Orangeburg Memorial

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Cleveland Sellers. Dr. Sellers was an important leader in the civil rights movement. Before going to South Carolina we got to learn about the Orangeburg Massacre from history professor, Wes Dick. The Orangeburg Massacre was a new topic to most of the people in the class, which was amazing because 3 students were killed and around 30 injured. The injuries happened during a riot where the students were protesting the segregation of the All-Star Bowling Lane. In the midst of those injuries was Cleveland Sellers. Dr. Sellers was later arrested, and convicted, for starting the riot(eventually pardoned).

Students at the memorial for the victims of the Orangeburg Massacre

During our time with Dr. Sellers he explained what had happened during the Civil Rights Movement and the strategies of organizing people within the movement. One of the things that impressed most us, was how much Dr. Sellers had accomplished in his life. He was influential in the Civil Rights Movement, obtained a PhD, and is now the president of Voorhees University. Also, his demeanor was very calm, but yet exciting. During Sellers talk, he did not seem bitter about the past but really wanted it to be a learning experience for future generations. Sellers also noted there is still problems in the state of South Carolina that need to be addressed. Overall, it was a great experience to listen to a firsthand witness of a historical event and a predominate leader within the Civil Rights Movement.

After lunch, Dr. and Mrs. Vornakis set us up with a tour of Charleston. Our tour guide knew a lot about the history of Charleston and was very excited to get the chance to share it with us. The town was concentrated with very old buildings, many dating over 200 years old. For being quite old, the buildings looked to be in pretty good condition. The housing types were uniquely named, called Charleston Single House’s. The buildings’ design was tailored to keep it cooler during the day. They were one room wide and had a side piazza (porch), which opened up the house to the side yard. The idea of having fewer walls within the home is that there would be more airflow through the room. Most of the remaining single houses were in a neighborhood with an interesting history. When the town was under siege by the Union most of the wealthy plantation owners left their homes, which eventually became occupied by soldiers and the lower class. The neighborhood is now a very rich area. This shift from wealth to poverty then back to wealth was an interesting history and it was quite amazing that the houses have survived this long.

Students in Charleston

Students at the ACE Basin

During the trip we visited the Ashepoo, Combahee and South Edisto (ACE) Basin, which is a part of the National Estuary Research Reserve (NERR) Program. This is one of 27 located along the U.S. coastline. The ACE Basin is approximately 350,000 acres with about 140,000 of undeveloped public and private land. The basin contained a variety of habitats ranging from hardwood forest to tidal swamps. The ACE Basin hosts a variety of different functions including research, outreach and education, hunting, and bird watching; this place literally had something for everyone. It was interesting to see all of these different functions at one location that, from the sounds of things, actually worked well together.  The ACE basin was a more managed area that used techniques like controlled burning and changing the water level, with rice trunks, to control the water level of the habitat. The land of the ACE Basin was also very interesting because it varied with multiple owners. To protect their private land, the owners could receive a tax deduction if they put an easement on their land that would prohibit future development. At first a lot of the students felt this would lower the housing value by putting these restrictions on them. However, the people at the NERR station explained that because the surrounding area was becoming developed that this area would stand out and possibly increase housing value. The Basin also had the remains of the old south because most of the lands were former plantations. Also, slaves originally dug one of the canals we looked at out. Overall, the area was very interesting because of the cooperation between public and private to obtain the common goal of protecting the environment.

Looking across a portion of the ACE Basin