History books are so important to our understanding of the changing economic, social and political landscape of our region. In the 1960s, several terrific books were published that extolled the virtues of local antebellum architecture and associated families. Foremost of these was the Plantation Heritage of the SC Upcounty, but it was certainly not alone in trying to hold onto a changing story line, the Old South and its greatness.
Roots and Recall is not trying to hold on to social traditions, unless it is story telling, through its thousands of pages and images of historic properties but rather the importance of the artisanship and lore associated with interesting pieces of regional architecture. Old South history is certainly a small part of what is relayed but, Roots and Recall has truly become a bank for information related to architecture, architectural elements – style, and history artisanship. Of the 33,000 pages, there are few that do not extol the history of who lived in the house, who owned it but most importantly; who constructed and designed it.
Look for a new FEATURE ARTICLE in August by Zach Liollio, one of RR’s great feature writers.
It is so important that you, the members and contributors, continue providing information from local books, manuscripts, research projects and family lore concerning the artisans who helped build the simple tenant house to that of the grand plantation dwelling. Many of the names and associated information is located on the S.C. Artisans Database, but without an army to contribute dates, names and future information, the database can’t continue thriving as a source of viable data on S.C. artisans. Who in your community might have pertinent data to contribute? Do they even know about Roots and Recall, much less the artisans database?
We are so blessed stories and images continue to pour into the website’s office. Just this week, one of S.C.’s finest house photographers informed us, she intends to donate an additional 3,000+ plus images of historic properties across S.C., many having been abandoned – demolished years ago. These images will help tell a visual history of missing places that someone with roots in S.C., will recognize and share further data on. Roots and Recall is a building block and it is always amazing just how many individuals have shoe-box history at their home who can add to the story.
Just this afternoon, a prominent upcountry S.C. resident, called to say she had a shoe-box of her husband’s childhood photographs, taken in Winnsboro, S.C. She was telling a friend, she, the owner was getting ready to trash them, when the friend intervened and told her about Roots and Recall’s mission. As a result, the box of old images from the 1900-40s, will be scanned and later contributed to the Fairfield County Museum for interpretation and preservation. See the link for the Kirkpatrick – Clowney House in Fairfield Co., to see one of these images. Along with the shoe-box are also numerous historical publications on local S.C. history, of which Roots and Recall can unlock additional histories and stories well worth sharing. What is in your attic worth sharing?
A couple of interesting sites in S.C., the Restored Society Hill Depot and Price’s Post Office
TBHH.info was launched officially in Fort Mill, S.C., nearly a month ago. If you are not familiar with the tour program, one designed for cities and routes, you should! Fort Mill’s museum director, in 
conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, as well as other city leaders has worked to bring a beautifully constructed mobile history tour to downtown Fort Mill. The launch party, at Southern Sugar Restaurant, 100 Main Street, attracted a large crowd of enthusiastic participants to learn more about using the mobile application, TBHH.info, to enjoy local heritage. The project was also updated in downtown Rock Hill and widely praised for its ease of usage.
It must be working, activity and associated memberships in Roots and Recall have been strong as individual explore local history through the TBHH platform as well as link to Roots and Recall. Thanks for keeping local preservation at the forefront of community priorities. And thank so much for all of the positive feedback related to driving tours!
