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

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

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.

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.