Carol Tempel was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1941 to first generation Polish and German- Czechoslovakian parents. Her father was a Roman Catholic Democrat and her mother a Missouri Synod Lutheran Republican. She credits her parents' experiences as the foundation for her understanding of civil rights; " I think those experiences are really the thing that helped me understand what the civil-rights movement was all about, what discrimination was all about, what prejudice was all about, because it was founded on knowing people as people." Her father encouraged her to attend college and pursue a career in science even when in 1963 it was an uncommon career choice for a woman. She graduated from Augustana College, majoring in Biology and Secondary Education. Later she pursued a master's degree in Biology and completed her PhD in Educational Leadership. In the interview, Tempel tells about the times when she was denied employment despite her qualifications because of her gender. In 1978, Tempel moved with her husband, George Tempel, and children from Kansas to Charleston. Tempel remembers feeling she was "an anomaly" among the other women. She joined the League of Women Voters and soon was deeply involved in the Equal Rights Movement. She tells about the efforts to reform the legislation in South Carolina, the criticism she received in her own community because of her activism, and finally the frustration when despite all the hard work in 1982 the legislation did not pass. Tempel never stopped working in the community; from ‘82 to ‘88 she served as a chair of the James Island Constituent School Board and was the owner of a small business. In '88, she was hired by Charleston County Schools as curriculum specialist and she worked with the school district in many different capacities until her retirement. She is the president of the American Association of University Women of South Carolina. In the interview, Tempel reflects about the motivations behind her activism, her biggest accomplishments, and what means for her to be a feminist and a southern woman.
Susan K. Dunn (1951) was born in Murray, Kentucky. Her mother was a homemaker and her father, a World War II veteran, was a Methodist Church minister who was very active in the Civil Rights movement. Dunn attended Duke University from 1968 to 1972, and her whole college experience was deeply impacted by the anti-war movement. In this interview, Dunn remembers her days as a student, protesting in the Duke Campus, and marching to DC. After college she decided to become an attorney and attended the University Of North Carolina School Of Law in Chapel Hill. Although it was a predominately male environment she did not face discrimination or problems for being a woman. It was later, when she was looking for a job that she confronted more barriers related not only to her gender but also to the fact that she lacked family connections. After graduation she moved with her husband to Charleston and worked for a small local law firm for a while. Later, she opened her own practice focusing mainly in family law. In 1993, Dunn began litigating in a high profile case known as Ferguson et al V. City of Charleston et all which lasted for more than a decade and was decided by the United States Supreme Court. "It involved a legal challenge to a policy that was basically created by the Charleston City Police and the Medical University. It was a policy that dealt with drug-testing pregnant women and using the criminal procedure to force them into treatment or to arrest them." The Supreme Court held that the policy was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourth Amendment. During all the years living and practicing law in Charleston Dunn has been involved in many causes directly related to protect and advance women's rights. Dunn has devoted her time and energy to many organizations, such as NOW (National Organization of Women), The South Carolina Women Lawyers' Association, and the City of Charleston Women Association. However, she affirms that "probably the place where I've affected more women is representing them in divorces and not charging them an arm and a leg and, you know, trying to, in one way that I could, help them get through that process with their dignity intact".In addition, Dunn worked as a lay minister at the Circular Church from 1999 to 2009. She explains that her church community is very important for her. Finally, Dunn reflects about her life as a mother and professional, and about what it means to her to be a feminist and a southern woman.
Norma Hoffman-Davis (1940) was born and lived in Charleston until she left for college in 1957. Hoffman's parents were Ellen Wiley, a school teacher, and Joseph Irvin Hoffman a prominent African American physician who practiced in Charleston until he was in his eighties. In this interview, Hoffman-Davis reflects about growing up in Charleston peninsula, in a time when black and whites lived in the same neighborhoods but all institutions were segregated. She attended a catholic school for blacks, Immaculate Conception, and her family worshiped at St Peter's Catholic Church. Hoffman- Davis remembers the stories of her father, a black doctor, practicing in downtown Charleston and rural Johns Island. She tells about the health care institutions available for black people when she was a child, Cannon Street Hospital and the black section of Roper Hospital and also remembers her father's colleagues. Hoffman-Davis reflects about the mixed results that desegregation brought to the black community in terms of the access to healthcare services, as well as how changes in the healthcare industry have negatively impacted the doctor- patient relationship. Hofmann and her husband Mr. Leonard Davis lived in Detroit Michigan for thirty-eight years. After retirement they move back to the Lowcountry and reside in the house in which her parents used to live.
Father Leonard Cunningham (1923-2010) was born in Charleston, SC to Harley and Marion Cunningham. In this interview, conducted several months before his death, Cunningham discusses his rich family history. His ancestors included a former Confederate officer and federal judge, a midwife, a Baptist minister, a supporter of Marcus Garvey, and many skilled craftsmen. His father was a skilled plasterer and ornamental worker who worked on the Francis Marion Hotel, as well as many historic Charleston homes. He also built the family home at 15 Larnes St. and sent his children to the Immaculate Conception School. In 1950, Cunningham was ordained a Catholic priest, joining the Holy Ghost Fathers. That year he became the first African American priest to celebrate mass at the Cathedral of St. Johns in Charleston. In 1960, he joined the community at Mepkin Abbey, but was given leave a few years later to work in North Charleston during the civil rights movement. This interview was conducted in conjunction with College of Charleston graduate student Joi Mayo’s 2011 thesis, “A Beacon Light: Immaculate Conception School's Encouragement of Charleston's Black Middle and Upper Classes.”
Rev. Joseph A. Darby was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and a product of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. Darby has long been involved in numerous racial, cultural and faith based programs to improve South Carolina race relations and education, most notably as former President of both the Greater Columbia Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and the Greater Columbia Interfaith Clergy Association. He also served on the Charleston County School District’s Superintendent Search Committee, which led to the hiring of the School District’s first African-American Superintendent. Reverend Darby is also a former First Vice-President of the South Carolina Conference of the NAACP. In this interview with Kerry Taylor, Rev. Darby discusses the Democratic Party’s strategies within the state of South Carolina leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election. He comments on the differences between Hilary Clinton’s versus Barack Obama’s campaigns, of which he found Obama’s more successful by focusing on making personal connections within the Democratic voter base. In addition, he also discusses the role of the ministerial clergy in relation to the Democratic presidential campaigns, how those contacts were made, and the impact they had on the eventual outcome. A fourth generation minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church he has over thirty years experience and currently serves as Pastor of the Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Michael Veeck was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1951 and is co-owner of the Charleston Riverdogs baseball team. He is the son of Bill Veeck (1914-1986), the colorful if not always successful owner of the St. Louis Browns, the Chicago White Sox, and the World Series champion Cleveland Indians (1948). Michael Veeck inherited his family’s love of baseball, but may be best known as the originator of one of baseball’s most infamous promotions—“Disco Demolition.” What began as a light-hearted gag to blow up disco records symbolizing the death of the 1970s dance craze, ended in a riot at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and considerable damage to the stadium and playing field. In this interview excerpt, Veeck details the planning of “Disco Demolition,” and boasts of his role in hastening disco’s demise. The interview took place during a “US Since 1945” course at The Citadel.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley was born in the city on June 9, 1943. After graduating from The Citadel (1964), he attended the University of South Carolina’s School of Law (1967). He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1968 to 1974 before being elected Mayor of Charleston in December 1975. He has served 10 terms. Inthe following interview with Citadel Cadet Steven Foster, Riley reflects on the City’s disaster preparations for Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. The Mayor recalls that his main concerns were to encourage citizens to evacuate and to provide for those who needed shelter after the storm. Hunkered down in City Hall with other City employees, they listened anxiously as the metal roof was torn from the building and flung across the street. After the storm, which was among the most destructive to hit the United States, Riley worked closely with political, business, and civic leaders to revive the region’s economy and repair its badly damaged infrastructure.
Lu Edna Capers (1915) was born and raised in Johns Island, S.C. Capers, like her mother and her siblings, attended Promise Land School, a segregated school for black children on the island. In this interview, Capers recalls her experiences at Promise Land describing the school building and its inadequate equipment. She explains how the classes were organized, what were the students' routines and responsibilities, and the games they played. She also recalls some of her teachers, among them civil right leader Septima Clark.
Timothy Grant was born in 1954 at the Naval Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up on Jackson Street on the East Side of Charleston. He recalls memories of the women that raised him: his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and their ties to the city. Grant talks about his affiliation with the Jackson Street Panthers, a street gang that in 1969 protected Mary Moultrie, a leader of the Hospital Strike, when she was forced to leave her residence and hide at the union hall. He shares his memories of the strike and its aftermath and remembers other older young organizers such as Robert Ford and John Reynolds. In the second part, the interview focuses on Grant’s experiences as a Black worker at the Street and Sidewalks Department of the City of Charleston and reflects about the importance of keeping the lessons of the past and to fight for workers’ rights.
Elmire Raven was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1952 and moved to South Carolina in 1989. Since 1991 she has served as the Executive Director of My Sister's House, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides services to domestic violence victims in the Lowcountry area. In this interview, Raven recounts her upbringing, her early awareness of discrimination and her work with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She also reflects about motherhood, social justice, and what it means for her to be a feminist and a southern woman.
