My name is Kylie Berman and I will be researching the civil rights movement, specifically focusing on the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I chose to prove that this topic confirms stereotypes and popular assumptions about the south. My reasoning behind choosing this topic is that racism is still felt throughout the U.S south, even after the success of the Selma to Montgomery march. What came out of this march was the voting rights act of 1965 that outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the civil war. The south, where racism was the most prevalent, is the origin of the civil rights movement. This movement and march showed that the stereotype of being racist was very much true and that the effects of racism were debilitating to African-Americans. The entire movement exemplified the persistence, determination, and hope of African-Americans in the south and their desire to create a just society for all Americans, despite skin color. 

​​My name is Maddie Arnold and I am researching and writing about the origins and history of churches in the Holy City – Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to researching the origins of these places, I also want to look into major events in their histories, (a prime example being the shooting at the AME church in 2015), and how these events have impacted the people and congregations involved with the churches. Another aspect that I want to look at is the variation amongst different branches of Christianity, learning about how each division worships and their more individual beliefs and structures. Finally, I want to find out more about how these churches are involved in the community today. Are they still active sites for worship? Do they serve are more of a museum or a historical site? Have they changed as time has passed and become more ‘politically correct’ or accepting? I have some personal knowledge of Christianity, having grown up in a religious southern family, as well as some knowledge of local churches from having lived in the area for three and a half years and getting to know the history of the city. I was interested in the topic because of my prior knowledge. I have gone on some historical tours since I moved to Charleston and I have spent years walking past numerous churches on a daily basis as I go about my day to day life, and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the beautiful places I see every day.

My name is Francis Boscia and the topic that I am researching is bluegrass music. More specifically, I am focusing on what bluegrass music is, where it originated and how it relates to stereotypes about the South. For example, one of the “rules” of bluegrass music is that it is hillbilly music played by white southerners which is a very racial stereotype of the South. I chose this topic primarily because of my love of music and my musical background. A while ago I became interested in bluegrass music to the point where I bought my own banjo and began learning to play it. In case you’re wondering, I am not very good at it. Bluegrass music has a lot of gospel and Christian ties in it. There are many gospel songs that all preach the singer’s love for their Christianity (whatever branch that they practice). I hope to discuss more about the ways that bluegrass bands portray themselves and how that connects to stereotypes of the South. I also want to talk about the life of Bill Monroe who is said to be the “father” of bluegrass. Bluegrass music has origins in Scotland and Ireland, but Bill Monroe, who was born in Kentucky, “invented” bluegrass in the 1940’s.

The topics which the members of our group have chosen to research have some overlapping similarities and are connected in several ways. Francis’ research on bluegrass music contains aspects of religion, involving gospel music in the genre. This gospel music connects to Maddie’s topic of historic churches in the Charleston area. One of the specific aspects that she is researching is the history of predominantly black churches in the city, which connects to Kylie’s research on the Civil Rights movement and the march to Selma led by Martin Luther King Jr. Her research also connects to Kylie’s because of the strong religious influences that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. used during his fight in the civil rights movement. However, Francis’ research has some strong contrast to Kylie’s. Bluegrass music was predominantly written and performed by white musicians, making it a little harder to relate to the Civil Rights movement and racism in general. Overall, these three topics demonstrate that there are a lot of overlapping factors between expansive aspects of southern culture.

I spent my afternoon at the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon down near market street, a site with a tremendous amount of history for both our city and the nation. The New Exchange and Custom House was built in 1771 and, at the time, located on the waterfront (but currently located at East Bay Street and Broad). The building is massive and important looking, with lots of windows along its street-side and massive arched doorways that remain open during business hours in this pleasant fall weather. The building draws a lot of attention to itself, its old architecture sticking out across the street from a very modern-looking Wells Fargo. The interior of the building still gives off an older feel, keeping in line with the exterior. Old, warped, darkened hardwood floors. Exposed red brick on several of the exterior walls. It may have been in my head, but I felt that it smelled old, almost similar to the way that my grandparents’ house smelled while I was growing up. The second floor of the Old Exchange presented beautiful views of the surrounding cobblestone streets. The dungeon below was cold, dark, and damp – fitting right into its namesake.

As I mentioned, the building is incredibly old. On the self-guided portion of the tour, you wander through the first and second floors which are filled with countless artifacts and posters giving context and history to the building. Much to my surprise, several of the posters discussed the obviously massive stain on the history of the Southern United States, slavery. One of the first ones you see when you being your walk through the first floor of the building reads, “Painful as it is True: Slave Auctions at the Exchange”. It is positioned right near a window and explains that while now you see a busy street and a parking lot, you would’ve originally seen slave auctions, as the Exchange was one of the most popular places in the downtown Charleston area for this type of event. I also found some slave badges in a case on the first floor, which reminded me of our trip to the Gibson Museum and the ones we were shown on our tour. The posters, along with all of the artifacts, did a strong job of giving the harsh details of the Exchange’s past, something for which not all places in the South can be commended. I have had many experiences on old plantations here in South Carolina where there is absolutely no mention of the history of the land, something I find incredibly sad and disrespectful. However, I do think that the Exchange did a good job of not shying away from a sensitive subject and educating those on a hard past.

One of the most interesting and monumental parts of the Exchange’s history is its ties to the founding of our country. On May 23, 1772, the state of South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution. The delegates that ratified the document met and signed it in the Old Exchange building here in Charleston, giving the site an incredible connection to an incredibly significant time. After George Washington was elected as the first president of the United States in April of 1789, he began a tour of the country to visit his people. He made it to Charleston in May of 1791. He loved the city and spent the majority of his time in Charleston in his favorite spot, the Old Exchange, giving the building an even greater honor.

My time at the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon taught me more about the city I live in and its relation to the country as a whole. I think that while the site did have a lot of stereotypical Southern aspects (the building itself, the history associated with it, etc.) it doesn’t necessarily reinforce stereotypes. It didn’t strike me as anything other than educational, with no real bias. As I mentioned, I do feel that many historical places in the south can reinforce stereotypes through their lack of contribution to educating on the nation’s past, but I think that the Old Exchange did the exact opposite of that.

Last week, I had dinner at Saltwater Cowboys on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. Shem Creek in its entirety is a typically ‘southern’ location. On the water, lots of marsh and boats, plenty of seafood, and lots of drinks. I chose Saltwater Cowboys because it is a favorite and frequent location of mine and my friends that I know has a substantial selection of southern dishes in addition to other options. Their drink menu also has some touristy cocktails that are aimed at the southern stereotype, such as the ‘Blushing Cowgirl Spritz’, the ‘South of Mill Street’, and the ‘Fort Sumter Punch’. While these do not technically have any ties to the south, they are a tourist trap attempt to fit into the stereotype. Despite these tourist cop-outs, they do also have many local beer choices, including Charleston’s own Island Coastal Lager and Palmetto Brewing Company’s Huger Street IPA. As far as food goes, they are packed full of southern treats. Appetizers include crab dip, pimento cheese and pork rinds, fried okra, boiled peanuts, and one of my personal favorites, fried green tomatoes. One of their ‘Shem Creek Favorites’ is the BBQ shrimp and grits, a dish that combines two prominent (and two of my favorite) southern dishes. In addition to that, they have a pulled pork sandwich and smoked ribs.

Grits is a staple with which almost every person who grew up in the south is familiar. Whether eaten sweet or savory, it can be a simple sort of snack or a complex and loaded dish. Fried green tomatoes are another staple, so much so that introducing my northerner roommates to the dish was a fun and reminiscent experience. Both of the dishes that I ordered while at Shem Creek were personal favorites of mine that I have grown up eating and remind me of time spent at home with my family in Tennessee.

While at Saltwater Cowboys, my friends and I spent the first half-hour we were there waiting for a table (a common occurrence on Shem Creek, especially with a group the size of mine). We sat at the outside bar, watching the sunset over the marsh and drinking some of the aforementioned local beers, intermittently playing corn hole (another very southern activity). We wanted to sit out on their patio over the water, however, the weather was rainy and dreary and prevented us from doing this. So instead, we sat on the upper floor of the building where we still had a nice view of the marsh. Our waitress was a girl named Emily who recognized us from a previous visit, and her genuinely kind attitude towards us somewhat ‘regulars’ seems like a sort of southern hospitality in my opinion.

One of my good friends who was with me on this night has grown up in various areas of South Carolina his entire life, spending the last five years living in Charleston. As long as I have known him, he has been a massive bourbon fan (bordering on snob). He makes a mean old fashioned and a whiskey sour is his go-to drink on a night out. The essay by Seán S. McKeithan entitled ‘Every Ounce a Man’s Whiskey?: Bourbon in the White Masculine South’ reminded me of my friend. His upbringing has had obvious impacts on his current personality, but he does not in all ways fit the stereotype of the ‘white southern man’. He appears very masculine with a large build and a deep voice, watches football, and works a manual labor job. However, he has a nose ring and is a raging liberal (two not-very-common characteristics of a ‘white southern male’). I enjoy the juxtaposition of his upbringing-based character traits versus the ones he has acquired himself as he has grown older and become his own man. We have bonded over the struggles and blessings of coming from a southern family. Both of us feel that there are parts of our childhoods that will always impact who we are, but that we have also grown to resent certain aspects of it and have had to move on from those parts of our lives. His affinity for a stereotypical southern drink is one of those things that he (and I on the occasions when he feels nice enough to make me one of his fantastic old fashions) has continued to hold on to from his southern childhood.

Art is an incredibly important medium for education. It has the power to convey more than just facts and numbers, it can tell a story and share emotions between the artist and the viewer. It can educate on a more personal note and provides a whole new depth to a learning experience. The Gibbes Museum, particularly the permanent exhibits containing predominantly African American art and art from Charleston’s history, is an extremely useful place to receive this type of artistic education. The piece ‘They Combined Beauty’ by Stephen L. Hayes is a perfect example of this. Coming to the Gibbes to view this artwork is important because it gives the viewer some insight into the experience of black people in this country. From the ropes and chains, to the wings and angelic halo surrounding the main subject, this art has a deeply interpretive nature and pulls the viewer in with its borderline chaotic nature. There is so much going on in this piece that one can’t help but stare at it for an extended period of time, trying to take in all of the minute (but drastically relevant and important) details. Returning to the aspects of this mixed media piece that I’ve already mentioned, one of my favorite details in ‘They Combined Beauty’ are the ropes and chains around the neck of the girl, who is the focal point of this tumultuous art. These shackles are meant to represent (I think both historically and currently) the restraints and struggles that African Americans go through and suffer through in this country. The obvious historical context is the tragic past of slavery in America and the literal chains placed on the black people brought to this country against their will. This is reinforced by what appears to be a diagram of a slave ship located in the bottom left corner of the piece. The small piece of wood contains dashes that seem to be laid out in the way that slaves were packed into ships. The more present-day context of the chains and ropes is the prejudice and racism that is still present in society today. The internet has provided an easy access to an endless stream of first-hand examples and experiences of black Americans and what they must endure on the daily – everything from videos of random white people harassing African Americans who are simply minding their business and going about their lives, to fatal shootings and police brutality that affect black people at exponentially higher rates. In my view, these ropes and chains represent both of these forms of hardship. Another one of my favorite parts of this piece is the wings and halo around the centrally located woman. I feel that it is the artists’ way of saying that despite all of these hardships and struggles, people will still rise and overcome. It is the joyous and uplifting aspect of the art that counteracts all of the shameful and tragic aspects.

References

http://www.stephenhayescreations.com/about

https://www.gibbesmuseum.org/