Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones below performing their hit song “Black Slacks” on the Ed Sullivan Show. Look at those “sparkly jackets”!
1 ➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
I.
“Black slacks
Make a cool daddy-o
When I put em on
I'm raring to go
When I go places
I just don't care
You'd know why when
You see what I wear”
—Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones, lyrics from their song “Black Slacks” from 1957, which reached #11 on the R&B Charts and #17 on the Billboard pop charts
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
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