Interview with Edward (Ed) Jones, an Eastside community advocate and city employee. As a leader, coach, and lifetime resident of the Eastside, Jones has helped shape the Eastside's youth and community for much of his life. He describes his childhood experiences moving to various locations in the Eastside and his working experience as an all-around sports coach, general contractor, mentor, organizer, and, currently, a community resource specialist for the City of Charleston. Jones never saw himself serving the community for as long as and in the manner that he does today, but after nearly three decades of work and a lifetime of experiences, he's continued to show up. He touches on the inequities and changes he's seen within his locale, including those in the public housing realm, recreation, and issues of policing and safety. In addition to his day-time job, Coach Jones is also the founder of the Concerned Citizens of the Peninsula/Lowcountry, or CCPLC, a grassroots organization with the intention of helping kids and communities in the Eastside and greater Charleston area. Jones makes it clear that all he does and wants to do is inspired by his own experiences, especially those growing up and living within the Eastside. He has a vision of a healthy and vibrant community that supports itself, works together, and offers all children the same opportunities regardless of family, race, or class.
Longtime Charleston preservationist, Elizabeth Jenkins “Liz” Young, was born April 7, 1919 on Edisto Island. In this interview she conveys her love for Charleston and emphasizes the importance of its preservation, gives a brief lesson on the Gullah dialect, and discusses St. Michaels Church. Young also talks about Federal Memorial Day versus Confederate Memorial Day, a holiday designated to memorialize the soldiers lost in the Civil War, which she calls the “War Of Northern Aggression.” Audio with transcript and tape log.
Interview with Emily Whaley Whipple, long time Charleston resident living on the lower peninsula in the South of Broad neighborhood. Whipple recalls growing up South of Broad at 58 Church and the change that took place over the past 75 years. She discusses her parents and their involvement in Charleston, both in city issues and the social scene. Her father, Ben Scott Whaley, was an attorney for the County Council, President of the South Carolina Bar Association, served in the South Carolina legislature, and was a charter member of Historic Charleston Foundation and its President for 13 years. Her mother was the chairwoman of a large annual church event and she started a dancing school with a family friend that met in Hibernian Hall and eventually the school was turned over to Whipple. She paints a beautiful picture of what it was like to play in the neighborhood, go to Charleston Day School, be one of three sisters, come home for 2 p.m. dinner, summer on Isle of Palms, vacation in Flat Rock, and spend weekends out on family plantations. Whipple provides commentary on Historic Charleston Foundation's home and garden tours. She mentions all of the people who were employed by her family and where they lived. Whipple also talks about various natural disasters that hit Charleston and how the city has changed to become much nicer looking but says that does mean that the city has not always been beautiful. She remarks, "Charleston is like a well-tended and cherished garden. That is what the city of Charleston is like. Certainly there are some plants that need to be pulled up or changed or rooted. But we love it. I'm so proud of the next generation and what they are doing to keep it this way. My mother always said that Charleston's adornment were its children, because we were all over the street." Interview conducted by Anne Blessing in Mrs. Blessing's home, on July 18, 2017. Recorded as part of HCF's "Changing Neighborhoods" series, made possible by a grant from the SC Humanities Commission.
Interview by Katherine Pemberton of Yvonne Evans who was born in New York but her family quickly moved back to her father's hometown of Charleston when she was a baby. Mrs. Evans has lived her entire life in the Harleston Village neighborhood of the city, growing up on Queen Street, attending the Cathedral School, Bishop England High School and then the College of Charleston. She talks about her childhood, shopping on King Street, and biking everywhere. After marrying and starting a family, Mrs. Evans returned to the College of Charleston for a degree in Business Administration. She became active in a local "Town and Gown" committee designed to improve relations between the campus and the adjoining neighborhood of Harleston Village. This spurred her to run for Charleston City Council where she represented District 8 for 20 years, serving from 1999-2009. During her time on city council, she worked on issues related to tourism, the arts, and city planning initiatives. Grants from both the South Carolina Humanities Commission and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing allowed HCF to proceed with this initiative and several oral history interviews have been conducted that focus on specific neighborhoods and the changes these residents have experienced over time.
In this interview, Father Lawrence McInerny relates his family tree, starting with Michael McInerny from County Clare, Ireland, the first family member to come to Sullivan’s Island in 1840. Married to Julia Lillis, Michael McInerny bought property but had trouble retaining it. He owned a bakery that was destroyed by arson. In 1884, he died in a horse and buggy accident. His son, John Francis McInerny, was born on the island in 1842. John Francis became a brick mason and later operated a lumber business. John Francis briefly served as marshal of Moultrieville. His brother, James, died in Confederate service during the American Civil War. The hard times of Reconstruction forced John Francis to move to Brooklyn, New York, where he married. He moved back to the island in about 1875. In 1876, during the last great yellow fever epidemic, two of his children died. In 1889, he bought Centennial Hall which he renovated but sold soon after renovations were completed. John Francis died in 1914. His son, Joseph P. McInerny, was a merchant on the island and was instrumental in starting the local elementary school. Joseph’s son, Edward Reynolds McInerny, was born in 1910 and ran a successful laundry business. Reynolds, as he was called, was the Father Lawrence McInerny’s father. Father McInerny reflects on his and his family’s recollections of many aspects of island life including the presence of many more children, a significantly larger African American population, an easy-going lifestyle focused on boats and bicycles, the storms that have hit the island, prohibition, the ferries once needed to bring people to the area, and the businesses that used to dot the island. Closing on a personal note, Father McInerny talks about his summer work with the National Park Service and his call into the priesthood.
Interview with Felder Hutchinson by Edmund L. Drago and Eugene C. Hunt, July 16, 1985, in the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project, of the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston
Interview with Marcellus Forrest by Lee Drago, Eugene Hunt, and Margareta Childs, February 21, 1981, AMN 500.001.002, in Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project, of the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.
Interview by April Wood of Joyce Howard, a woman who grew up in the North Central neighborhood of Charleston. The interview focuses on Ms. Howard's experiences growing up in the neighborhood, what her childhood house and neighborhood were like (and how it has changed), where she was allowed to shop and go to as a young woman. She talks about having been recruited for college, her experiences during the Civil Rights era in Charleston and in Alabama where she went to college, and also voting and registering to vote, including how people had to pass a literacy test. She recalls times when Black entertainers who come to perform in Charleston and where they'd be able to stay, and going to Atlantic Beach (near Myrtle Beach) because Charleston area beaches were segregated. (She mentions Mosquito Beach but not as a "water beach" but one with clubs and houses.) She also reflects on the shootings at Emanuel A.M.E. Church and the impact the City on the nation impressed by the local response and as an impetus for many people to move here. Ms. Howard is a long-term member and leader of New Israel Reformed Episcopal Church. Grants from both the South Carolina Humanities Commission and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing allowed HCF to proceed with this initiative and several oral history interviews have been conducted that focus on specific neighborhoods and the changes these residents have experienced over time.
Geoff Nuttall began performing yearly at Spoleto Festival U.S.A. in 1995 as first-violinist with his renowned St. Lawrence String Quartet. In 2008 he was named associate artistic director of the chamber music series and will assume leadership from longtime director Charles Wadsworth in 2010. Nuttall discusses the legacy of Wadsworth and chamber music, the logistics of selecting the performers and the repertoire, and the advantages of having Charleston as a venue for the festival. Audio with transcript.
Interview by April Wood of Gladys G. Harvey, a woman who grew up in the North Central neighborhood. Her father was carpenter and also a pastor of Gethsemane Church and her son is the current pastor of the church. Ms. Harvey describes her experience growing up as a pastor's daughter and how her father was very protective of her and her siblings. She recalls shopping for clothes and also the neighborhood grocery stores. She also discusses the Charleston Hospital Workers strike and how she felt when Martin Luther King was killed, and about her having gotten pregnant at 16 and had to leave Burke High School for a private school in Denmark, SC. She reminisces about lunches after church on Sundays and how this was the biggest event of the week. There was a lot of cross over between Gethsemane Baptist Church and New Israel Reformed Episcopal Church as neighbors, especially after Sunday services. Ms. Harvey has had the opportunity to travel a lot in more recent years and has enjoyed this opportunity. Grants from both the South Carolina Humanities Commission and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing allowed HCF to proceed with this initiative and several oral history interviews have been conducted that focus on specific neighborhoods and the changes these residents have experienced over time.
