Episodes Located: CHARLESTON, South Carolina in the 1880's

  1. Hurricane
    date August 25, 1885map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Health/Death, Economy

    A Category 3 Hurricane with 125 mph winds besieged the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Beginning at about 5 AM, the cyclone ripped through the city for about eight hours, climaxing at roughly 8 AM. It was at this point that the velocity of the winds dramatically increased, incurring within fifty minutes more damage in Charleston, according to the News and Courier, “than has been known...

  2. The Publication of a series of letters by Benjamin Ryan Tillman in the News and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina
    date November 19, 1885map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Agriculture, Economy, Education

    Benjamin Ryan Tillman was a relatively affluent farmer from Edgefield County whose family lost much of its property during the Civil War. Benjamin, however, was able to regain much of his prosperity in the ensuing years. Determined to , in his own words , “overthrow an aristocracy which had come down to us from colonial days', he mounted a campaign in the 1880s to foment discontent amongst...

  3. The founding of the Women's Exchange for Women's Work in Charleston
    date 1885map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Women

    The Women's Exchange for Women's Work was founded in Charleston in 1885 with the intention of helping the “educated poor' become self-sufficient. Numerous goods were sold there, including foods, flowers, and various crafts. So that it would not be a “humiliating charity,' they placed a 10% surcharge on the goods. A similar exchange was soon opened in New Orleans. These organizations...

  4. South Carolina Enacts New Election Law
    date 1877map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Race-Relations

    In 1877 at the meeting of the South Carolinian General Assembly, a new decree was passed which initiated a re-drawing of precinct boundaries. Most importantly, this new law greatly reduced the number of polling places available in counties consisting of a majority of black people. By doing this, blacks were forced to travel long distances to be able to speak their voice on political issues. The...

  5. Major Earthquake Hits Charleston, South Carolina
    date August 31, 1886map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Health/Death, Economy

    Almost exactly one year after being hit by a category three hurricane that destroyed 90 percent of Charleston's homes, on August 31, 1886, the city was hit with another devastating blow. Before it had fully recovered from the effects of the hurricane, the city was rocked by an earthquake that registered a 6.6 on the Richter scale. Eyewitness accounts report that tremors were felt all over the state....

  6. An Early Condemnation of 'Legal' Disenfranchisement
    date February 7, 1880map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Education, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations

    On February7, 1880 the New York Times ran an article condemning educational tests for voting registration in the South which an editorial in the Charleston News had proposed as a way of suppressing the black vote. The article explains that the reasoning behind the author in the News editorial was that the "'more intelligent and reasonable citizens must rule'" no matter...