Writing a Dixie Diary: South Carolina's relationship with its history

Writing a Dixie Diary: South Carolina's Relationship with its History traces South Carolina's history, as it appears at museums, libraries, monuments, national parks, tours, historical sites, and other publicly available representations in the state. It also engages some of the "keepers" of South Carolina history -- curators, academics, tour guides, park rangers, docents, local historians, re-enactors, and others -- as well as current, authoritative scholarship to evaluate and explain the historical narratives encountered at those sites.;The study begins with the founding of Charles Town colony in 1670 and extends, historically, through the twentieth century. Remarks in the conclusion bring the story up to the present day, but events of the late twentieth century do not receive substantial treatment. Chapters are arranged with respect to both chronology and theme. The research for the study reflects the aggregate experiences of six visits to the state, including sites and interviews in Charleston, Columbia, Edgefield, Greenville/Spartanburg, Beaufort, and other surrounding areas.;The study concludes that the publicly available representations of South Carolina's history do not always do an effective or forthright job of reflecting important scholarship and significant themes in Palmetto State history, but some sites do better than others, and there is a conscious effort underway in some quarters to bring outdated narratives more in line with the current understanding of events. Though some -- especially younger South Carolinians -- are demonstrably less engaged by history, and it often falls victim to tour guides' or others' need to entertain or put a positive race on history, there is no escaping history's presence in South Carolina. For some this is a source of pride; others, shame; and yet others, ambivalence or even indifference. But because of the need to market history as a commodity, its presence in the Palmetto State, in some form, is ensured.