South Carolina from A to Z

“S” is for Stevenson, Ferdinan Backer (1928-2001). Lieutenant governor, civic leader, author. Born in New York, “Nancy” Stevenson was reared in Charleston. She was an active civic leader during the 1960s and 1970s and served on a number of nonprofit boards including the Historic Charleston Foundation, the South Carolina Historical Society and the College of Charleston Foundation. Frustrated by the...

“S” is for Steele, Henry Maxwell (1922-2005). Writer, educator. A native of Greenville, Steele attended Furman University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His first published story appeared in Harper’s in 1944. Steele is best known for his short stories, which have appeared in Harper's and other national magazines. His published three collections of short stories: Where She Bru...

“S” is for Steadman, Mark (1930-2020). Novelist. Born in Georgia, in 1957 Steadman took a job as an instructor at Clemson College. In 1963 he obtained his Ph. D. from Florida State where his thesis was “Modern American Humor.” The subject reflected his permanent preoccupation. He taught humor and the American novel at Clemson for forty years. In 1968 took a leave of absence and accepted a position...

“S” is for States’ Rights. The doctrine of states’ rights, a recurring theme of South Carolina political thought, is composed of two elements: a belief that the U.S. Constitution is a compact formed by states that retained their sovereign status; and a belief that powers not specifically granted by the Constitution to the national government remain in state hands. The second principle derives from...

“S” is for Stateberg. The name of this town, located in western Sumter County in the High Hills of Santee, reflects Stateberg's raison d'être. A group of speculators headed by Thomas Sumter founded Stateburg in 1783 in hopes that it would be named the new state capital of South Carolina. But Sumter lacked the popularity and political connections in the assembly to make his capital dream a reality....

“S” is for state symbols. As sovereign political entities, all fifty states have adopted special symbols, a practice that came into vogue at the turn of the last century. As of 2026 South Carolina had more than forty state symbols. In some cases, there are more than one example per category; for example state bird: the state bird—the Carolina  wren; the state wild game bird: wild Turkey; and the s...

“S” is for state seal. The great seal of South Carolina was first used on a document dated May 22, 1777. The seal’s designers were William Henry Drayton and Arthur Middleton. The inspiration for the design came from the battle of Sullivan's Island. The seal's front showed a Palmetto representing the fort, at the base of which was an uprooted oak representing the sunken British ships. From the tree...

“S” is for State parks. As of 2026, South Carolina’s system of state parks consisted of forty-seven properties totaling more than 90,000 acres of land. Its genesis came in the 1930s with the development of sixteen state parks under the auspices of the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC) a depression-era federal program. In 1942 with the dissolution of the CCC, parks came under the management of the...

“C” is for Cunningham, Ann Pamela (1816-1875). Preservationist. Born in Laurens District, at the age of seventeen, an accident left Cunningham an invalid. On returning to South Carolina after a summer visit, her mother observed the dilapidated state of George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. From her sickbed Ann Pamela immediately penned an appeal to the “Ladies of the South!” to raise funds to...

“C” is for Culp, Napoleon Brown (1929-2008). Musician. “Nappy Brown” was born in Charlotte but became identified as a South Carolina artist after settling in the Columbia area in the late 1960s. He got his start in gospel music in the 1940s as a member of the Golden Bells, Selah Jubilee Singers, and Heavenly Lights. After returning to rhythm and blues in the mid-1950s he became a mainstay at Savoy...

“C” is for Crum, William Demosthenes (1859-1912). Physician, civic leader, political activist. Crum, the son of a German American and a free woman of color grew up near Orangeburg. He earned his medical degree from Howard University. He opened a practice in Charleston. Crum was extensively involved in local and national Republican Party politics. In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Crum...

“C” is for Craven, Charles (1682-1754). Governor. Craven was born in England, a younger son of one of the original Lords Proprietors of Carolina. He arrived in the colony in March 1712. Craven worked constructively with a fractious Commons House of Assembly and was able to secure passage of important legislation: including, the reception act of 1712 which established English common and statute law...

“C” is for Crafts, William (1787-1826). Legislator, writer, reformer. A native of Charleston Crafts was a graduate of Harvard. Crafts played a significant role in several reform movements of the early nineteenth century. He helped to expand the rights of Catholic and Jews. He supported the campaign to establish the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. Crafts had a keen interest in the...

“B “is for Burton, Edward Milby (1898-1977). Museum director, naturalist, historian. Born in Pennsylvania, Burton's family moved to Charleston when he was only two months old. After graduating from high school in Charleston, he went to work for his family's lumber company. In 1924 he joined a prominent insurance firm and married Sally Morris Pinkney. He became a trustee of the Charleston Museum in...

“B” is for Burt, Armistead (1802-1883). Lawyer, congressman. Born in Abbeville, Burt married John C. Calhoun's niece. In Abbeville, Burt built a very successful law practice and became the protégé and confidant of his wife's uncle. Burt was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1842. He took his seat in Congress in 1843 and sat for ten years where he was accepted as the spokesman for Cal...

“B” is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham, Jr. (b 1942). Essayist, environmentalist, educator. A native of Conway, Burroughs was educated at the University of the South and Harvard University. He taught at Bowdoin College in Maine (1968-2000).  His collection Billy Watson's Croker Sack appeared in 1991. A year later his book Horry and the Waccamaw was published and reissued later with the title T he R...

“B” is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham (1834-1897). Manufacturer, merchant, land developer. Born in North Carolina, in 1857 Burroughs moved to Conway, South Carolina to work with a cousin. That same year on his own initiative, he won contracts to construct a bridge and gallows for the town. After the Civil War, Burroughs and his wife settled in Conway where he expanded his successful turpentine and...

“B” is for Burnettown (Aiken County; 2020 population 3,104). Burnettown is located in the Horse Creek Valley of Aiken County. In 1901 Daniel Burnette obtained land, sold a few lots, homes were built, and the property became known as “Mr. Burnette's land.” When an interurban trolley began operation in 1902 people realized there was no name for this land between the mill villages of Langley and Bath...

“S” is for state flag. South Carolina's blue Flag with its white crescent and palmetto tree is simple in design but profoundly symbolic of a long history. Born for practicality, South Carolina's first state flag was designed by Colonel William Moultrie. During the Revolutionary War, he produced a blue flag with a white crescent un the upper corner (like the crescent on his troops’ hats). In Decemb...

“S” is for State Farmers Market. The State Farmers Market is a three-site system of state-sponsored facilities operated by the South Carolina State Department of Agriculture. Markets are located in Columbia, Greenville and the Pee Dee and provide leased spaces to wholesale and retail vendors. Until 1951, the Columbia Farmers Market was located on Assembly Street and then moved to a fifty-one acre...

“S” is for State Fair. The South Carolina State Fair, formerly the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina was established in 1869. The society held its first fair on its fairgrounds on Elmwood Avenue. In 1903 the society purchased a one-hundred acre tract south of Columbia and held its first fair there in 1904. Until 1959 the State Fair was linked with the “Big Thursday” footb...

“S” is for State , the. The State newspaper was born in 1891 of a bitter political struggle between South Carolina’s conservative political establishment and the agrarianism of Governor Benjamin “Pitchfork” Tillman. The newspaper later morphed into a champion of progressive causes and by 1910 was the largest newspaper in South Carolina. By the 1960s the State was basically conservative and began e...

“S” is for Stackhouse, Eunice Temple Ford (1885-1980). Educator, clubwoman. Born in born in Marlboro County, Stackhouse was an honors graduate of Limestone College. She later received several advanced degrees from the University of Chicago. Beginning in 1906, she taught education, psychology, and philosophy and ethics at Limestone. She was active in the South Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs a...

“C” is for Cowpens, Battle of (January 17, 1781). In mid-December 1780 General Daniel Morgan positioned his “Flying Army” on the Pacolet River to threaten the British stronghold at Ninety Six. British general Lord Cornwallis responded by dispatching Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to protect Ninety Six and drive Morgan from South Carolina. At Hannah's Cowpens, a well-known local site situated...

“C” is for Council of Safety. In June 1775, prompted by rumors of British sponsored slave and Indian attacks and news of the hostilities between British and patriot forces at Lexington and Concord, the Provincial Congress of South Carolina created a powerful thirteen-member committee to act as the supreme executive power in the province--to be called the Council of Safety. Chief among the business...