Holiday Schedule

Please take note: SCPC will be closed for Christmas and New Year's from December 23rd through January 3rd. We will reopen on January 4th.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please take note that SCPC will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday, November 26-27.

We will reopen on Monday, November 30.


We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A New Look at the Hemphill Papers

Check out the updated finding aid for the Robert W. Hemphill collection. It highlights Hemphill's long judicial career and offers a glimpse into his 8 years in Congress. Some of his personal pursuits are also captured here, such as his involvement in the Civil Air Patrol and the Purity Presbyterian Church of Chester.

Hemphill represented South Carolina’s Fifth District in Congress from 1957 to 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Hemphill to a federal judgeship in April 1964. A distinguished jurist noted for his keen opinions and strong work ethic, Hemphill took senior status in 1980, and continued to hear cases until he suffered a massive heart attack in July 1983. He returned to work shortly before a second attack took his life on Christmas night, 1983.

Hemphill's public papers cover his seven-year tenure in Congress and his seventeen years as a federal judge. His judicial materials include his court schedules from 1964 until 1982, which provide insight into his heavy workload, and eight volumes of judicial opinions, 1969-1974, that showcase the wisdom and fairness he was known for in his courtroom.

His personal papers relate to his long involvement with the Civil Air Patrol, leadership in the Purity Presbyterian Church of Chester, and his life before embarking on a legal career in 1945. The materials from his early life consist of letters to international pen-pals, high school report cards, and invitations to organizations and other events during his collegiate years.

At the time of Hemphill's death, Chief U.S. District Judge Charles E. Simons, Jr. characterized him as “an outstanding judge of great judicial temperament, and he was one of the hardest-working people I have ever known.”

--Contributed by Gabrielle M. Dudley

Bon appétit from SCPC

Fall weather is soup weather. Following is the recipe for the U.S. Senate's famous Bean Soup as provided to one of Senator Olin D. Johnston's constituents by Senate Dining Room Head Waiter Paul C. Johnson.

"Take three pounds of small Navy Pea Beans, wash and run through hot water until Beans are white again, put on the fire with four quarts of hot water - - then take one and one-half pounds of Smoked Ham Hocks, boil for two and one-half hours, braise one onion chopped in a little butter, and when light brown, put in Bean Soup. Season with salt and pepper, then serve. Do not add salt until ready to serve. (eight persons)"

Bon appetit.

Archives Month is here

We are in the closing days of American Archives Month, a month-long celebration of all things archival. In honor of Archives Month, I thought now to be a good time to take a look at the resources on our website that might aid you, friend of the archive, in your research.

Digital Collections
I. DeQuincey Newman Papers -- a Methodist pastor, activist, entrepreneur, and a leading figure in the Civil Rights movement in South Carolina. His entire collection is digitized. Some documents are available online through the link above. Others may only be viewed from a computer at SCPC.

Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words --200 of Senator Hollings' writings, speeches, photographs, and audio files from his days as Lt. Governor, Governor, and U.S. Senator.

Online Exhibits
The Acerbic Pen: Editorial Cartoons from the Collections of Walt Lardner and Kate Salley Palmer. At left is a Lardner cartoon about the Hunger tours of the late 1960s and early 1970s embarked on by Senator Hollings and Governor West.

Exhibits on Robert McNair, Donald Russell, Floyd Spence, and John West

Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words -- 200 items from the Papers of Fritz Hollings

Research Guides
Civil Rights material and Women's History material at SCPC.

Bibliographies
Books written by and about our donors (like Jack Bass, Kate Salley Palmer, and C. Bruce Littlejohn)

Memoirs of U.S. Representatives and Senators.

Progress of our New Home!

Construction of the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library behind Thomas Cooper Library is coming right along, as you can see from the picture above. The Hollings Library will house us (SCPC), Rare Books, and Digital Collections. We are quite excited to leave our dear Pearle Warehouse (with all of its environmental challenges) behind.

The picture looks out over the Hollings Library and to the SE where you can see all the houses nestled east of Pickens St. Notice the walkway on the left of the picture that connects the Hollings Library to Thomas Cooper. Check out many more photos of the progress.

We look forward to moving in next spring. Fingers crossed!

Environmentalists, Inc. Papers- Take Two!

“There aren’t many 87 year old grandmothers like Ruth Thomas. For 35 years, Thomas has fought nuclear industry in South Carolina,” Sammy Fretwell, The State Newspaper, Dec 2, 2007

Recently, SCPC picked up a significant addition to Mrs. Thomas’ collection documenting her organization, Environmentalists, Inc. This week, myself, and the other two graduate assistants, Gabby and Virginia, completed the preliminary inventory of the materials.

As a team, we tackled the many cartons of correspondence, meeting minutes, reports and court documents, and legislation related to environmental issues. Some highlights include a play written and copyrighted by Thomas about environmental education and Thomas’ personal minutes from her group’s Sunday meetings. True to her environmental roots, Thomas seemed to take notes or write letters on just about anything from pieces of junk mail to checkbook covers! We even found items attached with clothes pins!



The preliminary inventory helps to establish both intellectual and physical control of the materials and will be the foundation for future processing activities.

-Submitted by Debbie Davendonis Todd

New Discoveries in the Gasque Papers

“The next time you hear anybody say a Congressman does not have anything to do, you can just deny that fact. It is the hardest work I have undertook.” --Allard H. Gasque, March 14, 1924

Check out an updated finding aid for the Gasque Papers that includes added material and highlights documents and subject areas previously unknown to even the archivists here at SCPC.

Gasque represented SC’s 6th Congressional District. His collection is dominated by constituent correspondence from 1923 to his death in 1938. These letters provide insight into issues such as patronage, veteran’s affairs, and post office politics. The patronage letters take up the most space and show the sacristy of jobs from 1923-1938.

Much of Gasque’s mail concerns the selection of local post masters. He could select from among the three individuals scoring highest on a federal exam to fill any openings for these desirable, remunerative, and hotly contested positions. Letters of recommendations from locals highlight the political ramifications of an appointment and the political battles that waged between potential appointees. Gasque fumed over the local corruption and was frustrated by his inability to influence patronage.

Veterans, their widows and families held a special place in Gasque’s heart. Correspondence poured in from Civil War widows and from veterans of the Mexican American, Indian, Spanish American, and First World wars. Gasque supported a number of pieces of legislation to aid widows and families, as well as assisting veterans with pension claims.

Gasque suffered from heart troubles and illness throughout his career. Get well letters poured in after he suffered a major heart attack in 1935. He lost his battle with heart disease just hours after the close of the 75th Congress in 1938. His wife served his remaining term and his long time secretary, John Lanneau McMillan, was elected to Gasque's former seat and served through 1972. McMillan's papers are also held by SCPC.

--contributed by Debbie Davendonis Todd

New finding aid for the Hollings Papers

The finding aid for the General and Admin files of the Ernest F. Hollings Collection is now on SCPC's website. Check it out!

The Administrative files include:

• Invitations that Hollings accepted to various events, like the one pictured above.
  
  
• Press office files that document operations of the press office -- files about the drafting of the Senator's book, The Case Against Hunger (1970), are in the Personal series AND all other documents created by the press office are in the Press and Media series.
  
  
• Files about Hollings' state visits, town hall meetings, and other functions
  
  
• Office files that document the management of Hollings' Senate office
  
  
• Schedules for the Senator
  
  
• and more...
  

The General files consist almost entirely of correspondence from his entire Senate career. Here, you'll find letters of a general nature from colleagues about service in the Senate, letters in which constituents broach multiple subjects, and letters on unusual subjects that, quite frankly, don't fit elsewhere!

SCPC Holiday Schedule

SCPC will be closed on Monday, September 7th, which is of course Labor Day. We will reopen for research at 8:30 on Tuesday the 8th.

We hope all who have a long weekend will enjoy it!

SAA Annual Meeting

Several SCPC staff members will be in Austin this week for the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists. Kate will be holding down the Pearl Warehouse fort, though. Don't worry!

Herb is teaching a pre-conference workshop, “Raising Private Monies to Support Archival Programs .”

Dorothy will have numerous duties as a member of the Program Committee.

This Saturday (8am!), I am speaking on a panel, “MPLP Revisited: Choosing the Right Processing Strategy for Your Repository.”

Look out Austin! The archivists are coming.

Farewell Julie and Katie!

Last week, SCPC said good-bye to two outstanding students -- Julie Milo, a graduate student assistant, and Katie Thompson, our summer intern.

Hailing from Florida, Julie joined us in August, 2008. She graduates this month with her Master of Library and Information Science and is settling with her fiance in the Jacksonville area as we speak. Congratulations, Julie! While at SCPC, Julie did a superb job processing a number of collections, including the Lester Bates Papers and Charles Cecil Wyche Papers. Above, Julie poses with her friend and office-mate, Debbie, in their workspace at the Pearl Warehouse, SCPC's pristine (and soon-to-be old) home. At left is Julie with other SCPC staff at the Sept. 18, 2008, naming ceremony for the Hollings Library (opening in 2010!).

Katie joined us for the summer from Long Island University's Palmer School of Library and Information Science. During her brief but productive time here, she inventoried and processed much of the Mary Kelly Papers. This was her first effort at processing personal papers, if memory serves, and she did a fantastic job. For those who don't know, Mary Kelly was an influential member of the League of Women Voters and other organizations and dedicated much time to environmental and energy-related causes.

We were lucky to have both Julie and Katie with us. We wish them the best in their future library and archival endeavors! We also thank them for their good sense of humor. We threw them a patriotic farewell party, complete with costumes. Here we are that day. Standing with Lori, Mai, Debbie, and Dorothy, the two honorees are easy to pick out!

Guide to Hollings' Campaign Records

Senator Fritz Hollings ran in quite a few elections during his fifty plus years in politics. Now, records from those campaigns and others are open to research. A guide to the materials, now online, will help you dig through the material.

The records include Hollings' successful 1950 re-election to a SC House seat, successful campaigns for lieutenant governor and governor in 1954 and 1958, failed 1962 bid for U.S. Senate, subsequent successful senatorial campaigns (1966, 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 1998), and his 1984 run at the presidency.

Also included is material from the years when Hollings was not up for re-election but was aiding in the election of fellow Democrats, particularly during presidential campaign years. This includes 1960 when Hollings supported John F. Kennedy in his presidential bid (JFK carried South Carolina) and 1972 when Hollings was chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Visit SCPC today and take a look!

Congratulations!

Inez Tenenbaum, formerly South Carolina's State Superintendent of Education, has been sworn in as the new chairman of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tenenbaum was nominated by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 23.

Above, Tenenbaum speaks at a press conference on fireworks safety on June 30.

Tenenbaum has donated her papers to South Carolina Political Collections for future research. Congratulations to her on her new post!

SCPC Closed Friday July 3rd

This year the July 4th state holiday will be observed on the 3rd (as the 4th is a Saturday). As a result, SCPC and all other University Libraries special collections units will be closed on the 3rd. We will reopen for researchers on Monday, July 6th.

We hope this does not cause any serious inconvenience.

Good-bye Allison!

Every so often, SCPC says good-bye to a wonderful student assistant and coworker. After two years, we're doing just that with Allison Hughes. Here, Allison posed good-naturedly for yet another photo on her last day of work. She's standing by her workspace with her giant card from all of us that chronicled her time at SCPC.


Allison joined us in August, 2007, as a graduate assistant, helping me to finish up the Ernest F. Hollings Papers. I gave her primary responsibility for processing two large series within the Papers. She took on that responsibility and excelled. Here, Allison is with (L-R) Senator Hollings, Lori, Dorothy, and Herb at the 2008 Thomas Cooper Library booksigning for Hollings' book, Making Government Work. Allison helped out at many events such as this in her two years at SCPC.


When she graduated from SLIS last December, she joined our professional staff! We knew it would be temporary but were glad to have her on board. She contributed a lot in five short months, working on several collections including the papers of both Donald Holland and C. Bruce Littlejohn and the records of the Republican Party of South Carolina. Here, at her desk on her last day, she is finishing up her work with the Republican Party records (and putting up with all the picture taking quite well). Her desk was next to the copier and the stacks, and she often had to move when we had to move around the ladder!


Allison's last day with SCPC was earlier this month. Today, she starts a full-time archives processing position in Atlanta. We wish her the best! We have been lucky at SCPC to have a number of excellent student assistants. Allison joins that group. We will all miss Allison and her contributions around here quite a lot.

Thanks, Allison!

SCPC takes a holiday on Friday, July 3rd

This year the July 4th state holiday will be observed on the 3rd (as the 4th is a Saturday). As a result, SCPC and all other University Libraries special collections units will be closed on the 3rd. We will reopen for researchers on Monday, July 6th.

We hope this does not cause any serious inconvenience.

Rest In Peace: Charles B. Weasmer

SCPC lost a good friend last week with the passing of USC political science professor Charles Weasmer. After his retirement in 1987, Charles volunteered with SCPC helping to create a time log tracing events in South Carolina and on the national stage since 1945. This log is a valuable research tool used regularly by SCPC staff. It has been particularly valuable in helping us in preparing for oral history interviews. We will miss Charles’ friendly presence and expert and articulate advice.

Get Zazzled!

SCPC has recently joined other USC library special collection divisions in creating products based on material among our holdings. Using the software at the Zazzle website, we can add our images and text to items such as note cards, t-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, posters, mouse pads and magnets.

Please take a look at our products; you'll probably be surprised at the variety of material to be found in our collections. Check back often, as new items are added fairly frequently.

New Finding Aids for Hollings Collection

More finding aids for the Ernest F. Hollings Collection are now on our website. Check them out! You'll find guides to Hollings' Gubernatorial Papers, his Personal Papers (except for his Campaign Files -- that will be up in a few weeks), and most of his Senate Papers.

For his Senate Papers (1966-2004), 3 files list every folder of legislative material and constituent correspondence -- Folder List #1 (1966-78), Folder List #2 (1979-90), and Folder List #3 (1991-2004). Aids for Press and Media, Travel Files, and Voting Record are also up.

Some documents in Press and Media are part of "Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words". Of the 200 writings, speeches, photographs, and audio files in this online exhibit, you'll find 57 articles written by Hollings for newspapers and magazines, 65 newsletters (like the partial front page of one shown above from Aug. 1976) and newsletter articles sent to South Carolinians from the late 1960s through mid-1980s, and a few press releases.

So if you can't make it down to SCPC on the USC Campus, check out some of Hollings' material online.

SCPC Parking Lot Closed Temporarily

Attention Visitors and Researchers!

The parking lot at SCPC (w/ the lovely spots for patrons in front of our bright blue door) WILL BE CLOSED as of April 1st. It should reopen Thursday, April 9th.

If you need help finding a space, we might be able to give you suggestions. Give us a call at 777-0577 or 0578.

Sorry for the inconvenience but our lot is being fixed up.

Joining the Circus

Again this year, during the week of March 9th, SCPC's parking lot played host to the Ringling Brothers' circus animals. Despite the inconvenience to our researchers, who aren't able to park at our door for the week, and traffic snarls caused by tiny tots being maneuvered across the streets at showtimes, the staff enjoys taking peeks outside to see which animals we have a good view of each time around. This year was a particularly good one for elephants!

We were in close proximity to some tigers, too, but it was hard to get a clear view through the fence and cages...

But the circus has moved on, and things are getting back to normal.

SCPC at the South Carolina Book Festival

SCPC participated in the 13th annual South Carolina Book Festival over the weekend of February 27. The Festival celebrates the book and features South Carolina authors, publishers, and book sellers. Four SCPC donors - - Jack Bass, Fritz Hollings, Kate Salley Palmer and Nick Zeigler, were featured prominently. All spoke at the Festival and signed their books for the avid readers drawn to Columbia’s Convention Center for the event.

Hollings was the main speaker Saturday morning. He appeared with Jack Bass before over one hundred and fifty Festival patrons for a fifty minute presentation in which he reflected on a life in government. Later, he was interviewed by C-SPAN, whose bus, a mobile studio, visited the Festival for the second year in a row.

SCPC was given a booth at the Festival for a well-received exhibit of the Hollings Collection. Hundreds saw the exhibit, which showcased materials from the collection and Lori Schwartz’s new electronic publication - - Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words, which features over two hundred speeches, press releases, op ed columns, and other items from the Hollings Collection presenting Hollings’ thoughts on government and politics. It is hoped this publication will be welcomed by those interested in Hollings’ career as well as public school teachers using primary materials in their classrooms. Hollings continues to talk and write on government.

Recent writings are available at his web site - - http://www.citizensforacompetitiveamerica.com/.

Hollings to Speak at SC Book Festival

On Sat., Feb. 28th, at 10am at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in the Vista, Senator Fritz Hollings will speak about his career and his book, Making Government Work, published by the USC Press in 2008. Jack Bass will serve as interviewer, much as he did for Hollings' talk and book signing at the State Museum last fall. Afterwards, Hollings will sign copies of Making Government Work in the Exhibit Hall.

The above candid shot of Hollings with fellow Senators Frank Lautenberg and James Exon during Budget Committee hearings, c.1987, is one of many photos in the book.

Staff from SCPC will be exhibiting documents, photographs, and memorabilia from the Hollings Papers at the USC Press Booth #101 in the Exhibit Hall on Saturday and Sunday. Stop by and take a look!

The Book Festival is the latest in a series of events promoting the Senator's book. Following the rousing success of the first book signing at Thomas Cooper Library last June, Hollings signed in Washington, D.C., at The Citadel in Charleston, the Upcountry History Museum in Greenville, DeBordieu Colony Country Club in Georgetown, the Florence County Public Library, and the SC State Museum.

Civil Rights Resources

In honor of Black History Month, we would like to throw the spotlight on our Civil Rights research guide webpage. From the SCPC home page, this guide can be found by following the left-hand "Resources" navigational link and then clicking on "Supplementary Resources." This page is intended to present researchers and more casual browsers with auxiliary material concerning the issues we document and the nature of the material we collect.

Currently on the Supplementary Resources page, we have a link to a selection of Articles relating to our collections and a link to our new Research Topics. The topical pages suggest SCPC collections (and, when applicable, some at USC's Caroliniana Library) that might be of interest to those working in particular subject areas. The suggestions are not meant to be exhaustive, but should prove helpful to researchers who are interested in particular subject areas such as civil rights.

There will be more of these resources as we develop them, and we plan on a topical page for women's history in the near future. We sincerely hope these new resources will prove useful to the researcher and of general interest to the casual browser.

Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words

We're proud to announce the completion of “Fritz Hollings: In His Own Words,” a digitized collection of 200 items chosen from the Papers of Senator Ernest F. Hollings, representing his service to South Carolina as Lt. Governor, Governor, and U.S. Senator.

Speeches, letters-to-the-editor, newsletters, and newspaper and magazine articles are supplemented by 11 audio excerpts and numerous photographs of the Senator at press conferences, on the Senate floor, and in Senate committee meetings and hearings (like the one above of the Senator talking at a crowded Senate Finance Committee hearing, July 17, 1985).

Through these items, those unfamiliar with Hollings’ career and accomplishments can discover his intellect, unflinching honesty, and sense of humor – qualities that often captivated his colleagues, the press, and his constituents…whether they agreed with him or not.

Visitors may search through the material in a number of ways. They may do a keyword search of all the items OR pull up a list of all items from a specific decade OR pull up all documents of a certain type (like articles or letters or audio excerpts). They can also visit a page with over 200 subject terms. You want to know if any of the 200 items talks about NOAA or footwear or Voodoo Economics? Well, the subjects page will tell you.

To view these items, visit: http://sc.edu/library/digital/collections/hollings.html.

Cheese Day 2009!

The staff of SCPC and Tim and Don of SCL gathered for our 6th Annual Observance of National Cheese Day last Thursday, Jan. 22nd. On a cold day at the end of every January, we bring delicious cheese dishes to share, decorate our breakroom with cheese-y decorations, put on a cheese-y cd, play our cheese game, "The Big Cheese," and enjoy good conversation, all in the name of cameraderie and cheese. Take a look below at some of the day's highlights.

Here we are preparing for the festivities. Note the "Corpse of Milk" book of original cheese poetry (held by Kate), compiled by Kristi Castro, a former student and staff member; the "Big Cheese" game (held by Lori) crafted and created by Laura Koser, another former student and staffer; and lastly, the official Cheese Day sign, made by Craig Keeney, one of Cheese Day's founders, in 2004.

L-R: (standing) Lori, Debbie, Herb, Diane, Dorothy, Don, Kate; (crouching) Julie and Allison [Tim was taking the picture!]

Here's our spread of food. On the table was ham and cheese pasta, mac and cheese, cheese-y potatoes, cheese tasties (scone-like), cheese and pineapple pizza, cheese and crackers, mozzarella and ricotta fritters, chocolate chip cheese dip with graham cracker sticks, cherry cheese pudding, and cheesecake! mmm...mm.

The last element of the festivities is the playing of "The Big Cheese"...

Debbie (pictured here having just released her cheese playing piece) and Allison emerged as victorious. In a playoff, Debbie won and was crowned, "The Big Cheese."

As proof we take "The Big Cheese" seriously, Herb is pictured here measuring (with Lori as the second official) to determine which cheese is closest to "The Big Cheese" playing piece. The person whose cheese is closest gets 3 points so we have to be accurate!

Feel free to comment below.

Forming a New Government

Just in time for Inauguration Day, we have mounted a new exhibit titled "Forming a New Government."

One of the first and most important tasks facing a new president-elect is selecting nominees for Cabinet and ambassadorial positions. Four prominent presidential appointees, whose papers are held by SCPC, are represented in the exhibit:

John West, ambassador to Saudi Arabia under President Carter;

Jim Edwards, Secretary of Energy under President Reagan;

Dick Riley, Secretary of Education under President Clinton (shown above);

and David Wilkins, ambassador to Canada under President George W. Bush.

The exhibit will be on display in the East Gallery of Thomas Cooper Library until March 31.

Power in Government

Government is fascinating and few know it better than those elected officials who, through ability, ambition, and tenure, rise to occupy leadership positions in Congress. Butler Derrick was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1975 and eventually became the Chief Deputy Majority Whip. He was viewed as the leadership's key link to the moderate and conservative Democratic wing. One of my favorite quotes is from Derrick, in which he reflected -- "Power in a legislative body is not just conferred on you; it's years and years of building relationships, where people know you stand by your word." At the time of his retirement in 1995, Derrick was considered one of the ten most influential members of Congress.