From books to barbecue, and current events to Colonial history, historian and author Walter Edgar delves into the arts, culture, and history of South Carolina and the American South. Produced by South Carolina Public Radio.
http://southcarolinapublicradio.org/programs/walter-edgars-journal
South Carolina Between World Wars: The Impact of the New Deal
When the stock market crashed in 1929, ushering in the Great Depression, South Carolina was already in dire financial straits. Cotton prices had plummeted, even before the boll weevil had decimated the crop. Years of non-sustainable practices in cotton
Ups and Downs: South Carolina’s Economy During World War I
South Carolina in 1918 was still struggling with the changes to its economic and social systems brought about by the Civil War and Reconstruction. The United States’ entry into World War I affected the daily work life of South Carolinians and the state’s
South Carolina Progressives During World War I
(Originally broadcast 03/02/18) - There were progressives in South Carolina in 1918. And the progressive movement in this state was different from the movement in the Northeast. However, the United States’ entrance into World War I provided an extra
Fighting on Two Fronts: Black South Carolinians in Wordl War I
Upon the United States' entrance into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson told the nation that the war was being fought to "make the world safe for democracy." For many African-American South Carolinians, the chance to fight in this war was a way to
South Carolina in WWI: The Military
(Originally broadcast 02/09/18) - With the United States’ entrance into World War I, three Army training bases were set up in South Carolina. The social and economic impact on a state still suffering from the devastation of the Civil War was dramatic.
Conversations on S.C. History: Women and World War I
Dr. Amy McCandless, professor emerita of history at the College of Charleston, joins Dr. Edgar for a public conversation on S.C. Women during World War I. Prior to that war, South Carolina was a predominantly rural state, with a Black majority populaltion
Reconstruction and the African-American Struggle for Equality in the South
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has said, "Reconstruction is one of the most important and consequential chapters in American history. It is also among the most overlooked, misunderstood and misrepresented." For an overview of this fraught era in American
What Does Freedom Mean? The Agency of Black People Before and After Emancipation
On June 19th, 1865, Union general Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free. The news of Emancipation had finally come to the state. Today, this day is celebrated as Juneteenth What did
The War the South Won
General U.S. history courses in many high schools depict the American Revolutionary War as a series of battles in the Northeast--Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, etc.--that lead inexorably to British General Charles Cornwallis's surrender of 8,000 British
The Carolina Frontier
In his book, C arolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American Southeast, 1756 - 1763 , (2015, UNC Press) Dr. Daniel J. Tortora, assistant professor of history at Colby College, explores how the Anglo-Cherokee War reshaped the