Discovering Passions with Harlan Greene

On the third floor of the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library, archivist Harlan Greene can be found in the Special Collections Department. My initial interest in interviewing Harlan was based on the simple job description that he worked in an archive. As this is a profession that I’ve considered looking into post-graduation, I was excited to see how Harlan’s English degree might have served him.

Greene’s most recent book

Upon doing some initial research on Harlan’s work, I was a bit nervous to be interviewing him. Harlan’s archival work specializes in Charleston’s local histories where he has published countless articles and a handful of books–most recently The Real Rainbow Row: Explorations in Charleston’s LGBTQ History. I was further interested in how Harlan could incorporate his archival work into creating historical fiction and nonfiction.

When I met with Harlan, we sat in a circular room that is filled with a collection of Charleston-area directories, something that we eventually touched upon toward the end of our conversation. Not knowing where exactly to begin, I asked how he came to his position today. “I had no idea. I was an English major,” he tells me. “By luck, I’ve ended up in the archival profession.”

When Harlan was attending the College of Charleston, he wanted to become a writer and was largely influenced by the local Charleston writers of the area, one being Dubose Heyward. During this time, Harlan found his way into the South Carolina Historical Society and noticed a collection of Heyward’s books. From there, Harlan began to catalog Heyward’s work and volunteering, eventually working his way up into a full-time job helping researchers. With his English degree, Harlan was able to use a lot of technical writing skills, as he had to employ precise language when cataloging archival material. “You have to think analytically, think big picture and small picture,” he says. “You have to use language very precisely as to not lead the researcher off on false tracks. But you get to use your writing skills as well, it’s a very analytical kind of thing.”

Harlan Greene

Although Harlan’s field is more historical, his English degree became important to him as a lot of his work tends to revolve around Charleston’s literary history. As Harlan was doing this, he began writing on the side, something that he was always wanted to come back to. When discussing all of the projects Harlan has worked on, I could tell how excited he was to share the small intricacies of his work–whether it be going down to Georgia to retrieve discarded letters, or catching a person of the past in a lie from each newspaper article they appeared in. 

Throughout our conversation, I felt a sort of affinity with Harlan’s attitude toward his work. He is led by a passion for his archival work and I found this extremely inspiring. Harlan tells me that he needs to immersed be in a large project that fuels his passion. “I find that I need to be involved in a creative project,” he told me. “I think research is creative, I think writing is creative.” 

I share a passion for the archival, though for me this comes through a small hobby of doing historical research and family archival work. 

I asked Harlan what to do when you hit a brick wall in the research, knowing that there’s more out there. I gave Harlan an example of a distant relative–an artist who was often in the Charleston area in the 1940s. While there was a book on this relative, I mentioned that it was riddled with misinformation and that I couldn’t locate a news story that was done on him. Harlan pressed me for information I have on this relative and he suggested some sources for me. Turning to the wall of Charleston directories, Harlan pulls one off the shelf and we scan for a name–to no avail. 

By the end of our meeting, Harlan had already found a copy of the biography from a local library and is on the trail for more information. Within a day or two, Harlan sent over his discovery of the lost news article I spent years looking for. From this discovery, I was prompted back into my own research, or “rabbit holes” as Harlan calls it, and I begin finding new information.

Part of the lost article Harlan discovered

From my interview with Harlan, I came away with the sense that it is okay to take the leap of faith and follow my passions. I have always had the idea in my mind that if I do seek out something I enjoy career-wise, things will eventually fall into place. This seems to be the case with Harlan, as he tells me, “I lucked into my profession, I really had no idea that it existed. It did not pay extremely well for the longest time, but I certainly have no regrets because to me my job is really fascinating. At least when I fell into it, I had enough sense to realize ‘Oh I like this, I think I’ll stay here a while.”

 

One Response to Discovering Passions with Harlan Greene

  1. Prof VZ April 6, 2023 at 3:00 pm #

    Fascinating post! I went back in and did some light edits and added a few key links, but I think it’s very strong. One suggestion: at the end, you might find a way to add your own voice rather than end on such a long quote. Maybe splice in some reflection of your own before giving Harlan the last word. Also, can you introduce his work just a bit more (what Rainbow Row is about, what his other work has explored, how active he is in Charleston history, what his current job technically is, etc.).

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