3-2-1: Happy belated Valentine's, an interactive love map, and the lover of Edgar Allen Poe
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Each weekly "3-2-1" newsletter contains includes 3 upcoming SC history events, 2 SC history fun facts, and 1 quote from an SC historical figure.
Dear reader,
Happy belated Valentine’s Day! ❤️I hope it was wonderful for you and your family. I am sorry I was not able to send this post yesterday, on actual Valentine’s Day, but I can explain. I may not have mentioned until now that this newsletter is my passion project outside of my 9-5 job, and so I am only able to work on it in the evenings. So here I am at my desk writing this post at 8:37 pm on February 14th, but don’t want to spam you with a late newsletter when it’s finished in a few hours, so you’ll receive tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. I hope you can forgive me! :)
In other news, I am overjoyed to announce that after launching the South Carolina History newsletter 1 week ago, today we welcomed our first 2 subscribers to the community! “Mporter” and “spiresb13,” I am so grateful to you both for joining this community in its very beginning stages! You have no idea what it means to me. In fact, I nearly shed a tear today when I saw the notification come through. I was so touched that you took a chance on my work. It is my dream that this becomes a thriving community of history lovers across the state, and together, we build a centralized resource page where we can continue to learn about the history of South Carolina. Your decision to subscribe has given me even more confidence to continue on! So, thank you!
With love in the air, and in the spirit of (belated) Valentine’s Day, this newsletter will have a romantic theme today!
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions for future newsletters. 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
To celebrate Black History Month, I’ve decided I want to make sure each newsletter in February highlights at least one Black History focused event. Thanks to the power of Google & social media, I continue to find new events each day across the state, so I will continue to post as I find them. The Black History events will be listed first below.
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.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHT: Saturday, February 17th, 5:30 - 8:30 pm | Gullah Campfire Supper with Stories and Songs Event | Morning Glory Homestead Farm | St. Helena Island, SC | Tickets (in-person): Child ($35), Teen ($55), Adult ($70)
“What do you know about songs from the plantations that became the songs sung by newly founded Historically Black Colleges and Universities? Do you know the story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers or how the songs in the Slave Songs of the United States book were gathered and transcribed? What songs gave power and encouragement to the Civil Rights Movement? Who was Elizabeth Cotten? Come join us to hear these historical accounts through stories and songs. Parents bring your children to this interactive and entertaining learning experience. Friends come share a delicious meal of roasted Lowcountry oysters and Tapas, a variety of side dishes. This is an outdoor event centered around campfires.”
II.
Saturday, February 24th, 2024 at 9:00 am - 4:30 pm | SC American Revolution 250 Commission Presents “History Makers: South Carolina Women Who Persevered” | SC Archives and History Center | Columbia, SC | Tickets (in-person): Tickets range from $25-$65
“Celebrate South Carolina's most persevering women with a day full of educational sessions to learn more about the women who shaped the state. Space is limited, pre-registration is highly recommended.”
III.
Monday, March 4th, 2024 | “We Love Our Locals Day” - FREE Daytime & Nighttime History Tours from Bulldog Tours | Charleston, SC | Tickets (in-person): FREE for residents of Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester counties. Call 843.722.8687 to book your spot. Proof of residency required at check in.
“The founder of Bulldog Tours, John LaVerne, has a deep love for Charleston, history, and storytelling. While being a tour guide was initially just a hobby, about 60 seconds into giving his first tour, John was hooked – by his enthralled audience and the chance to share his love of Charleston with others. He founded Bulldog Tours to raise funds for the preservation of The Old Exchange Building. The rest, as the tour team says, is history…As of today, Bulldog Tours has raised $5,419,287 for the preservation of our historic site affiliates in Charleston…We Love Our Locals Day – 2024! On Monday, March 4th, residents of Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester counties are invited to enjoy a complimentary daytime history tour (Charleston Strolls) or a nighttime ghost tour (Ghost & Graveyard or The Old City Jail – limited availability)!”
2 ➳ SC History Fun Facts
I. Here is some local Valentine’s history “in the making”!
Tonight I found that the popular “CHS Today” Charleston local email newsletter published a project where they invited their readers to share their local love stories. The newsletter turned those love stories into an interactive map (click here and scroll down), where you can click on the locations (marked as hearts) to see where local people have fallen in love or had romantic experiences across the US, and here in South Carolina. How fun! Here are some interesting excerpts I found:
Love Location: Piecewise Coffee, Columbia, SC: “Early one morning, out for coffee during the height of Covid lockdown … he was a pilot and had just flown around the world and was commuting home. I walked in for coffee at 7am and he turned and looked at me with blue eyes and smiled. He offered to buy my coffee and we struck up a long conversation … we’ve been dating for almost four years now and are madly in love.”
Love Location: The Spinning Jenny, Greer, SC: “I met my partner at The Spinning Jenny during Greenville Fusion’s monthly social dance and he’s been sweeping me off my feet ever since!”
Love Location: Greenville Tax Dept Buildings, University Ridge, Greenville, SC: “For our first date, I taught my now husband how to drive stick in my old jeep around the university ridge area. He was incredibly bad at it but didn’t give up. A limo driver waiting in the parking lot drove up to us and said “she must really love you if she’s willing to put up with the amount you’re stalling”.
Love Location: Pitt Street Bridge, Mount Pleasant, SC: “My husband and I had our first date at Pitt Street Bridge during sunset. I brought my dog for emotional support in case the date went south. I joke that she's the reason he kept me around at first! We ended up staying way past the sun going down and planned a couple more dates the following weekend. After two weeks in, he told me he loved me and 6 months later we were engaged in Paris... We are into our 2nd year of marriage, and he's taken us all over the world. Most days I have to pinch myself and thank a higher power for bringing such a kind, thoughtful, loving man into my life. He jokes that he had to travel all the way from Johns Island to Mount Pleasant to find me online, but it's was all worth it!”
II. There is romance in the air as well in South Carolina…
Not only are we celebrating the love of humans this (belated) Valentine’s Day, but we are also celebrating winged love. Did you know that bald eagles mate for life? And in the Kiawah River and Charleston sea island area, there are numerous bald eagle pairs that have been returning year after year to their same nest. In fact, there is one bald eagle nest in particular that has been in use for over 16 years. The nest can be found in the Midtown neighborhood off Founders Way in Mount Pleasant, SC and dates back to 2007. According to an article from Post & Courier in 2020, “In South Carolina, bald eagles have come back from about 14 nesting pairs in the 1970s to nearly 300 known nests and another 200 estimated to be out there uncounted...The birds that have habituated have done it so well that one of the other nests is in a backyard tree off Bees Ferry Road.” A toast to love in all its forms!
1 ➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
I.
“It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.”
– Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)
What is Edgar Allen Poe’s connection to South Carolina History?
Edgar Allen Poe, the famous American writer, poet, and author, is most associated with his northern roots, having been born in Massachusetts and spending the most prolific years of his life in Philadelphia, PA and New York City. However, I was delighted and surprised to discover that Poe was once a soldier stationed at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, SC. While serving his time, Poe fell in love with a young lady named Anna Ravenel, who was from a prominent Charleston family (think Ravenel Bridge). Anna’s father disapproved of Poe — so much so that he used his many influential connections to have Poe transferred back up North. Heartbroken to be separated from her lover, Anna Ravenel fell ill and died. The story goes that “Anna’s father disguised her grave in the Unitarian Church Cemetery in Charleston so that her forlorn paramour could never find her.” Edgar and Anna’s doomed love story is also a ghost story, as it is said that Anna Ravenel’s ghost “wanders the church grounds in search of her lost love.” Anna was the inspiration for Poe’s poem Annabel Lee (full poem here), which was one of the last poem’s he wrote before his death and is quoted above.
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
Valentine’s Day at Kiawah River: Our favorite Lowcountry love stories
‘Most watched’ eagles nesting again in Mount Pleasant development tract
I always want to improve my work. Answer the poll below to give me your review of today’s newsletter. I also welcome your suggestions for new content! Simply reply to this email with your ideas. Thank you!