SCPC Welcomes Dr. Browder and 'Stealth Reconstruction'

"We chose the title -‘Stealth Reconstruction’-because it seems an intriguing and logical approach for studying overlooked leaders and their service in Southern and national history. Also our main concept-‘stealth politics’- is simply apt, evocative of the ‘quiet, bi-racial politics’ that challenged and changed the traditional Southern political life during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.”

-Authors Glen Browder and Artemesia Stanberry in Stealth Reconstruction: An Untold Story of Racial Politics in Recent Southern History

Dr.Glen Browder, a former Alabama congressman and a native South Carolinian, returned to South Carolina for a talk and book signing for his latest book, Stealth Reconstruction. SCPC co-sponsored the event with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the Statehouse Report on Tuesday, March 9th at the State House Auditorium in Columbia. Myself, Gabby Dudley, and our Director, Herb Hartsook, attended the event.

Dr. Browder was introduced by his friend and former colleague, Liz Patterson. Ms. Patterson, no stranger to politics herself, served in both the South Carolina Senate, 1979-1986, and the US House of Representatives, 1987-1993, alongside Dr. Browder. He spoke to an intimate crowd including members of the South Carolina Legislature. Browder talked candidly about his research and his life as he himself practiced ‘stealth politics’ in his career as Alabama’s Secretary of State, a member of the Alabama Legislature and a US Congressman.

It was a pleasure listening to Dr. Browder’s presentation and meeting his lovely wife, Becky. His book, Stealth Reconstruction is available from NewSouth books. Dr. Browder is also the author of The South's New Racial Politics: Inside the Race Game of Southern History. We hear Dr. Browder has another book in the works and we would love to have him back in South Carolina to present again!

- By Debbie Davendonis Todd and Gabby Dudley