An anthology exploring the modernization of the South Carolina upcountry
and the region's role in creating the New South
Continuing the theme of unexplored moments introduced in Recovering the
Piedmont Past: Unexplored Moments in Nineteenth-Century Upcountry South
Carolina History, Timothy P. Grady joins with Andrew H. Myers to edit
this second anthology that uncovers the microhistory of this northwest
region of the state. Topics include the influence of railroads on
traveling circuses, tourist resorts and visits by Booker T. Washington
during the rise of Jim Crow, pioneering efforts by progressives to
identify the cause of pellagra disease, a debate over populism involving
"Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, the acculturation of Greek immigrants, and the
daily lives of Civilian Conservation Corps workers during the New Deal.
After years of being overshadowed by the coastal elite, upcountry South
Carolinians began to play a vital role in modernizing the region and
making it an integral part of the "New South." In a study of this shift
in the balance of power, the contributors examine religious history, the
economic boom and bust, popular recreational activities, and major
trends that played out in small places. By providing details and nuance
that illuminate the historical context of the New South and engaging
with the upcountry from fresh angles, this second volume expresses a
deep local interest while also speaking to broader political and social
issues.
Melissa Walker, the George Dean Johnson, Jr. Professor of History
Emerita at Converse College and coeditor of Recovering the Piedmont
Past: Unexplored Moments in Nineteenth-Century South Carolina History,
provides a foreword.
