Blanche McCrary Boyd (pronouns: she/her/hers) describes the events that lead to her becoming an acclaimed novelist and professor at Connecticut College. Born in Charleston, SC in 1945 to working class parents, she lost her father at age 15, one of the crucial events of her life. Living with family on a 400-acre plantation near Rantowles, SC, she became “radicalized” by events seen on television, realizing, unlike other members of her family, that she lived in a racist society, finding a “sense of horror” and a “sense of beauty” in the South. She attended Duke University and met Dean Boyd, the man she married, while attending Harvard University summer school. Boyd credits her husband for helping her mature and encouraging her writing once she decided upon that as a goal. Moving to California, Boyd began writing seriously at Pomona College, and won a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. Her marriage unraveled, as she discovered feminism, and her attraction to women, bringing her to a “different reality.” She had starting drinking alcohol soon after her father’s death and she spent over a decade abusing it and drugs as she moved to New York and became a “radical lesbian.” She helped set type for the classic novel Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, and founded Sagaris, an “institute for feminist thought,” associating with leading feminists, including accused bomber Patricia Swinton. She published essays, mostly about the South, in The Village Voice, learned how to “seize” her authority, and published books on popular musicians under the name Vivian Claire. She returned to Charleston, continuing writing and publishing novels, becoming sober in 1981. She discusses how a teenage car wreck involving a Black man’s death became the “fulcrum of my understanding of life” and how it serves as a metaphor for America as she wonders “what white people who are anti-racist are going to do about white supremacy.” She and her wife Leslie are the mothers of twins, James and Julia, and Boyd reflects on parenting, Leslie’s life-threatening illnesses, and how her novel Tomb of the Unknown Racist has capped her fiction writing career. As retirement from Connecticut College looms, she assesses her accomplishments, notes satisfactions, and the many surprising turns her life took.
Barbara Dugan discusses her upbringing as part of an Irish-American family in New York City. Her grandparents emigrated from County Mayo and County Kerry around 1900. Her grandmother, Catherine, took care of janitorial duties in her apartment building while her grandfather, Patrick, became employed in steel works and helped to build several New York City area bridges. As a child, she had difficulty getting her grandmother to speak in detail about Ireland, which she suspects is because of the hardships the family endured before their move to the United States. Barbara grew up going to all-girls Catholic schools and was raised Catholic. She speaks glowingly of her travels in Ireland and discusses the various ways in which she passes a sense of Irish-American identity onto her children and grandchildren. Barbara recently relocated to Charleston to be close to her married son and grandchildren, who live in Mt. Pleasant.
Jeremiah Courtney discusses his experience as an Irish immigrant in New York City, and then in Charleston. He came to the States full time in 1991, after having lived in London for five years and finding life there difficult for an Irishman. He speaks warmly of growing up in Kilarney, County Kerry, but left largely because he felt that Ireland couldn’t offer him the variety and adventure that he wanted in his life. He felt welcomed and supported upon first arriving in the States, particularly by others in the Irish or Irish-American community. He made his way down to Charleston after feeling he needed a break from New York. Though he was raised in the Catholic church and attended Catholic school, he finds himself turning away from Catholicism, and has not passed that on to his children.
Bar owner Tommy Snee discusses his experiences as an Irish immigrant in Charleston. He is the youngest of ten children and describes his upbringing in a poor family as a happy one despite the hardships of poverty. He first came to the United States at the age of seventeen in 1980, to stay with an aunt and uncle in St. Augustine, Florida for a holiday. He returned home for a period of time before returning to the States in 1986 and gaining his green card. He gained U.S. citizenship in 2017. He attended a Christian Brothers School in Ireland, and left school at the age of fourteen to work in construction. Feeling that there was “nowhere to go in Ireland,” he came to the States, where he found the opportunity to work hard and make a life immensely appealing. The weather, the diversity, and the local culture drew him to Charleston from New York. He finds that the response to him as an immigrant has been nothing but positive. While he loves his life in the States, he states that, first and foremost, “I’ll always be an Irishman.” On Irish stereotypes, he disagrees with many of the simplistic stereotypes, but argues that the best way for Irish immigrants to dispel these kinds of false notions is through education. He also discusses the importance of honoring diverse backgrounds and experiences, and the importance of listening to and learning from those with different perspectives, which he feels is critical for America, or for any country, to becoming as great as it can be.
Lynn Dugan attended Catholic grammar and high schools in New York City. With a lesbian friend, she visited lesbian bars where rigid “butch” or “fem” roles prevailed. She came of age just after the Stonewall Riots of 1969, later befriending some of the participants, as she became part of a community that looked after and protected each other from attacks, some of which she describes. She notes the comradery of men and women in the early gay rights movement, and the accessibility of many future celebrities entertaining in the gay baths and bars. She was mentored by an older gay man, Jimmy Alan Newcomer and she created a marriage ceremony with a woman opera singer at St. Peter’s MCC Church in 1981. She witnessed the start of the AIDS crisis and the work of many women and activists such as Larry Kramer. Professionally, she held jobs in management and sales, drove a taxi, and had her own greeting card company. In some jobs, she had to hide her sexuality. She visited Colorado often before moving to Boulder ca. 1993, participating in the LGBTQ community there. While attending a Pride parade in Columbia SC, she met political activist Charlie Smith, who invited her to Charleston, SC; she moved there soon after and began her involvement in the community, founding the Charleston Social Club, which offered opportunities to many isolated and closeted women. One of the programs, Lezz Fest, produced on the club’s tenth anniversary closed off part of North Charleston and drew 1,000 participants. Dugan was the prime mover in establishing the first Pride Festival in the lowcountry. She and a cadre of friends staged fundraisers for the event which the City of Charleston wanted to sideline. The city of North Charleston, however, including Mayor R. Keith Summey, who served as grand marshal of the parade, supported it, despite the criticism of many local churches. The Charleston Pride Organization event took place on May 15, 2010, and its impact, and that of the evening event held on the Citadel campus, is described in detail by Dugan. In response to questions, she comments on African American participation in the community and ends the interview with suggestions of other issues that LGBTQ community could address, such as the care of its older citizens, a task in which she is involved.
Correspondence from Dwight C. James, President of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP, to Sharon Clark of Lewis and Clarkson, regarding the Robert Gould Shaw Boys Club, Inc. Enclosed Boys Club information.
NAACP memorandum from Delbert L. Woods, President of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP, to William H. Penn, Sr., Director Branch and Field Services for the National Office of the NAACP, regarding an issue Rev. Dr. Jack DeLong Dash, a member of the branch Executive Committee and chairman of the Education Committee of the Charleston Branch.
NAACP memorandum from Robert Ford, Charleston NAACP, to William Penn, Director of Branches, regarding election violations for the Charleston Branch of the NAACP.
USS Dewey Fleet memorandum from J. P. Harrison, Commanding Officer, USS Dewey (DLG-14) to Commandant, Sixth Naval District, regarding the Gingerbread House, a Day Care and Nursery, who wouldn't accept O'Neil Hightower's child due to their race.
Correspondence from William C. Pelster, on behalf of Donovan Leisure Newton and Irvine, to Honorable Solomon Blatt, Jr. of the United States District Court regarding a legal motion involving the Y.W.C.A. of Greater Charleston. Enclosed Civil Action No. 70-180, No. 70-1062 and related court documents.
Correspondence from Norman E. Dewire, Executive Director for the Joint Strategy and Action Committee, to Bernice Robinson regarding Yonges Island Day Care.
Correspondence from Bernice V. Robinson to Leslie Dunbar, Executive Vice President of the Marshal Field Foundation, regarding funding for the Yonges Day Care Center.
Correspondence from Bernice V. Robinson to Norman E. DeWire, Joint Strategy and Action Committee, regarding funding for the Yonges Island Community Day Care Center.
Correspondence from Bernice Robinson to Norman E. Dewire, Executive Director for the Joint Strategy and Action Committee, regarding funding for Yonges Island Day Care.
Correspondence from James E. Clyburn to Norman DeWire, Executive Director for the Joint Strategy and Action Committee, regarding funding for the Yonges Day Care Center.
Correspondence from Karney Platt, Business Manager of the Yonges Island Community Day Care Center, to Margaret Lamont regarding funding for the Yonges Day Care Center.
Correspondence from J. Francis Pohlhaus, Counsel of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown regarding a Civil Rights Commission conference.
Correspondence from Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown inviting the recipient to attend a meeting of State Conference President and officers with the staff of the NAACP.
Correspondence from Jack Greenberg to J. Arthur Brown regarding a lawyer meeting to identify problems running public school accommodations for protests.
Correspondence from Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown "calling for demonstrations at the state capitols across the nation."
Correspondence from Edward J. Odom, Jr., Church Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown, President of the NAACP, regarding the South-wide Voter Registration Campaign.
Correspondence from Edward J. Odom, Jr., Church Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown, President of the NAACP, regarding a proposal for the "Churches for Freedom" project.
Correspondence from Clarence Mitchell, Director of the Washington Bureau for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown, President of the NAACP, regarding "the papers on the case of Mr. Grant Cohen, Jr."
Correspondence from Edward J. Odom, Jr., Church Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown, President of the NAACP, regarding the names and addresses of ministers in attendance at a recent luncheon.
Correspondence from Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary for the NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown regarding a tour of the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California.
Correspondence from Mary Jane Willett, Correlator for the National Board of the Y.W.C.A., to Melicent Marie Olphin welcoming the recipient to the Y.W.C.A. community.
National Board of the Y.W.C.A. memorandum correspondence from Brooks Creedy, National Industrial Staff, and Helen Sheley, National Business and Professional Staff, regarding an enclosed letter "from Elsa Graves to Industrial and Professional groups which tells of the latest developments in the World Federation of Democratic Youth." Enclosed Southern Area Business and Professional Summer Conference program, Summary and Discussion of Interpreting the Y.W.C.A. Purpose to Y-Teens.
Correspondence from R. J. Weller, Educational Director for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, to Secretary for Work with Girl Reserves regarding an advertisement in the WOMANS PRESS.
Correspondence from Mary C. Ferris, National Services Division to the National Board of the Y.W.C.A., to Ella L. Smyrl of the Coming Street Y.W.C.A. regarding Anna Belle McInnes.
Correspondence from Ella L. Smyrl of the Coming Street Y.W.C.A. to Lillian O. Shorter regarding a former Coming Street Y.W.C.A. secretary named Shay Cooper.
Correspondence from Ada C. Baytop, Chairman and Secretary for the Coming Street Y.W.C.A., to "Mrs. Saunders" regarding Beatrice Simmons, Marguerite Simmons, and Rosina Middleton visiting New York City.
Five dollar bill issued by the Farmers & Exchange Bank of Charleston and dated September 28, 1853. Bill depicts an African American tending to a wagon pulled by oxen. Engraved by Toppan, Carpenter, Kasilear & Company, Philadelphia and New York.
A letter from Dr. Willis Wilkinson to his daughter, from New York. He writes that he heard of the gale and the cholera outbreak in the Carolinas and for those reasons, he is coming home earlier than planned.
Album belonging to Esther Eudora Ezekiel Hart. The album includes various handwritten poems, songs, and notes from friends and family members. The album also includes a number of transcribed portions of texts and quotations from various literary figures such as Lord Byron, William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, and John Milton.
A letter from Elias Ball in New York to his nephew John Ball Jr. in Charleston, South Carolina discussing traveling from Philadelphia with John's brother Isaac Ball, the various towns they visited and attending church.
