Walking in a Woman’s Shoes

Logan Avera, Ashley Beacham, Grace Keating, Addison Pollard,

and Miranda Rockow

Reason for Activism Project

Charleston, South Carolina

● Founded in 1670 as Charles Towne

● Given present name of Charleston in 1783

● Oldest city in South Carolina● “America’s Most Friendly City”

according to Travel and Leisure

Elizabeth Timothy (d.1757)

• Is recognized as America’s first female newspaper editor and publisher.

• After her Husband died during the christmas season of 1738, Elizabeth Timothy published the South-Carolina Gazette until their contract expired.

• In Franklin’s autobiography he described her as "a man of learning, and honest but ignorant in matters of account" without know he was actually Elizabeth.

• Elizabeth Timothy was inducted into the South Carolina Press Association Hall of Fame in 1973

• She was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

The South Carolina Gazette was published in this house at 106 Broad Street in Charleston.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-

1793)• As a planter, she was responsible for

the success of indigo as a cash crop in Colonial South Carolina.

• As a businesswoman, she was savvy enough to realize the growing textile industry was a ripe market for new dyes.

• Working on her farm near Charleston, she methodically experimented and developed improved strains of indigo.

• In 1745, only 5,000 pounds of indigo were exported from the Charleston area. Within two years, Eliza's efforts increased that volume to 130,000 pounds.

• President George Washington served as one of the pallbearers at her funeral.

The Hampton Plantation where Eliza lived with her widowed daughter.

Lavinia Fisher (1793-1820)Lavinia is recognized as America’s first female serial

killer.

She and her husband, John Fisher, ran a hotel six miles north of Charleston, called the Six Mile Wayfarer House, in the early 1800s.

Legend says that she picked her victims by inviting her guests to tea. There, she would interview them to assess their financial status.

Once she’d found a victim, some say she’d simply poison their next cup of tea and send them to bed.

Others believe the tea would only put them to sleep for a few hours, and while they were asleep, Lavinia would pull a lever, collapsing the bed and dropping the victim into a pit.

She and her husband were found guilty of highway robbery and sentenced to hanging. However, her husband never faced his sentence because he accepted the council of a reverend, which Lavinia refused.

Lavinia was executed on February 4th, 1820.

Though she’s rumored to be buried at the Circular Congregational Church (150 Meeting St) and the Unitarian Church (4 Archdale St), recent research has indicated that she’s most likely buried in Potter’s Field, next to the Old City Jail (21 Magazine St) where she was executed.

Mary Motte Alston Pringle (1803-1884)

• Typical wife in the Charleston area who was born, raised and died in the Miles Brewton House, which is 27 King Street

• Had thirteen kids with a cotton rice planter who had four plantations.

• Had a niece named Sara Middleton who she frequently wrote letters.

27 King Street, Charleston Sc

Mary Motte Alston Pringle

Louisa McCord Smythe (1845-1928)

• married a charleston Senator and attorney

• was president of the Charleston Chapter of the United Daughters of the confederacy o is a woman’s lineage

society dedicated to honoring Confederate soldiers

• 52 active chapters today

• poet buried at Second Presbyterian Church

Margaret Simons Middleton

(1852-1989)

• preservationist and author

• 24 New Street

• best known for her books on two artistso Henrietta

Johnson and Jeremiah Theus

● in 1974, she was elected to the Hall of Fame for the Charleston Federation of Women’s Clubs

Elizabeth O’Neill Verner (1883-1979)

Studio, 3 Atlantic Street

● Artist famous for etching, drypoints, and pastels of Charleston

Anita Pollitzer (1894-1975)

Anita Pollitzer’s Childhood home 5 Pitt Street

● National Chairman of the National Woman’s Party

● Vice Chair of World Women’s Party

Susan Pringle Frost (1873-

1960)

Above: Joseph Manigault HouseRight: Rainbow Row, East Bay St.

● First president of the Charleston Equal Suffrage League

● Founder of Preservation Society of Charleston

● Restored Rainbow Row

Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987)

Affectionately deemed the “Queen Mother” or the “Grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement”, Septima stands as one of the most influential women of the Civil Rights Era.

She worked through her life to better the education and opportunities of marginalized peoples. Her strategy was to work from both sides, with the individual and the government.

She developed literacy and citizenship schools to assist people in meeting citizenship and voting requirements. Once her school took off, the idea spread like wildfire all over the Southeast.

To challenge the political system that made her schools necessary, she was also an active member of the NAACP. Through her involvement, she risked her career, livelihood, and friends, yet she continued for the cause she believed in.

More detailed information on Septima can be found at the Avery Research Center at 125 Bull Street.There is also a memorial to Septima near the South Carolina Aquarium at 100 Aquarium Wharf .

Anna DeCosta Banks, RN (1869-1930)

Anna DeCosta Banks, RN was a pioneer in the nursing profession. She was the first head nurse at the Hospital and Training School for nurses, which was a segregated institution

She was educated in the Charleston Public Schools and graduated from Virginia’s Hampton Institute in 1891 and then enrolled in Hampton’s Dixie Hospital of Nursing

She continued on the the Hospital and Training School for Nurses located on 135 Cannon Street. After her tenure, she rose to be Superintendent of Nurses, serving at this position for 32 years

She trained many young women to become nurses. Cared for a large number of patients and charges to each patient only contained the cost of board and medicine.

25 Courtney Drive, on the west side of Charleston was once the location of the McClennan-Banks Hospital, opening in 1897, but close in 1977

A wing of the Medical University of South Carolina is named in honor for her service to the state of South Carolina

Ferdinan B. Nancy Stevenson

(1928-2001)

Former Lieutenant governor Ferdinan B. Nancy Stevenson was born on New Rochelle, NY

She began her political career as a representative from Charleston, from 1975 to 1978

She became lieutenant governor in 1979, becoming the first and only female to serve in that position

She was the one that established the Lieutenant Governor’s Writing Award Program which still continues to this day

Students from 5th through 8th grade demonstrate their writing skills

Beth Daniel (1956- today) •Made her first appearance in the golf world in

1975 when she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

•She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999

•Part of the LGPA – Ladies Professional Golf Association – 1979

She has won 33 LGPA tours

Beth Daniel became the second LGPA player to win the Rookie of the year and Player of year honors back to back seasons

For more information, you can visit her Bio on www.worldgolfhalloffame.org

Shannon FaulknerIn 1995, Shannon Faulkner reported to

The Citadel as a result of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Although she didn’t fully enroll as a cadet, she paved the way for women at The Citadel

In 1996 The Citadel dropped the gender requirements

Her actions have made it possible for other young women to attend this institution and become distinguished leaders

For an Active Google Map (Hampton Plantation not included in photo)

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