My name is Elizabeth Clarke and I will be researching women in country music. I plan to utilize specific examples of female artists, such as Dolly Parton, to explain how popular stereotypes about the South are reinforced throughout the genre. I have grown up listening to country music, and have learned to appreciate it and the many great artists who have made contributions to the country music industry. It is important to me that female artists are recognized for the strides they have made, as well as for their notable achievements. I feel that my knowledge of country songs is pretty vast, but when it comes to the history of the genre, there is a lot for me to learn. I am interested in using my knowledge of songs and lyrics and applying it to what I have learned in Southern Studies class in order to display how southern stereotypes are confirmed and reinforced. In addition to using my previous knowledge, I will be using numerous resources and databases in order to ensure that I have adequate and reliable information to provide an engaging and insightful report to my reader.

        My name is Mary Connolly and I will be examining the film, Gone with the Wind. I chose to research this film for my project because it is one of the most historically recognized movies to depict Southern culture during the period of the Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara’s character was widely embraced by many Southern women because the nature of her character is ironically the antithesis of a “Southern belle.” She is strong headed like her father and is not blind to the Confederacy and its men. Moreover, the film has received many accolades including eight academy awards and was a box-office winner for more than 30 years. I wanted to learn more about how the South was portrayed and observe women during the antebellum through a media form. It can be more engaging to learn about history and the conflict of the war in a visual form, rather than simply reading about it in an article or book. I also am looking forward to understanding the mannerisms, clothing style, and way the people from this time spoke.  From my previous understanding of this movie, I knew that it takes place during the Civil War, which notably was one of the most potent times in American history. The film was created from the original publication of the novel, written by Margaret Mitchell in 1936. Through my viewing and analysis of the film, I will determine whether Scarlett O’Hara’s character represents the stereotypical Southern woman, or whether she would be considered a “bad-belle.” 

        My name is John Ducan and the artifact I chose to research was the film, “Big Fish” directed by Tim Burton based on the novel by Daniel Wallace. I chose to research this film as it was one I grew up with, it being a favorite of my parents, and a desire to learn more about the film from a Southern perspective. The film revolves around a man named Edward Bloom, on his deathbed, recounting crazy outlandish stories from his past to his son Will Bloom. The majority of the story happens in small towns and cities in Alabama. Not only is the location a very Southern one, but many of the themes explored in the movie are too. The central theme being storytelling and passing down of folk tales. Many of Edward Bloom’s stories either have mythological elements such as human giants in a circus or hard to believe circumstances such as single handedly infiltrating a North Korean camp and stealing information. These things fall in line with the popularity of folk tales in the South and the aspect of perhaps embellishing certain moments in recounting history that is sometimes associated with the South. As I mentioned earlier I had seen the film in the past but would like to revisit it to watch it as an older individual but also to re-examine the film from a cultural perspective.  

        The common thread between each of our group member’s artifacts is the emphasis of family in Southern culture. The concept of family is ingrained in every Southerner. The importance of family is universal but it maintains a special place in Southern culture. This is in part due to the South holding strong traditional values and views for a large duration of its history. In Dolly Parton’s song “Jolene,” Dolly sings about a woman named Jolene whose beauty is capable of stealing her husband away from her. Dolly begs Jolene to stay away, and states that “my happiness depends on you.” This song places importance on relationships as well as the dynamic that is popular in many southern households, including the belief that southern women must rely on men. Additionally, in the film Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara adopts the fierce and independent mindset of her father, while neglecting the stereotypical attributes of a Southern mother. Her relationship with her mother suffers because Scarlett does not mirror her mother’s innocent and femine demeanor. Lastly, in the film “Big Fish ”, the main character Will Bloom is attempting to rekindle a relationship with his father on his deathbed after falling out due to enduring his fathers outlandish tales all his life. He realizes during his father’s final days, how treasured his relationship with his father is and is finally at peace when he does pass away. While the relationships differ between each of our topics, all the topics highlight the importance the South places on familial bonds.

Rainbow Row is a series of historical homes on East Bay Street that have a distinct paint pattern of colorful pastels. These houses are one of Charleston’s most visited tourist attractions and one of the first things that come to mind when picturing the city. There are 13 separate houses that include colors like salmon, turquoise, purple, and yellow. Not only are they a number of beautiful pastel colors but being historic houses, have incredibly detailed wooden shutters, colonial doors, and large windows.

This location interested me for my research as it truly is one of the most visually stunning parts of Charleston while also having a story I was determined to learn more about. Being in one of the most historically rich cities in the country, Rainbow Row is bound to have a rich history itself. The first of these houses were built in 1740 as a location for British and other colonial merchants to live and work out of close to the water. The mid and late 18^th century served as an important time in South Carolina’s history and even more for Charleston. It was one of the largest ports in the colonies and home of the some of the most wealthy and influential colonists at the time. The South was prospering from trade and profit of the slave trade and Charleston was at the forefront of this economic boom. As the decades passed, Rainbow Row seemed to reflect the state of the South at whatever moment in time. Like the ruin the South was in after the Civil War, the houses on East Bay were neglected and were allowed to devolve into a state of ruin. They began to start to look the way they do today in 1931 when a Charleston couple purchased some of the homes and decided to give them a pastel paint job in an effort to revitalize the neighborhood (Magnus 2017). Their neighbors began to follow suit which resulted in what we know as Rainbow Row today.

The focus on the site today remains its pleasing aesthetics and beautiful colors and the depiction of the homes and the way they are marketed match this. Being the homes of wealthy merchants during the colonial period does open up the possibility of them being home to colonists profiting off the trade of human lives. Also the likelihood that these homes were constructed using slave labor is very high. The slave trade to this day still presents itself in many ways in Charleston with another popular tourist site being “the Old Slave Market”. I do not believe that the people who run the website of Rainbow Row or any other form of advertisement of the attraction attempt to hide this part of Charleston’s history and the Row’s possible tie to it but also do not seem to make an effort to make it aware or acknowledge it.

The city of Charleston is a good representation of the history of the South and Rainbow Row is an extension of the representation. While the color choice of some of the homes perhaps does not match with its colonial history, much of the homes still look very similar to how they would have looked centuries ago. I believe this a reinforcement of the Southern stereotype of being stuck in the past which can either be a positive or negative thing. While a large portion of this nostalgia is tainted by the South’s racist and violent past, Rainbow Row is an example, in my opinion, of a good return to the past and celebrating Southern architectural beauty.

When conducting research and taking notes on the site, I was brought back to many facts and details we had discussed in class previously. An example of this was when I considered that these homes were certainly either home to slaves or the place many had worked during ante-bellum Charleston. I thought back to the “Public History in the South” unit where one NPR article, “Looking ‘Beyond the Big House’ And Into The Lives Of Slaves”, discusses this very topic of remembering the role of enslaved people in these historic colonial homes. Earlier when I discussed the absence of any mention of slave labor or credit, the main topic of this article, an effort to recognize the hidden sacrifices slaves made to much of colonial Charleston through tours, would have been a perfect solution to this issue (McCammon 2017).

Works Cited

Magnus, Traci. “The Captivating History of Rainbow Row.” The Captivating History of Rainbow Row | Charleston.com, 28 Sept. 2017, https://charleston.com/charleston-insider/lowcountry-lifestyles/the-captivating-history-of-rainbow-row.

McCammon, Sarah. “Looking ‘beyond the Big House’ and into the Lives of Slaves.” NPR, NPR, 13 Sept. 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/09/13/550736172/looking-beyond-the-big-house-and-into-the-lives-of-slaves.

Toast: A Southern Dining Experience

The restaurant I chose to dine at for southern foodways experience was “Toast!”. It is a predominantly breakfast orientated place with a variety of lunch and dinner options included. Simply looking at the menu made me realize that this establishment was rooted in southern tradition and served truly southern cuisine. From breakfast dishes such as stone-ground grits and New Orleans Beignets and lunch dishes like the Lowcountry Po-Boy (the dish I chose) and an interesting option of Sweet Tea Glazed Fried Chicken, I don’t think anything else can come closer to southern cuisine. Like that last dish, a large percentage of the menu has at least one ingredient or part fried which also was an indicator of “Toast!” being a southern restaurant. Fried food is so inherently associated with the South due to not only a tradition of frying food but also an association with obesity and overconsumption. In the Project Muse article, “The Edible South”, by Marcie Cohen Ferris, she states this association as a by-product of food being such an integral part of Southern culture. Stories about which style of barbeque sauce is superior are right after reports of skyrocketing childhood obesity rates and Type 2 Diabetes being a top killer in the South. Even though there are those startling headlines and worrying statistics regarding southerners’ health, a movement towards healthier lifestyles tied to homegrown and locally sourced food has grown significantly in the south. This is evident in the Daily Digest post by Hanna Raskin Hraskin where it’s becoming more and more popular to source produce locally.

Like I stated earlier, I ordered the Lowcountry Po-boy sandwich which consisted of golden fried shrimp on a grilled hoagie with lettuce, tomato, with a red pepper remoulade drizzled on top. Of course, being a southern restaurant, it was served with French fries and a cold sweet tea. The fried shrimp was not only an example of a southern staple but a Charleston go-to. Being a city renowned for it’s seafood, it would have felt sacrilegious to not order some on my southern foodways experience. I was seated in a corner so I had a pretty full view of the restaurant as I was eating which certainly helped analyze my southern dining experience. I went during a slower period of the day, so I was served relatively quickly and received very attentive service from my waitress. Another characteristic in which I felt was very southern was this service. Hospitality and friendliness are also very southern traditions as it a part of our culture. Maintaining polite conversation with strangers and specifically waiters or servers seems foreign to people not native to the South but is something we are so accustomed to. I was constantly spoken to as “hun” or “honey” which is just a classic example of southern hospitality.

The same article I cited earlier, “The Edible South”, helped me see my experience through a different lens and see my dish as more than simply sustenance but an expression of a culture hundreds of years old. Specifically, what interested me was the connection Ferris made between the slow urbanization and industrialization of the South and its impact on its cuisine. The South’s economy being heavily based on agriculture, the focus on industries like factories and textiles was almost non-existent ante-bellum. In her words, “residents [southerners] maintained strong connections to the land and to traditional foodways” (Ferris 2009). This connection led to food being such a central part to southern culture, that not much has changed in 200+ years. I could easily walk into a Southern style restaurant almost anywhere in the South and be able to find dishes listed in something like “Charleston Receipts”, a cookbook which some recipes dating back to the beginning of the 19^th century. In fact, one recipe from “Charleston Receipts”, the Scalloped Oysters, was extremely similar to a dish from “Toast!”, the Baked Island Oysters. This just goes to show how little has changed in Southern cuisine in a long time which is not necessarily a negative trait, but just shows how important these traditional dishes are to the people of the South and how they have been proud of them for centuries. Funnily enough, a thing I am curious about after reading about classic southern cuisine and experiencing it myself for so long, I would love to learn more about new twists and changes to southern food in respect to immigration of people from all over the U.S. and the world into the South. Acculturation and cultural appreciation must extend to food culture so I wish to learn more about the combination of other cultures cuisines and southern cuisine.

-John Duncan

Thomas Middleton of the Oaks

Benjamin West’s artwork titled, “Thomas Middleton of the Oaks”, is a portrait of the Charleston native Thomas Middleton. Born in 1753, Middleton came from a wealthy family with ties to plantations and merchants in the Charleston and Beaufort area. His family was quite famous as his father was briefly president of the First Continental Congress and his older brother Arthur Middleton was a signee of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas himself went onto become a member of the South Carolina Congress for two years and then ultimately passed in 1797. The artist, Benjamin West, was a renowned English painter who was the president of the English Royal Academy for artists and an appointed painter for the British Royalty. This piece is so special as West almost exclusively painted royalty, this being one of the only portraits of an American that he did. The artwork itself is of Thomas Middleton posing with a cane at his side and with elegant drapes as a backdrop. He is also wearing elegant clothes fashioned after “Vandyke” costumes which were popular at his time to show high societal class and elegance. This costume comes from the paintings of Arthur Van Dyke, a 17^th century artist, who used outfits like it in his paintings. Portraits and other items of artwork similar to this are extremely important for viewing and study as it’s a lens directly to past and a depiction of either someone famous or very wealthy. It allows us to see the varying classes of people centuries before us and how they looked and dressed. This painting also serves as a reminder and lasting impression of the subject which make people continue to talk about him almost 250 years later in 21^st century. That is what is incredible about art in general, how it memorializes people for centuries or thousands of years into the future.

Works Cited

“Thomas Middleton Plantation Book, 1734-1813.” Finding, https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00506/#d1e187.

“Thomas Middleton of the Oaks”, 1770, Artwork Description, Gibbes Museum of Art