Sorry guys, for the lack of activity on the ole blog but this week has been especially crazy.
I want to take a moment to remember a really great grant program that’s near and dear to my heart: Teaching American History in South Carolina. For 3 years, I worked as a graduate research assistant for this pretty amazing program. I still remember my first day at work. I had barely been living in South Carolina for two weeks when I started. I knew next to nothing about South Carolina or its history.
And, here I was going to help South Carolina history and social studies teachers develop lesson plans and search for primary sources. Suffice to say, I felt extremely unprepared and ill-equipped.
What I found instead were people like me with a deep love for history. Minds still yearning to know more and to learn more.
Thanks to Teaching American History, I visited parts of South Carolina that I never would have seen before, met some great people I never would have met, and learned so much more then I ever could have hoped to learn in a lifetime.
As I took a last look at my empty cubicle and left my badge in the TAH office, I won’t lie to you and say I didn’t cry because I did. It’s the end of an era. The end to a truly great program. But my tears are a reminder of great times and memorable experiences because only the things that you love and hold near and dear can elicit such a response.
My hats off to you TAH.
Ashley D. Stevens 
I have worked with many TAH grant programs and the one you worked for was the best. There were also a lot of great graduate assistants with that program and you were one of the best. I still remember some of the great conversations you and I had when i worked at the SC Archives. Did you ever find a copy of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Moon, Green Moon, Blue Moon series?
Yes, it was pretty sad to see it end. How are things at NARA? I DID read the first book (Red Mars) when I was in Seattle. I couldn’t get into the 2nd one because they changed all of the characters and set it about 10-15 years later. I really got into the people in the first book.
TAHSC is special. I was right there with you on the first day, completely unprepared. But, we didn’t really need special training to do what was asked of us: to love history and research and help others love it too. Teachers in SC work so hard and have so many amazing stories to teach. We are there to fill in the gaps. I loved working with you, Ash, and Don, Janet, Traylor, and Shelia. It was a special once in a lifetime type of thing.
Yes, Ash, hats off TAH!!
You may be interested to take a look at my website – or rather these extracts from it –
http://grimke.wordpress.com/category/family-pen-portraits/
Magnolia Gardens is situated just outside Charleston. It was owned by my ggg uncle, Rev. John Grimke-Drayton.
Thank you for the suggestions! I know of the Magnolia Gardens when I was attending the University of South Carolina. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to visit it. I will definitely do so next time I’m in South Carolina.
I’m going to be in Charleston 24th October until 1st Nov.
That’s a shame. I won’t be back on that coast until the Christmas/New Years holiday.