What Has South Carolina Learned Since the Centennial-- Part 1

From the Dec. 15, 2010, Charleston City Paper by Will Moredock.

Robert Cook has written a book "Troubled Commemoration: The Civil War centennial, 1961-1965."

Back then, the Centennial nearly collapsed because of poor leadership and marginal enthusiasm according to Cook.   It also coincided with the early Civil Rights Movement. I don't know myself as I lived through it back then and it seemed great at the time with no problems, but, I was just ten in 1961, but a big Civil War buff.

According to Cook, "The centennial was built on a racially exclusive interpretation of the Civil War era.  This interpretation denied a role to blacks and downplays the significance of those events, notably emancipation and Lincoln's use of African-American troops."

South Carolina raised the Confederate flag over the statehouse in Columbia in 1961 for the centennial, but it remained even after it was over, staying up there until 2006. 

In April 1961 the Civil War Centennial Commission held its national meeting at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston.  One member of the New Jersey delegation was a black woman, appointed to the job to bring about a confrontation.

Things Have Definitely Changed Since 1961.  --Old Secesh