Historic Columbia Foundation receives dual recognition
By Rachel Haynie

Dr. Rodger Stroup, executive director of the SC Department of Archives and History (l) and Frank Wideman, president of the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation ®, present one of two awards Historic Columbia Foundation received at last week's history meeting.

Historic Columbia Foundation was honored with two awards at last week's combined meeting of the Confederation of South Carolina Local Historical Societies and the Historic Preservation and Landmark Conference.

During a Thursday awards luncheon, HCF was recognized for its South Carolina Fall Line Consortium that created Meeting in the Middle: Material Culture from S.C.'s Fall Line Region 1700-1900.

The consortium was founded in 2002 to identify, research, and interpret material culture made and/or used between 1700 and 1945 in S.C.'s Fall Line Zone.

Hosted at the Columbia Museum of Art, Meeting in the Middle featured a wide range of artifacts including furnishings, fine and decorative arts, utilitarian wares, and textiles. Evening lectures by members of participating consortium organizations were also included.

On Friday following a keynote address by award- winning journalist Roberta Gratz, HCF received the Archaeological Stewardship Award for its Mann Simons African American Archaeology Project.

The Mann Simons Cottage is one of Historic Columbia Foundation's historic house museums. When the site was initially investigated in 1998, it was the first study in South Carolina to focus on the archaeology of a free black household of the antebellum period and the only excavation of an African American household in Columbia.

This multi- year project will provide a deeper understanding of how the material world shapes social relations and presents an alternate history of the complexities of everyday life as African Americans and middle class residents living within a culture of segregation.

Excavations in 2005 and 2006 have revealed the presence of several structures and yard features including a trash pit, fence lines and potentially a well. Oral histories will provide context for interpreting the archaeological investigations.

This project will enable Historic Columbia Foundation to provide a unique new look at middle- class African American life in the urban South and will result in a revised exhibit gallery housed in the cottage, along with a revised furnishings plan for the period room displays.