1 week Ago
The first-floor museum at the Gregg-Graniteville Library on the campus of USC Aiken has undergone a recent transformation. The space is now devoted to a series of rotating exhibits focused on the historic community of Graniteville and its namesake textile industry. The inaugural exhibit, “The Graniteville Company Legacy: A Community Woven Together,” explores the impact that the historic textile manufacturing firm, chartered in 1845 and in operation as an independent entity until 1996, had on its surrounding community.
The brainchild of Deborah Tritt Harmon, associate professor of library science and USCA education/reference librarian, the exhibit is composed of a host of artifacts displayed in glass cases and hanging on the walls. From the beginning, Professor Hamon conceived of the exhibition as both a cultural experience for the general public and as a learning opportunity for USCA undergraduates. Indeed, all seven themed units in “Graniteville Company Legacy” were assembled, in collaboration with Harmon, by four talented students: Addisen Alvanos, a sophomore history major; Magaret Brown, a junior majoring in creative writing; Spencer Weaver, a junior history major; and Caroline Wright, a first-year student majoring in anthropology and human geography.
All four grew up in textile communities in our state. Entering the museum space and navigating the exhibit from left to right, visitors encounter displays that focus on the following topics: education, town life, work life, community hubs, Black life, “Graniteville Bulletin,” and train derailment. There is so much to see in this carefully curated show, but I will touch on some of the highlights.
For example, in the case devoted to education — the Graniteville Company established one of the earliest compulsory education systems in the United States, and the Graniteville Foundation still funds student scholarships to this day — there are two letters that bring the past to life. The first is a letter addressed to Hamilton Hickman, Graniteville Company president, detailing the enrollment at the Graniteville School in 1899. The second is a letter of appreciation written by Yvonne Myrick in 1972, thanking the foundation for her scholarship that helped finance her degree from South Carolina State.
Although so much of what we know about history is contained in the pages of books, it is especially meaningful to be able to see up close the physical evidence of past lives, such as the pins bearing the image of company founder William Gregg and given to employees for years of service and the rail fragment unearthed by the Graniteville Company in 1944, a remnant of the original railroad track that ran from Charleston to Hamburg in the first half of the 19th century. The railroad contributed to the growth of the Graniteville Company. As is evident in the final display in the exhibition, the railroad also brought about its demise.
The tragic train derailment in 2005 killed nine people and brought about the closing of Avondale Mills, which had acquired the Graniteville Company in 1996. The final display case contains a map of the distribution of wreckage and a student newspaper article focusing on the fact that the USCA campus hosted survivors and Red Cross Disaster Responders immediately after the accident. Reproductions of classic photos also abound in the current exhibition as well as enlarged covers from the “Graniteville Bulletin,” the company’s newsletter published between 1942 and 1986.
So many significant moments in the lives of community residents were chronicled in the pages of this periodical: the daily flag raising task assigned to Albert Key and Chan Curry in 1970 and Vicky Hankinson’s 1967 stint as head majorette at Leavelle McCampbell High School. As Deborah Harmon and the four student curators so eloquently reveal in this fascinating exhibition, the community that was built in support of a single manufacturing enterprise established a sustained identity that has endured longer than the company that was its initial focus. The Graniteville Company’s legacy lives on in the people whose hard work built the company and the town.
“The Graniteville Company Legacy: A Community Woven Together” is open to the public during regular library hours from 10 to 5, Monday through Friday. For other possible times, contact Deborah Tritt Harmon at [email protected] .
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