Photocopy of correspondence from Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., Governor of South Carolina, to William F. Gibson, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, regarding the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Correspondence from I. DeQuincey Newman, President of the South Carolina Conference of Branches NAACP, to J. Arthur Brown regarding South Carolina Conference of Branches NAACP meeting.
Pat Patterson (pronouns: He/Him/His) speaks of family life, childhood, growing up, coming out, his political activism through drag performance, interactions with the Methodist Church, and his perceptions of the LGBTQ community. Born and reared in a loving and accepting family environment in Spartanburg, SC, he attended Wofford College, the 37th family member to do so. “I’m a Palmetto tree with fairly deep roots,” he notes. He came out in graduate school at the University of SC, and speaks about the founding of its Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Association (BGLA) and how he assumed his drag persona Patti O’Furniture, “a bully pulpit to raise awareness,” on a dare. At various points in the interview, Patterson speaks of the stratification of the LGBTQ community (“part of our charm and part of our problem”), with most of the focus on Charleston, identifying the conservative “blazer gays” who practice “an odd social decorum” at private parties, the “SIN” or service industry gays who are more out, and other socially and geographically distanced groups. He speaks of racism, and racial and trans insensitivity, the difference between the Charleston Pride and the Columbia, SC-based South Carolina Pride organizations, the gay rugby team, the Charleston Blockade, and K. J. Ivery, once a student of his and now an out trans officer of the Charleston Police Department. Having first done AIDS work in Columbia, SC with his friend Bill Edens, he became involved with the SC Equality Coalition, and he mentions a variety of other LGBTQ organizations and leaders. He began commuting to Charleston to perform drag at the bar Patrick’s, eventually moving there, arranging performances at Dudley’s, and he now also performs at brunches, breweries and bingo, usually emceeing, giving his tips from the audience to charity and passing the hat at performances for different causes and organizations. Straight audiences, he notes, are often more appreciative, and in describing his own indoctrination into drag, he shares some of the vocabulary, mentions those icons who influenced him and praises Jay White for his Brooke Collins performances. He names and describes many bars throughout the state, speaks of his evolution as a performer and activist, as well as the need to be aware of how unintended insults or slurs can occur. Making distinctions between religion and faith, the latter very important to him, Patterson also describes his family’s attachment to their local Methodist congregation in Spartanburg and their dedication to liberalizing the Methodist Church in general.
South Carolina Federation of Women's and Girls' Clubs' Sixty-Fifth Annual Meeting publication. Publication contains program of events, photographs of club members in various locations around South Carolina, information on members and subgroups, and advertisements.
Correspondence from Matthew J. Perry to J. Arthur Brown regarding having "requested hearings on the appeal which we took from the decision of the Superintendent of School District No. 20 with reference to the request for transfer of your child from the school she is now attending to a white school."
Correspondence from Matthew J. Perry to J. Arthur Brown announcing that "the Record and Briefs have been filed in the South Carolina Supreme Court in the Sumter Conspiracy Cases."
Septima P. Clark's Name Tag for the 65th Annual State Meeting, South Carolina Federation of Women's and Girl's Clubs held on April 26-28 1974 at the Ramada Inn in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
South Carolina Federation of Women's and Girl's Clubs Fifth Annual Awards Banquet program to take place at the Ramada Inn in Spartanburg, South Carolina on April 27, 1974. Publication provides program of events, information on banquet speaker, Thelma T. Daley, and lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson.
