Oral history interview conducted by College of Charleston Libraries Special Collections and Archives as part of the ongoing efforts to preserve, elevate, and document the stories and history of the LGBTQ+ community in South Carolina. William “Bill” H. Carson (pronouns: He/Him) discusses the challenges growing up as an African American gay male in Columbia, SC, his Harvard and medical school education, professional life as an out psychiatrist, and his subsequent international work in corporate pharmacology, while also addressing his patronage of the arts. His school teacher parents did their best to shield him from the worst aspects of segregation, with little disparagement of LGBTQ people, but with few role models available. Education was of prime importance in his environment. Turning down Senator Strom Thurmond’s appointment to the US Naval Academy, Carson went to Harvard instead, participating in the Harvard Glee Club and gay life on campus while avoiding Boston, then experiencing racial tensions. Outed just as he began to attend Case Western Reserve Medical School, he embraced the opportunities of self-growth and educating others. His status (coming out professionally before doing so with his family) continued in 1988 as he became a psychiatry resident at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He mentions the local LGBTQ scene, describes board work on Lowcountry AIDS Services, and the current lack of knowledge among younger gay people of the battles of that era. Beginning a long-term relationship in Charleston, Carson left in 1998 to work for Bristol Myers Squibb, in charge of life cycle management programs of the drug Abilify. That led to his 2002 employment with the Japanese company Otsuka working with the psychopharmacological drug aripiprazole. Carson talks of the learning curve regarding Japanese culture and his subsequent work with international drug conglomerates, noting his excitement in learning new skills and points of view, necessary on national and international boards. Carson is also Board Chair Emeritus of the Sphinx Organization, helping in its mission to promote the careers of Black and Hispanics in the field of classical music. He speaks of the production of Omar by Michael Abels and Rhiannon Giddens, whose world premiere at the Spoleto Festival USA in brought him back to Charleston; he also discusses being a co-producer of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop on Broadway. He sums up the possibilities of gene therapy in possibly helping cure diseases such as AIDS, and despite retiring in 2020, he still stays connected with various boards and projects.
Correspondence from William Saunders, Executive Director for COBRA, to James Clyburn, State Human Affairs Commissioner, regarding editorials, "Mayor Riley and Black People" and "Letter to the Editor."
Correspondence from Barbara Kingston, Secretary for the Charleston Branch of the NAACP, to C. W. Stevenson, General Manager of the Columbia, South Carolina Holiday Inn, regarding the third annual Woman of the Year Contest and NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner.
Correspondence from Barbara Kingston, Secretary for the Charleston Branch of the NAACP, to J. Ruckstuhly, General Manager of the Columbia, South Carolina Marriott Hotel, regarding the third annual Woman of the Year Contest and NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner.
Correspondence from Barbara Kingston, Secretary for the Charleston Branch of the NAACP, to Gary Tucker, General Manager of the Columbia, South Carolina Ramada Inn, regarding the third annual Woman of the Year Contest and NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner.
Correspondence from Bernice Robinson to Donald Fowler, Chairman of the Democratic Party of South Carolina, regarding Robinson's position at the Institutional Development and Economic Affairs Service.
Correspondence from Cleveland Sellers to William Leeke, South Carolina Department of Corrections, requesting that a separate facility house the physically ill correctional center residents.
Correspondence from Thomas L. Johnson, Assistant Librarian for the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina, to Septima P. Clark regarding a potential interview and future of her personal papers.
Correspondence from William Saunders, Executive Director for COBRA, to Jan Cooke, South Carolina Department of Social Services, regarding the Minor Home Repair Proposal.
Correspondence from Thomas L. Johnson, Assistant Librarian for the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina, to Septima P. Clark regarding the future of her personal papers.
Correspondence from Vera F. Ransom, Acting State Director for the United States Department of Agriculture to Congressman Mendel J. Davis regarding a comprehensive planning survey.
Correspondence from William Saunders, Executive Director for COBRA, to Jan Burns, Contract Services Specialist of the S. C. Department of Social Services, regarding housing assistance services for the Fiscal Year: July 1, 1978 to June 30, 1979.
Correspondence from Matthew J. Perry to Arthur Rose regarding entering the recipient's child in the Ellis Avenue Elementary School in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
South Carolina Conference of Branches of the NAACP memorandum from David A. Fashion, Chairman of the Finance Committee, to Delbert Woods regarding an outstanding financial balance.
Correspondence from James B. Edwards, Governor for the State of South Carolina, to Septima P. Clark regarding the reimbursement "for the lost wages when [Clark] was unjustly required to resign [her] job [in 1956]."
Correspondence from H. A. Larson, Division Director for the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, to Charleston Branch of the NAACP regarding the recipient's contribution account having been classified as "inactive" as of March 31, 1993. Enclosed South Carolina Employment Security Commission forms.
Oral history interview conducted by College of Charleston Libraries Special Collections and Archives as part of the ongoing efforts to preserve, elevate, and document the stories and history of the LGBTQ+ community in South Carolina. James Bouknight, MD, PhD (pronouns: He/His), white psychiatrist, speaks of growing up, family life, education and his personal and professional life. Born into a "close and loving family" in rural South Carolina, he grew up on a farm worked by others, his parents being teachers, and his maternal grandparents being a very supportive presence. He always knew he "wasn't like other kids", wasn't athletic, but excelled in school, attending Bishopville High School, as it was being integrated, calling off the junior senior. Aware of a flamboyant gay youth at school, and a gay man who was available for sex in Bishopville, Bouknight did not identify with them and was glad to start dating women when he attended Wofford, the fourth generation of his family to do so. Attending graduate school at Duke University was not a positive experience so Bouknight switched to the University of South Carolina where he had his first relationship with a man and earned his PhD in economics. He considers that relationship a "bad influence" since the man was closeted and engaged to be married. Bouknight then taught at Converse College, in an era when dating between professors and students was encouraged; he married the president of the student body, and their married life began well. He moved into the private sector and eventually became Chair of the Department of Business and Economics at Columbia College and his wife began law school. With time on his hands, Bouknight, keeping fit, began attending the YMCA in Columbia, SC, discovering it had an active gay scene, and his wife, learning of an affair he had with a man, demanded a divorce. It was a difficult time, leading to depression and financial straits. Finding a niche with happy, well-adjusted gay men in Columbia was a positive experience, and Bouknight began a relationship with Bob Stutts, another professor at Columbia College. At age thirty-five, he decided to enter medical school, realizing that the poor medical care his mother had received had led to her death. He attended the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, was out, and was friends with many other gay medical students. He did his residency in psychiatry at the Department of Mental Health in Columbia, SC, founding and running an AIDS support group; he eventually worked for a hospital and had a private practice, including many LGBTQ patients. When his relationship with Bob Stutts ended, he met Ramsey Still, whom he married in Maryland in 2013. He became board certified in geriatric psychiatry, one of the first in the state, and now, semi-retired, lives with his husband in Charleston, SC. At the end of the interview, Bouknight speaks of the illness and eventual death of his medical school friend, Olin Jolley, MD, of AIDS, and how those who are ill and dying are often put in the unfair position of taking care of those who visit them.
