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