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Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina

Rutledge Cassette 1 Side 2

Media

Part of Interview: Rutledge, James D.

Title

Rutledge Cassette 1 Side 2

Source

James D. Rutledge Interview

Date

1990-07-17

Description

Cassette 1

Side 2

00:05--He still owns oak baskets made by his grandfather, and can recall his mother making quilts during quilting parties. Two clocks, one of which was his grandmother Bell's is still in his possession. His sister Lucille was quite a talented seamstress who worked utilized handlooms to create artistic patterns. During the flu epidemic of 1917-1918, his grandmother Bell went house-to-house treating white and black patients.

9:27--He briefly mentions that he had a couple of cousins who may have been stationed in France before moving the conversation toward church related issues. His family has long been associated with Ebenezer Baptist Church, which at the time of this interview was 100 years old. A few of the ministers that he can recall preaching there are Reverend's Morton, Galloway, and Stewart. There were other churches and cemeteries named Ozion and Richland, respectively. Her details the workings of the Seneca River Baptist Organization and its support for Seneca Junior College, which it founded with the help of J.J. Starks.

19:29--Local whites that saw the importance of an educated local black population supported Seneca Jr. College. He feels local educational opportunities made the Seneca community a little more progressive than other areas. The school covered the eighth through high school grades, plus two years of junior college. Founded in 1899, it provided educational advancement until it closed in 1939. He describes the functions of the 8 campus buildings before detailing the general curriculum offered and the school's common hours of operation.

31:26--Audio ends.

Rights

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.