Voices of America

Though the machines and technology have changed drastically over the past century, the themes of sacrifice, loyalty, and heroism have been felt by countless generations of American soldiers. While today's armed forces depend on the accuracy of satellites and "smartbombs," the American soldier of the early twentieth century fought under much different circumstances--an era dominated by machine guns, massive artillery, gas masks, biplanes, and trench warfare. Our nation's families, at that time, were full of patriotic pride and were more than willing to give their sons in the fight for democracy. Lancaster County, a rural community in the Palmetto State's Upcountry, was proud to count many of its men as the first volunteers in our country's call to arms. In Lancaster County and the Great War, you will listen to the compelling stories of many of the county's veterans of World War I, from their trials of admission and boot camp to the nightmarish scenes in the barbed-wire-lined, bullet-ridden trenches to the victory celebrations they experienced in foreign landscapes and back at home. Complemented with period photographs, local county newspaper headlines, and wartime posters, these personal histories truly share a unique experience in South Carolina's and our country's past. As you read through these pages, you will feel as if you have been handed a government-issue rifle, journeyed across the East Coast to various training camps, felt the incredible fear and anxiety of battle, and paraded down Lancaster's streets to the ovation of joyous crowds.

And I'm Glad: An Oral History of Edisto Island explores the island's history through the eyes and in the voices of two Edisto farmers, Sam Gadsden and Bubberson Brown, who grew up, labored, raised families, and made their lives on the island. These narratives, tracing the arrival of the first black pioneers, the subsequent slave culture during the 1800s, the difficulties of Reconstruction, to the Edisto of the twentieth century, document both the African-American legacy of the island and the personal struggles of two black men. Overcoming the unpredictability of the Lowcountry's weather, such as the historic Hurricane of 1893 and subsequent storms, the hardships of Depression-era America, and the double standards of a pre-Civil Rights South, Gadsden and Brown detail triumphant lives full of service, hard work, good humor, and faith.

Located in the lush northern Piedmont region, Rock Hill strays from the traditional identity associated with South Carolina, where the prevailing images consist of antebellum estates, plantation societies, smoldering Civil War landscapes, and countrysides dominated by cotton. While Rock Hill shares many of these scenes and has been shaped by this history, the city, infused with a "New South" spirit, has grown and developed differently than most other of the Palmetto State's towns. In Rock Hill: Gateway to the New South, you will take a step back into the Rock Hill of yesteryear, when life was a little simpler and this small town was making its first steps into becoming one of the state's primary industrial centers. This volume contains both vivid images of Rock Hill's past and a selection of personal histories from a wide variety of citizens, from its Catawba roots to its African-American heritage. Throughout, you will be reminded of a place and time becoming increasingly foreign to today's generations, when lazy Saturday afternoons were spent playing fox and hounds, hop scotch, and gloveless baseball, when doors, both car and home, were left unlocked, and when the week was measured by the social calendar's local parties and dances. Besides these romantic scenes of small-town life, Rock Hill contains compelling stories detailing the devastation of storms, the tense emotions and sacrifices surrounding homefront Rock Hill during wartimes, the excitement of early businesses moving into the area, and the bidding struggle and birth of the city's proudest educational achievement, Winthrop University.

For many, the college years represent a special time in a person's growth, supplying friends and fond memories for a lifetime. In the Carolina Upstate, thousands of men and women have shared a common experience through Winthrop University's traditions, classrooms, and campus. Although a picture may be worth a thousand words, it is a voice relating personal experiences that truly provides a clear vision of the past. In Winthrop University: Memories and Traditions 1886-1945, these voices take center stage, recounting stories that illuminate and celebrate the university's diverse history, from its founding in 1886 to the mid-twentieth century. Throughout this volume, readers will trace the evolving Winthrop experience across a very different landscape than today, a time of different customs and etiquette based on a more rigid formality. However, within this world, the young female students at Winthrop still found many opportunities for fellowship and fun, whether it be a midnight "turkey trot" on the eve of the twentieth century or the annual May Day festivities. These narratives, combined with over 100 black-and-white images, transport readers across the changing decades and highlight some of the school's most historic moments, such as the its relocation from Columbia to Rock Hill.