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#TBT

Motel Simbeth postcard

#TBT: Motel Simbeth + Cornwell Tourist Home

By: Lois Carlisle, Consulting Historian

Thursday, February 21st 2019

We’ve talked about the Green Book before in this series , but here’s a refresher: As automobile travel grew increasingly popular from the 1930s through the 1960s, African Americans found themselves faced with what historian Gretchen Sorin called “an uncertain landscape,” much of which was “composed of white spaces where...

Modjeska Simkins on her porch

#TBT: Who is Modjeska Monteith Simkins?

By: Lois Carlisle, Consulting Historian

Thursday, February 8th 2018

For more than sixty years, Modjeska Monteith Simkins used the wooden cottage at the corner of Elmwood and Marion St. as both a home and a headquarters. One of the greatest human rights advocates in South Carolina's history, Modjeska Monteith Simkins led the charge for equality tirelessly her entire adult...

Drew Park Swim Team

Park It: Columbia’s Green Spaces Reconstructed

By: Katharine Allen, Director of Research

Friday, October 26th 2018

If Forest Acres is a City Apart, then Columbia is a City of Parks. There’s Finlay Park in the heart of downtown, the Riverwalk along the Congaree, the tail-wagging Bark Park in NoMa, Riverbanks Zoo and the Botanical Garden, Carolina’s Horseshoe, and Main Street’s cute-as-a-button pocket park. Oh – and...

Historic Jubilee Photo

Jubilee Turned 40 in 2018

By: Lois Carlisle, Consulting Historian

Thursday, September 13th 2018

2018 marked the 40th anniversary of the Jubilee: Festival of Black History and Culture, making it the longest-running festival in recent Columbia history. Since 1978, Columbians have gathered on the grounds of the Mann-Simons Site at the corner of Richland and Marion streets to celebrate African American culture, cuisine and...

Russell House

#TBT: Mid-Century Mod

By: Lois Carlisle, Consulting Historian

Thursday, January 11th 2018

This is part of our #TBT collaboration with Cola Today.

rocket parade float

TBT: Santa in a spaceship to 1953

By: Lois Carlisle, Consulting Historian

Sunday, January 7th 2018

This is part of a #TBT collaboration with Cola Today