The History Press [New Releases]

The Stories Behind the Albums

Carolina beach music—those often-soulful songs about the beach, parties, that special love, dancing or just relaxing in the sun—has long been a mainstay of culture in the Southeast. Yet until the late 1960s, you needed an impressive collection of 45s if you wanted to hear those songs in your home or at a party. But beginning with Atlantic Records’ Beach Beat in 1967, that music slowly became available on albums from Bell, Warner Bros., Ripete and other labels. Through interviews and firsthand accounts, author Rick Simmons examines the stories behind those classic albums, the people who created them and the artists and songs that contributed to the phenomenon known as Carolina beach music.

Author Dwayne W. Pickett details the life of William Hilton, his exploration of the Carolina coast and the founding of an iconic island.

Behind the pristine beaches and world renown of Hilton Head Island lies a history that dates back to the early exploration of the nation. In 1663, William Hilton, a mariner born in England, was hired by a group in Barbados to find new lands for them to settle. Hilton led an exploration of the Port Royal Sound area, where he named a high bluff of land Hiltons Head as a navigational marker for future sailors. The island began as a sparsely populated area on the fringe of English settlement in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when it was called Trench's Island on some maps.

Hobcaw Barony is a beloved 17,500-acre plantation and wildlife refuge on the South Carolina coast between Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

Plantation Between the Waters, by Lee Brockington, senior interpreter at Hobcaw, brings the centuries of history surrounding Hobcaw Barony to the public in remarkable clarity. The images and text provide an intimate glimpse into the lives of the people who have been connected to this unspoiled landscape for generations.

This compelling look at Charleston's twentieth-century history chronicles the changes and challenges faced by Charleston as its population exploded in response to expansion of the Charleston Navy Yard. As World War II called for the United States to flex her industrial might, the shipyard rose to meet the challenge and 55,000 new residents flooded into the city.

Charleston was unprepared for such dramatic expansion: the need for labor at the yard meant the sudden appearance of good jobs, but also resulted in severe housing shortages, food rationing and dilemmas over race and gender. Ongoing workforce shortages forced the navy to look to sources of labor previously regarded as unsuitable--African Americans and women--causing dramatic changes to the status quo.

Author and historian Fritz Hamer makes use of written documents and oral histories to argue that the war's effects pulled a reluctant "Holy City" into the twentieth century, setting the stage for further modernization and growth. Warm personal accounts from a range of individuals who witnessed the city's dramatic change provide a human element in Hamer's solid research.

Well written and imaginatively conceived, Charleston Reborn will interest the general reader as well as a wide range of historians--from students of World War II and chroniclers of gender and racial history, to urban historians and scholars of the modern American South.

Go inside the making of the 2018 Clemson Tigers football team, the one that vaulted to the top and became the biggest thing in college football.

From the beginning of the season, head coach Dabo Swinney's rallying cry was "joy." Each week for opponents, though, was another joyless occasion against a big orange machine that found its high gear midseason. The results shook the foundation of college football. In 2015 and 2016, the Tigers needed to bring their own guts to achieve great things. In Swinney's 10th season, they brought their own sledgehammers. Author Larry Williams, who has covered Clemson and Swinney since 2004, unearths revealing anecdotes from Dabo's tenure like you've never seen before and shares how a season dominated by Alabama hype ended up overwhelmed by a Clemson tide and a new college football dynasty.

A small island along the South Carolina coast with a white beach, live oaks, palms, pines, and vast marshes, Fripp Island captivates residents and visitors.

The ebb and flow of tides, the fortunes and difficulties of developers and the fluctuations in the residential community have shaped Fripp's history. In the years since 1963 when the bridge to Fripp was built, two constants in the island's history have been the beauty of its natural setting and its dedicated residents. Page Putnam Miller, who for twenty years served as the lobbyist for the historical profession in Washington and for the past five years has been a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in the graduate history program at the University of South Carolina, has undertaken several years of extensive research to examine the intricate turns and twists in ownership of the resort and to explore the evolution of the residential community.

Amid the devastation left in South Carolina by the War Between the States, one of the few intact remnants of the pre-war life was a tiny cotton textile industry. For decades prior to the Civil War, the upstate textile industry rested unobtrusively near Greenville, its center of production, surrounded by former plantation fields of cotton. Now, when its state needed it the most, the textile industry, empowered by the vision of Greenville's Henry P. Hammett, rallied for its critical role in the resurrection of the Palmetto State's economy.

Building upon the state's position as a major cotton grower, savvy entrepreneurs of the "New South" jumped at the chance to take cotton production from plantation fields to factories, which eventually became a large-scale industry. Greenville's Piedmont Manufacturing Company set the pace and became one of the chief models for southern mill builders for a half century. With the mill companies leading the way, allied industries and agencies rapidly expanded into the county, already known as the Textile Center of the South by 1914. Further textile development combined with the permanent addition of a world-class trade show earned the city the title of "Textile Center of the World" - a name brandished proudly by the citizens of Greenville during the 1960s.

Able to weather two world wars, the Great Depression and one of the bloodiest strikes in textile history, Greenville's textile heyday waned after 1970 in the wake of an influx of foreign imports. The impact of the industry on Greenville and South Carolina is hard to overestimate; many mills still stand, and street names honor past mill owners, builders and

This title from Charles Spencer recounts the history of Edisto Island from the Civil War to present day.

The Civil War hit Edisto Island hard. Between the mandated evacuation, Union occupation and the eventual emancipation of the slaves, the cotton plantation economy that had sustained the island fell to ruin. But this phoenix was to rise from the ashes of war to become one of the premier destinations for fun and sun on the South Carolina coast. Charles Spencer, in his second volume of Edisto history, recounts the events of the Civil War, the struggles of Reconstruction, the effects of the new freedman class and the island's rebirth as a favorite vacation spot and modern community in the twentieth century. Each chapter offers an enjoyable excursion into the past and a detailed look at the remarkable history of Edisto.

In 1895, Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina attempted to solidify his political power. He proposed to rewrite the South Carolina Constitution to deny African Americans their constitutional rights and make racial segregation the law of the state. Six Black leaders--Robert Anderson, Isaiah Reed, Robert Smalls, William J. Whipper, James Wigg and Thomas E. Miller--went to the state capitol in the face of insult and ridicule to make an eloquent stand against these developments. The erudite and forceful addresses of these men drew worldwide headlines but are largely forgotten today. Author Damon L. Fordham attempts to rectify that omission and inspire generations to come.

Discover the history of an era lost to generations in this collection of personal stories by author and Hilton Head resident Fran Heyward Marscher.

In the hundred years separating the Civil War and the 1950s, the Lowcountry was a world unto itself. The big plantations were gone, and for those remaining life had to be wrenched from the soil and the creeks. But for some, these isolated barrier islands offered heaven on earth: virgin maritime forest, pristine saltwater, sand roads and plentiful wild game. This fascinating collection of stories speaks to us of life in a simpler time, of raising hogs, guineas and children on abandoned plantations; growing sweet potatoes, okra and sugar cane; trapping mink and picking oysters; pulling 12-pound flounder and 79-pound drum from the creeks; making feasts of Loggerhead turtle eggs, crab and conch meat; picking musk; and taking the steamer to Savannah to see the ""big city"" lights. Our narrators were born between 1881 and 1941, and, though their stories overlap and intertwine, each has a unique perspective on life in the Lowcountry. Author Fran Heyward Marscher, a Hilton Head journalist, grew up hearing these precious memories and sought out the storytellers when she realized that the way of life they described was in danger of dying out with each generation. Our narrators were born between 1881 and 1941, and, though their stories overlap and intertwine, each has a unique perspective on life in the Lowcountry. Author Fran Heyward Marscher, a Hilton Head journalist, grew up hearing these precious memories and sought out the storytellers when she realized that the way of life they described was in danger of dying out with each generation.

Nearly two decades after it closed, the South Carolina State Hospital continues to hold a palpable mystique in Columbia and throughout the state.

Founded in 1821 as the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, it housed, fed and treated thousands of patients incapable of surviving on their own. The patient population in 1961 eclipsed 6,600, well above its listed capacity of 4,823, despite an operating budget that ranked forty-fifth out of the forty-eight states. By the mid-1990s, the patient population had fallen under 700, and the hospital had become a symbol of captivity, horror and chaos. Author William Buchheit details this history through the words and interviews of those who worked on the iconic campus.

Taste the history of South Carolina's Barbeque in this delectable history from the 1500s to the present day.

South Carolina has been home to good, old-fashioned barbeque for quite a long time. Hundreds of restaurants, stands and food trucks sell tons of the southern staple every day. But the history of Palmetto State barbeque goes deeper than many might believe--it predates the rest of America. Native Americans barbequed pork on makeshift grills as far back as the 1500s after the Spanish introduced the pig into the Americas. Since the early 1920s, South Carolinians have been perfecting the craft and producing some of the best-tastin' 'que in the country. Join author and president of the South Carolina Barbeque Association Lake E. High Jr. as he traces the delectable history from its pre-colonial roots to a thriving modern-day tradition that fuels an endless debate over where to find the best plate.