Lowcountry Preservationist 2023

ISSUE NO. 4 / / VOLUME NO. 13 / / SUMMER 2023

the Lowcountr y Preservationist CLEMSON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION

A Year in Review...

Historic Rice Barn

St. James Goose Creek

Dirleton Plantation

Clemson Design Center, Charleston - 701 East Bay Street - Suite 202 - Charleston, SC 29403 - 843.937.9596

Contact Us

Editor

Megan Adornetto

Cover Photo

by Megan Adornetto

Graphic Designer and Photo Editor Megan Adornetto

Clemson Design Center - Charleston 701 East Bay Street Suite 202 Charleston, SC 29403 P - 843.937.9596

Contributing Writers Holly Addington Megan Adornetto Deryn Candelaria Lyrik Castro-Bailey Caroline Byrne Chris Cone Rachel Fore Winter Hein Chloe Martin Abby Milonas Chase Pilcher Joyce Pope Paige Regna Hannah St. Onge

http://www.clemson.edu/caac/academics/architecture/programs/ historic-preservation/

Clemson Historic Preservation in Charleston

@Clemsonhistprescharelston

LETTER FROM

Dear Program Family and Friends,

I hope our newsletter finds you enjoying the pleasures that Fall brings. For us in Charleston, this seasonal change amounts to slightly more hospitable temperatures. The project of writing this letter is such a great perk of my position, as it challenges me to think about the theme(s) that have defined the previous year in the program. After my review, I can observe that this past academic year involved a nice balance of new experiences tempered with the familiarity of more traditional program mainstays. For example, this year marked our first as a program solely affiliated with Clemson University. While this is indeed an exciting new development in our program’s history, the presence of four College of Charleston graduates in our entering cohort reminded us of our close connection to the College of Charleston.

In the Fall, our first-year students focused on St. James Goose Creek church for their project in Investigation, Documentation, and Conservation class. They did an excellent job researching the building’s history, examining and analyzing its historic fabric, and evaluating its state of preservation. In addition, we are incredibly proud to announce that their measured drawings of the church were awarded 3rd place in the Peterson Prize competition held by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service! This award marks the return of our program to its familiar spot among the nationwide leaders in this competition. First-year students also completed a number of digital projects, constructing online story maps that present historical narratives covering Charleston’s industrial past, as well as the histories of properties in Charleston’s 4th ward.

Some of our second-year students learned a new set of skills documenting the architecture and rice-processing machinery associated with a 19th century rice barn in Green Pond, SC. Other second-year students worked to map, assess, and conserve grave markers at Evergreen cemetery, part of the historic African-American communities of Grimball Farms and Barnhill on James Island, SC. This work follows on a project they began last year, which represents the building of enduring relationship between our program and community partners.

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Thank you, Jon, for all of your guidance and wisdom these past few years. You have had a lasting, positive impact on the program and careers of your students and colleagues.

We will miss you!

THE DIRECTOR The summer was also a busy time with two grant-funded initiatives. Generous funding from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation allowed us to continue our collaborative project with the staff at Warren Lasch Conservation Center, providing collections management training for staff and volunteers at the Seashore Farmers Lodge in the historic community of Sol Legare. Together with the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, the Progressive Club, and Claflin University, we also conducted a community-based historic preservation field school. The three-week program focused on researching and documenting the Moving Star Hall prayer house and the Progressive Club ruins, - late 19th and early 20th century public buildings that played a significant role in the history of the African-American community on John’s Island, SC. Participants in the field school ranged in age from 20 to over 60, and most have cultural or historic ties to coastal Gullah Geechee communities. This project, which is funded by the Vernacular Architecture Forum from an Andrew W. Mellon grant, will continue in the summer of 2024.

I will end with some bittersweet news. I will be leaving the program at the end of the fall semester to become the director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology and chair of the archaeology curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It has been my absolute honor to serve as program director for the last four years, and I regard my time working with MSHP students and faculty as the best years of my career thus far. While I am sad to leave, I take great pleasure to share the news that my successor as program director will be Amalia Leifeste!

Amalia has been the most capable and supportive colleague I could have ever asked for, and she has played a key role in everything that we’ve accomplished in the program during my tenure. I am so excited to see the heights the program will reach under her direction!

Please join me in wishing a wonderful year ahead for our students.

Regards, Dr. Jon Marcoux 3

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On

The

Road.

The Lowcountry and Beyond

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1 / / First and second year students on the Fall 2022 trip to visit the Biltmore Estate

2 / / First year students at the Clemson Homecoming trip in the Fall of 2022

3 / / Second year students with professor Amalia

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Leifeste (left) and alumna Riley Morris (right) at Mount Vernon

4 / / First year students after tuck pointing mortar at 4

the Aiken-Rhett House

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5 / / First year students with professor Frances Ford in Spoleto, Italy on the Summer Conservation trip

6 / / Second year students on site in historic Lincolnville 7 / / First and second year students on the Fall 2022 trip to Sherrill’s Inn in North Carolina

8 / / Second year students at Nucor Steel Berekley for a tour of the plant

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Historic Structures Report

Wi l l i a m M a s o n S m i t h Ho u s e

b y Ab b y M i l o n a s

Spring 2023

In the spring of 2023, three second-year students Matthew Doohan, Chase Pilcher, and myself - had the privilege of studying the residence of Craig Bennett as part of the Historic Structure Report course. The house at 26 Meeting Street, also known as the William Mason Smith House after its original owner, is not only a stunning example of early nineteenth-century neoclassical architecture, but also, if the research is correct, the only building designed by William Jay still standing in Charleston.

The house is remarkably preserved considering it has survived two centuries of turmoil, including the Civil War and the great earthquake of 1886.

This is due largely to the fact that it has been owned by only two families, the Smiths and the Bennetts, with a brief interlude in 1929 in which Douglas C. Goodwin owned the home for one year. Since Mr. Bennett and his family took permanent possession of the home in the mid-1990s, they have completed invaluable preservation work which will keep the building livable for many more years while a long-term restoration and preservation plan is developed.

Under the guidance of Professor Kristopher King and with the help of historical resources such as photographs, receipts, and maps, as well as architectural evidence in the house itself, we created a proposed sequence of phasing to demonstrate how the building has evolved over the previous two centuries. There were some mysteries proposed in the beginning which we were able to answer. For example, in a photo showing the damage to the house from the 1886 earthquake, there are shingles covering the domed staircase, suggesting that it was at one time exposed. There was even a published article we found which claimed that the house was the earliest in Charleston to have an exposed dome roof. After careful research and examination, however, we determined that the shingles had been placed upon the dome during construction to protect it from the elements and were not visible from the outside once the house was completed.

In the process of uncovering the house’s secrets, we came across more questions that we were unable to answer in the brief time frame allowed. Several of these involved the original footprint and fenestration. At first, we assumed that the house was initially designed in a symmetrical double pattern with an attached piazza, as is the case for many historic Charleston homes. After further investigation, however, we discovered that the piazza may have in fact

Photos by students Matthew Doohan, Chase Pilcher, and Abby Milonas

been added later, and at one point also wrapped around the rear of the house to connect to the dependency. Given the time and resources available to us, we were unable to resolve this question satisfactorily, and so these mysteries remain to be investigated by the next intrepid young preservationists.

Another significant question regarding the house relates to its original design. It is typically attributed to England-born architect William Jay as it strongly resembles his uniquely forward-thinking style. One only has to compare photographs of the William Mason Smith House to known Jay buildings such as the Owens-Thomas House or Scarborough House in Savannah, GA, where he was most active in the United States, to see the overwhelming similarities. The hypothesis was further supported by the discovery of a receipt for slate addressed to Smith and signed by Jay. The timeline of the house’s construction aligns with concrete evidence of Jay’s having moved to Charleston circa 1819, and at least one other Charleston building, the Weyman House, was designed by him. The Weyman House was dismantled but photographs and physical remnants of the house further bear a powerful similarity to 26 Meeting. If it can be proven unquestionably that Jay was the architect of the William Mason Smith House, then it would be the only remaining confirmed Jay building in the city.

Projects such as this encompass all the skills impressed upon students throughout the program: archival research, architectural history, analysis of primary documents, and applying a critical lens to the given evidence. These kinds of opportunities give students hands-on experience to prepare them for the working world and are invaluable to a graduate education. Many thanks are owed to Professor Kristopher King, Craig Bennett and his family, Historic Charleston Foundation, Clemson University, and the many professionals who gave generously of their time to help us peel back the layers of history covering the William Mason Smith House.

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St. James Church Goose Creek, SC Fall 2022

by Chloe Martin

During the Fall 2022 semester, the first-year students in the Investigation, Documentation, and Conservation course, led by the team of Frances Ford, Carter Hudgins, Amalia Leifeste, and Jon Marcoux, had the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience at the St. James Protestant Episcopal Church in Goose Creek, South Carolina. This impeccably-preserved Georgian-style church served as the subject of measured drawings (both hand-drawn and rendered in AutoCAD), Ground Penetrating Radar, historic research, and conditions assessments and paint analysis. These deliverables helped lay the groundwork for our future studies in Historic Preservation, both within this program and our future careers in the field. During the building investigation photographs held in a collection with Bennet Preservation Engineering, Inc were part of an investigation that allowed the class to confidently date the historic gallery to a second phase, after original construction. These types of deep investigations, as well as time preparing highly detailed measured drawings, allow the class to contribute to a better understanding of the place. St. James Goose Creek, now only utilized for yearly Easter services, represents an incredible history, both of the building itself and its associations with the broader patterns of religious history in South Carolina, which we were fortunate enough to be able to share with members of the vestry who are actively engaged and committed to preserving the church for generations to come. This experience was incredibly formative and we are so lucky, not only to have had such an incredible site with which to test our skills and knowledge, but also to have formed a connection with members of the St. James Goose Creek community who care so deeply about preserving this church and its history.

Front Facade of St. James Goose Creek Photo by Amalia Leifeste

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Students Jacob Hockenberry and Gabby Rowsam taking measurements of the church.

Photo by Amalia Leifeste

Drawing of a cross-section at the reredos of St. James Goose Creek Church done in AutoCAD Drawing by: Hannah St. Onge & Jacob Hockenberry

NRHP Nomination Process

Ja m e s Is l a n d , C h a r l e s t o n , S C

b y Ly r i k C a s t r o - B a i l e y

The Walnut Hill Schoolhouse final poster with information about its importance, an architectural description, and lists any modifications done.

The Hebron Presbyterian Church poster with the history of the church, an architectural description and additional infor about the interiors and the cemetery.

Fa l l 2 0 2 2

In the Fall of 2022, History and Theory of Historic Preservation students were divided into three groups to complete a Preliminary Information Form (PIF), an informational document used to establish a site’s eligibility on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The three sites included Walnut Hill Schoolhouse, Hebron Presbyterian Church, and the Promise Land School, all of which are located on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina. The Walnut Hill Schoolhouse was an important landmark during the Reconstruction era, was a Freedmans School, and one of the first schoolhouses on the Sea Islands. Hebron Presbyterian Church was a church built by Freedmen using refurbished lumber from a shipwreck. The Promise Land School was a school for black children before integration and Charleston legend, Septima Clark, taught at the school.

The project required historical research and site visits in order to accomplish photo documentation, architectural descriptions of the interior and exterior, as well as a statement of significance that conforms to one or more of the required standards outlined by the NRHP. Once the forms were completed, they were then sent to the South Carolina’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for review. Additionally, informational posters were created to visually display the research completed. The posters for the Walnut Hill Schoolhouse and Hebron Presbyterian Church are on the left side. Not only did this project teach students about the rigorous nomination process but it also enabled students to learn about the history of sites that enrich South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

Below: The Promise Land School closed down and was refurbished into a seafood restaurant. This restaurant is also closed and the building now remains vacant.

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Above: Overlay of the historic drawing by Loutrell Briggs on top of an aerial photo taken via drone.

Left: Overlay of Ground Penetrating Radar results on top of an aerial photo taken via drone.

Students preparing the Total Station system for data collection Photo by: Jon Marcoux

Loutrell Briggs Garden Students holding targets for the Total Station system in the garden Photo by: Jon Marcoux

Students determining the next group of points to collect Photo by: Jon Marcoux

at McLeod Plantation

Spring 2023

b y Ha n n a h St. Onge

In the Spring of 2023, first-year students in Dr. Jon Marcoux’s Cultural and Historic Landscape Preservation course completed a cultural landscape report on the remnants of the Loutrel Briggs-designed garden at McLeod Plantation Historic Site in Charleston, SC. Briggs was a landscape architect and prolific designer of gardens throughout downtown Charleston and the Lowcountry, including gardens at the College of Charleston and Mulberry Plantation. McLeod was formerly a working plantation, and was later a location of the Freedman’s Bureau and home to formerly-enslaved people and their descendents. The site is listed on the National Register for its significance during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Briggs garden has been overlooked in the past as it dates to after this period of significance, but it has the potential to provide insight into a later period of McLeod’s history. It was designed in 1932 following Brigg’s usual style; the garden included features common in his designs, such as figure-8 shaped beds and plants such as camellias.

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A recreation of the Loutrell Briggs garden at McLeod Plantation. Points were taken using Total Station and mapped in AutoCAD. Drawing by: Megan Adornetto

Students set out to determine the extent to which these original conditions were intact. Working in two teams of eight, students mapped the boundaries of garden beds and paths with a Leica TS7 Total Station system. The points captured during these sessions were imported into AutoCAD, where a plan of the existing conditions was developed. Students also completed a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of the area south of the extant garden in an attempt to identify potential buried features present in a 1932 plan for the garden’s design. The 1932 plan was georeferenced over an aerial photograph of the modern landscape, which helped students compare existing conditions to those documented through aerial photography and total station mapping.

Results from the GPR survey indicated a number of buried features that aligned with the original plan of the garden at a depth of 0.5 feet, including a rectangular feature likely to be a brick path. While not related to the garden, GPR results at a depth of 5 feet indicated features likely to be a well and a Civil War trench in the area south of the extant garden beds.

Using these resources, students determined that the Briggs garden retained its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship. While some of the plantings were replaced or altered over time, the garden still retains many of its original hardscape elements such as the central brick path and other key features such as the figure-8 beds. In addition, the site continues to convey Briggs’ style and remains in its original location, rendering the site eligible under Criterion A, B, and C of the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. The class presented these findings, as well as recommendations for the further care and restoration of the garden, in a report prepared for the Charleston County Parks, who are the current stewards of the site, as well as StoryMap using the ArcGIS StoryMap software.

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Students using Total Station to collect points of features in the garden Photo by: Jon Marcoux

Students using Ground Penetrating Radar in the garden Photo by: Jon Marcoux

Scan the QR code!

Check out our Story Map!

HSR: Rock Creek Wa s h i n g t o n , D. C .

Summer 2023 b y Pa i g e R e g n a

Above Left: Photo of Rock Creek Police Station Photo by: Laurel Bartlett Above Right: Photo of Jack Sutton preparing the boroscope to look at the wall assembly visible from the attic Photo by Amalia Leifeste Below: Photo of Jack Sutton and Paige Regna meeting with Carter Hudgins Photo by Amalia Leifeste

Students Paige Regna and Jack Sutton are research assistants on a funded project creating a Historic Structure Report (HSR) for the D-3 Police Substation in Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC with professors Amalia Leifeste, Carter Hudgins, and Laurel Bartlett. This report is being completed for the National Park Service to guide the repair, maintenance, and preservation of the structure. The D-3 Police Substation has continuously been used for police activity since its construction completed in 1936. This building serves as a contributing structure to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

In May, Paige and Jack joined Amalia and Carter on a site visit to Washington, DC to investigate the police substation for the building evolution, conditions assessments, and recommendations portions of the report. Tools such as a borescope, thermal imaging camera, and moisture meter were used to aid in this investigation.

Additional field notes were taken in order to complete the measured drawings for the report. Everyone was able to check “being inside a holding cell” off their bucket list. This three-day site visit also consisted of climbing the steps at the Lincoln Memorial, critiquing buildings along the National Mall, and educating TSA that a moisture meter is not a taser.

After returning to Charleston, Paige and Jack finished the measured drawings in AutoCAD to include in the 50% draft of the HSR. The previous graduate assistants, Emma Grace Sprinkle and Matthew Doohan, had already completed the majority of the drawings based off of the measurements taken during their sitevisit in December 2022 with Amalia and Laurel. Research assistant Chloe Martin helped Laurel with compiling information for the history and architectural description portions of the HSR. Paige and Jack will continue to assist Clemson faculty with this report until May 2024.

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Conservation Lab Left: Student Chloe Martin taking a paint sample Photo by: Brianna Schmidt

Charleston, SC Spring 2023

Right: Student Megan Adornetto taking a paint sample Photo by: Deryn Candelaria

In the Spring of 2023, students in the Architecture Conservation Lab class led by professors Frances Ford and Richard Marks performed paint analysis for two historic houses on the peninsula in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The class was split in two, with each group assigned to separate sites. One group went to the Italianate villa on 26 South Battery, and the other to 10 Legare Street. Both of the historic houses were undergoing restoration efforts

by Richard Marks Restorations Inc. This allowed the students full access to all the different features of the houses such as porches, doors, and ceilings. The students at each location split into pairs; each pair focusing on separate sections of their assigned historic house. Each individual in the pairs took sixteen small samples of paint, making sure to take samples out of the line of sight. These samples were labeled according to which historic house and location within the house they were procured. Once collection was complete on site, the students brought the samples back to the conservation lab at the Cigar Factory.

Each of the sixteen samples were encased in small resin cubes. These cubes, once cured, were cut to form cross sections of the samples. The cross sections were leveled on a slide and analyzed under a microscope. Using the CRAIC Spectrophotometer, photomicrographs of each cross section were obtained. These photographs were coupled with stratigraphy sheets that showed the analysis and chronology of the paint layers for each sample. Some of the samples taken at 26 South Battery Street had upwards of twelve layers of paint per sample. Every student’s sample stratigraphies were combined with brief house histories to create a report. The reports were later given to the clients of each home.

These reports and the paint samples gathered from 26 South Battery and 10 Legare Street help to further the students’ understanding as well as to inform on the evolution and transformation of historic houses and historic paint.

by Der yn Candelaria Paint Sample by Deryn Candelaria Location: 29 South Battery Street, 2nd floor porch floor

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D O CUMENTING

Dirleton Plantation House Photo by: Megan Adornetto

First year students in Preservation Studio, spearheaded by Amalia Leifeste, began their spring semester with a documentation project in Georgetown, South Carolina. Students were charged with documenting, researching, and investigating the site of the Dirleton Plantation house. This project was made possible by Alicia Farrell, Meg Gilliard, Larry Lane, and Lane Patterson through their connections with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). Students were able to work closely with the members of Dirleton Plantation and preservation professionals who provided valuable insights related to Dirleton Plantation’s history and construction.

During three site visits to Dirleton Plantation, students documented the existing dwelling by using a laser scanner and hand drawn details to create measured drawings, producing plans and exterior elevations drawn to HABS standards. Throughout the documentation process, building system descriptions, conditions assessments, and recommendations were taken carefully in order to aid in the understanding of the structures history and phasing. A history report created by the SCDNR’s heritage trust, archaeologist, and public information coordinator Larry Lane which draws from primary sources for preservation of the Dirleton Plantation was reviewed by students to confirm and aid in documentation and research.

b y Wi n t e r He i n

Georgetown, SC 14

DIRLETON

One of the tasks was to develop a conditions assessment for the major building systems of the house: foundation, crawl space, interior finishes, flooring, fireplaces, doors and windows, HVAC, porch, roof system. Students also investigated the three specific concerns that SCDNR staff raised about the building: exterior paint failure, insect intrusion, and water and collection management. Investigation techniques included observation, spot sounding (taping), readings taken by a moisture meter, paint analysis, and photography to illustrate observed conditions. Following the condition analysis of each of these aspects of Dirleton, a preservation philosophy was identified, articulated, and the students developed recommendations for continued preservation.

The results of the investigation and documentation efforts were compiled into an extensive historic preservation structures report consisting of the history, timeline, conditions assessment, recommendations, and measured drawings.

MSHP Class of 2024 at Dirleton Photo by: Amalia Leifeste

Students Claire Cox and Hannah St. Onge taking measurements Photo by: Amalia Leifeste

Student Lyrik Castro-Bailey taking measurements Photo by: Amalia Leifeste

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Spring 2023

American Interiors Fall 2022

b y Ho l l y Ad d i n g t o n

In the Fall 2022 semester, second year students in the American Interiors course got the chance to explore interior furnishing trends and style periods with decorative arts object appraiser and professor Elizabeth Ryan.

Particular focus was spent on Charleston produced furnishings and Charleston interiors. The class frequently enjoyed field trips to see these trends in person by studying the collections of The Charleston Museum’s Heyward-Washington House, Historic Charleston Foundation’s Nathaniel Russel House, and the County of Charleston Historic Courthouse among others. Additionally, students learned how to research, document, and interpret historic interiors and objects through sources including inventories, paintings, account books, and prints.

The class culminated in a final project which focused on creating a museum exhibit highlighting the object collections of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of South Carolina. Students were allowed hands-on access to objects that had been donated and collected over the years by members of NSCDA-SC in order to research, document, and organize an exhibit featuring them. The exhibit was designed for display in Charlston’s Powder Magazine, a property owned by the NSCDA-SC, highlighting the organization and its dedication to promoting national heritage through historic preservation, patriotic service, and educational projects. Some of the objects in the exhibit included The Powder Magazine itself, historic photographs of the original museum interpretation of the Powder Magazine as a historic parlor room, early electric tavern lanterns made for display in the Powder Magazine, A 1939 Scrapbook documenting USO events held by NSCDA-SC members, and historic photographs of two generations of women in the organization wearing the historic Harriott Pinckney Horry Dress to NSCDA-SC functions. A final presentation on the exhibit’s objects and design was given to members of the NSCDA-SC and Katherine Pemberton, Director of the Powder Magazine Museum.

Second year students touring the Nathaniel Russell House Photo by: Holly Addington

Second year students up close and personal with some historic interiors Photo by: Jac Nahman

Grahme Long with Historic Charleston Foundation talking about the interiors at the Nathaniel Russell House Photo by: Holly Addington

Second year Jac Nahman examining photographs Photo by: Katherine Pemberton

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Historic Research Methods

by R achel Fore

Above and Below: Images of property deed documents from Charleston County Photo by: Rachel Fore

Scan the QR code!

Check out our Story Map!

C h a r l e s t o n’s 4 t h Wa r d Fa l l 2 0 2 2

In the fall of 2022, the first year Class of 2024 undertook their Research Methods seminar with Katherine Pemberton.

Each year, Katherine chooses a different semester-long topic for her class to research. This offers them the chance to learn more about a unique and interesting facet of Charleston’s history and hone their research skills. For the fall of 2022, Katherine chose the history of Ward Four and vice in Charleston.

To facilitate this, the class spent the first couple of weeks familiarizing themselves with the City of Charleston Register of Deeds Office, the Charleston County Public Library, City records, the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library and their special collections, as well as the South Carolina Historical Society Archives, and much more. Once the class had a working understanding of the resources at their fingertips and how to use, they were each assigned a house on the peninsula on which to conduct t a full house history. Many of the homes were suspected of, at one time or another, operating as brothels.

Students were charged with discovering not only the chain of title and prior owners but also prior occupants, their histories, how the house evolved over time, and how that may relate to the larger story of Charleston’s history. Through the Register of Deeds Office, historic newspaper articles, and even genealogical research, students slowly formed the history of their assigned property.

Some found that their assigned property had operated as a brothel for decades, with women coming and going on census records and constant newspaper articles and arrest reports citing the addresses. Others found that while resources such as Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps may have noted the home as a female boarding house in the 1902 map, in reality that was most likely not the case. Still others found that their property only operated as a brothel for a short period of time but still housed residents who lived within a city ward that operated as a center for vice. No matter their findings, each house history offered a deeper insight into the city and the people that have called it home.

The class culminated in a final presentation where students presented their findings to the faculty, staff, and the larger community. Katherine’s Research Methods class helped students to delve into Charleston’s history and geography, and see how the private architecture that shapes the city fits into the larger narrative all while also familiarizing them with the resources they will need to research and write their thesis this year.

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Interior photo of Seashore Farmers Lodge Photo by: Chris Cone

Charter of the Seashore Farmers Lodge No. 767 Photo by: Chris Cone

Seashore Farmers Lodge Summer 2023 A cast iron pot being cleaned at Warren Lasch Photo by: Chris Cone

Chris Cone cleaning artifacts using an air abrasion unit Photo by: Johanna Riviera-Diaz

by Chris Cone

During the summer of 2023, rising second year Chris Cone interned at Warren Lasch Conservation Center, where he helped to preserve culturally significant artifacts belonging to the Seashore Farmer’s Lodge, a historically AfricanAmerican fraternal organization and mutual aid society within the Sol Legare community of James Island.

The lodge was established circa 1915 with the mission to serve its community, especially during financial hardships. As the area expanded in the 1950s, membership for the lodge continued but became less of a social hub than in previous years. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo had damaged the building significantly, which left it abandoned in the years to come. Rehabilitation efforts were instituted in 2006, with the introduction of a television show, “Flip This House” that helped to restore and bring new life to the building thanks to the networking of lodge member, Bill “Cubby” Wilder. In 2011, the lodge officially opened its doors to serve the community as a cultural museum, showcasing the 18

Volunteers at Seashore Farmers Lodge Photo by: Patricia Ploehn Exterior of the Seashore Farmers Lodge No. 767 Photo by: Chris Cone

rich history of its members and surrounding area.

Facing new challenges in terms of guidance toward the care and instruction of the preservation of the lodge and its collection, Seashore Farmer’s Lodge and lodge leader Ernest Parks turned to the assistance of the then joint Clemson-College of Charleston Historic Preservation program. A grant from the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation funded the cataloging of lodge items and specific training that would aid the community in the upkeep of the museum artifacts, with selected artifacts recieving professional conservation at the WLCC. In the summer of 2022, members of the MSHP program, Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Seashore Farmer’s Lodge, and and community members who answered the call for volunteer assistance worked toward the clean up and assessment of the lodge and its collection.

Those involved included Earnest Parks, Dr. Jon Marcoux, Amalia Leifeste, Patricia Ploehn and Luke Bagwell, Lodge Interns and Stephanie Crette, Director of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, and Johanna Riviera-Diaz and Gyllian Porteous with Warren Lasch.

While in the care of Warren Lasch, 7 artifacts, with more in preparation, recieved professional conservation. The three methods of cleaning included air abrasion, a sodium bicarbonate paste (baking soda + deionized water) applied to the object and/or the removal of individual pieces of corrosion through the use of a scalpel. Each piece was applied with multiple coats of tannic acid that acts as a protective coating. As artifacts in the Lodge’s museum collection continue to require cleaning and restoration, the professional conservation of a few pieces is paired with training initiatives for volunteer lodge members to be better equipped for the and maintenance of the collection. This training offers guidance in the everyday preservation of items and also highlights the need for disaster preparedness.

Moreover, as ten community members engages in this training, the hope is that each person will assist in the preservation of the lodge’s artifacts, and also will extend this knowledge toward their own artifacts in private collections and other communities.

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A pitchfork being cleaned at Warren Lasch Photo by: Chris Cone

Chris Cone cleaning a sword at Warren Lasch for the Seashore Farmers Lodge Photo by: Johanna Riviera-Diaz

by Caroline Byrne

Mo u n t P l e a s a n t , S C Spring 2023

Scanlonville Cemetery

In February 2023, first-year students Megan Adornetto, Caroline Byrne, Claire Cox, Jacob Hockenberry, Paige Regna, Hannah St. Onge, and Jack Sutton assisted Dr. Jon Marcoux with documenting the Scanlonville Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Scanlonville is a historic African American settlement community and the cemetery contains the burials of generations of community members with the earliest marked grave dating to 1857. In the early 2000s, the cemetery land was purchased and graves were almost relocated to accommodate a new development; however residents sued the developer and blocked the plans.

The students were tasked with mapping gravesites and documenting the information from the grave markers using Survey123 and GPS equipment. Additionally, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was conducted to survey an area of the cemetery to identify any unmarked graves or underground anomalies. The GPR identified multiple unmarked burials in the surveyed area as well as a probable underground well.

Top Left - Students getting debriefed on the upcoming work at the cemetery Photo by: Claire Cox Top Right - Scanlonville Cemetery Photo by: Jon Marcoux Left - GPR results at 2 1/2 feet below ground Map by: Jon Marcoux Below - Student Claire Cox performing ground penetrating radar at Scanlonville Cemetery Photo by: Megan Adornetto

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AC E B a s i n , S C Fall 2022

Historic Rice Barn In the fall of 2022, one of the electives offered to the Class of 2023 was Building Investigation and Broader Contexts. Led

by Professor Amalia Leifeste, the class had a rare opportunity to document and assess the conditions of a nineteenth century rice barn in the ACE basin of South Carolina. Along with completing documentation and a thorough conditions assessment of the structure, the class also explored different ways of how the Rice Barn could be interpreted within the broader agricultural and cultural landscape that surrounds it.

To assist the students in understanding how to better interpret this structure, we had some incredible guest lecturers that graciously gave their time to help us view the barn from different lenses. Professor Emily Bergeron from the University of Kentucky discussed Intangible Cultural Heritage with the class, while Professor Catarina Passidomo, from the University of Mississippi, and Professor David Shields from the University of South Carolina, helped us look at the Rice Barn through the lens of Southern Foodways and Food Studies. Ultimately, the class landed on interpreting the structure and surrounding landscape as a historic vernacular landscape, with strong ties to foodways in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

For the documentation portion of the course, the class used both traditional hand measuring techniques and laser scans to complete a full set of drawings of the structure. The students also had the unique opportunity to document rice processing equipment that dated to the end of the nineteenth century, when the production of rice was becoming more industrialized. With the assistance of Dana Lockett from the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), the students completed intricate laser scans of the equipment.

Combined with the laser scans completed by Professor Amalia Leifeste and the scans of the equipment, Emma Grace Sprinkle and Cassie Bagwell were able to create axonometric drawings of the structure and the equipment housed inside. Through our documentation and investigation of the structure, the class theorized that there were three building campaigns that occurred. Through the use of historic plats and letters, the class believes that the first phase was completed in the late 1850s, just prior to the start of the Civil War. The second phase occurred in the 1880s which added a second floor and expanded the building laterally, and the final phase occurred closer to the turn of the century to accommodate the industrial rice processing equipment.

Through this course, the class was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to document a rare and unique agricultural building that played a part in the cultivation of the famous Carolina Gold Rice.

It also allowed us to give recommendations to the client of how this building could possibly be interpreted in the future. Preserving and interpreting agricultural structures, such as the rice barn, are of the utmost importance, as they can help us understand the agricultural, economic, and social history of the region.

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by Chase Pilcher

Exterior of the Rice Barn Photo by: Chase Pilcher

Students working with Dana Lockett from HAER at the Rice Barn Photo by: Chase Pilcher

3D laser scan of the rice separator at the rice barn Photo by: Chase Pilcher

Interior of the Rice Barn Photo by: Chase Pilcher

S p o l e t o, It a l y Summer 2023

Conservation Trip

Students walking the AppianWay in Rome Photo by: Megan Adornetto

The side of a hill in Perugia, Italy Photo by: Megan Adornetto

A ruined building in the historic center of Norcia Photo by: Megan Adornetto

This summer, students embarked to Spoleto, Italy for our Architectural Conservation trip with conservation instructor, Frances Ford. In Spoleto, two weeks were spent exploring central Italy’s medieval towns in partnership with Spoleto Abroad. Our wonderful guides, Lorenzo Mutti and structural engineer Bernadino “Dino” Sperandio, showed us conservation projects in Spoleto, Perugia, the capital of the region of Umbria, and other nearby towns.

The trip started out strong with a visit to La Rocca Albornoziana, a fortress turned villa, turned prison, turned museum that overlooks the city of Spoleto, acting as its highest point. One highlight was our afternoons spent in Perugia. We toured the National Gallery of Umbria, which is the art museum of the region, and got to see some of the conservation work that Dino and his team completed at the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo and the Fontana Maggiore.

These two works are the center pieces of the main piazza of the city, Piazza IV Novembre.

Another highlight of our trip were the days spent driving through Umbria and experiencing the beauty of the region. However, Umbria has also experienced its fair share of heartbreak and destruction as well. In 2016, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Central Italy and devastated many mountain towns. Due to the damage inflicted from the earthquake, many towns were deserted due to the towns being inaccessible to building materials and labor. We also had the opportunity to visit towns like Norcia to see the repair efforts the city is still working on to this day.

We also had the opportunity to visit many of the nearby towns and cities. Our day trips included visiting Rome, where we visited many popular sites such as the Colosseum, Forum, and the Appian Way. We visited the nearby towns of Trevi and Montefalco, where we got to experience more of Umbrian culture with delicious food and wine and olive oil tastings. And a group favorite was the day we spent in the town of Assisi. It was in Assisi that we walked the entire historic city center thanks to our trusty guidebook by Rick Steves, visited the sacred sites associated with Saint Francis of Assisi, and encountered the tail end of the annual Peace March from Perugia to Assisi.

This trip was a great experience, and provided exposure to students of how Italians are preserving not only architecture, but art, history, and culture as well.

b y Me g a n Ad o r n e t t o

Students at a fine art conservation lab outside of Spoleto, Italy Photo by: Frances Ford

Viewing a restored marble facade in Perugia Photo by: Rachel Fore

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Spoleto, Italy hillside Photo by: Rachel Fore

Left: Evergreen Cemetery Photo by: Frances Ford

Left: Student Lexi Allen taking paint samples Photo by: Frances Ford

Charleston, SC Fall 2022

Advanced Conservation

In Fall 2022, Frances Ford’s Advanced Conservation Class worked at three project sites: Evergreen Cemetery in John’s Island, Strawberry Chapel in Monck’s Corner, and the Elizabeth Barnwell Gough House in Beaufort, SC. Before the school year started members of the class, as well as Jon Marcoux and Frances Ford, attended a community meeting at Baxter Patrick Library to discuss the Evergreen Cemetery project with members of the community. Over the course of the semester, the class used GIS to site the locations of graves, and entered the information found on headstones into an application called Survey 123. Class members also recorded the types of markers and conducted condition assessments on each marker. A few individual markers were repaired at the request of the family or for safety, stability, or visibility purposes.

Former City Councilwoman Anna Johnson and longtime community member Barbara Goss Brown visited with the class during one workday and spoke about their families’ history and connection to Evergreen Cemetery and the larger James Island community.

Later in the semester the class visited Strawberry Chapel to clean the Harleston Vault, which had been covered with moss, and stabilize and repair other grave markers.

The class also visited the Barnwell-Gough House in Beaufort, South Carolina, to learn about the house and conduct an analysis on the finishes of the house interior. Students obtained paint samples from strategic locations throughout the house, and then completed stratigraphy sheets for each room, photographing the paint samples under a microscope to show the layers chronologically. A report was then compiled for the client.

Students also wrote and presented individual conservation reports at the end of the year on the topic of their choosing. The majority of topics pertained to the work at Evergreen, such as common memorial symbols and the conservation of concrete markers.

Left: Student Emma Sprinkle taking paint samples Photo by: Frances Ford

Right: Students cleaning the Harleston vault at Strawberry Chapel Photo by: Frances Ford

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MSHP Class of 2023 Thesis Topics Holly Addington: Charleston, SC Boarding Houses 1840-1880: Prevalence, Placement, and Character

Joyce Pope: Women Building After The Charleston Fire of 1838 Using the “Act To Rebuild The City of Charleston” Loans

Peter Gaytan: We Are Gullah: A Community Approach To Preserving Gullah Geechee Historical Sites of Significance

Lexi Allen: Bringigng Vanished Landscapes to the Surface: a Multi-Tool Approach to Unearthing Charleston’s Historic City Wall

Abby Milonas: Physical Accessibilty and Historic Preservation in Historic House Museums of the Southeast

Emma Grace Sprinkle: An Investigation of CommunityDefined Boundaries and Important Sites

Chase Pilcher: Quantitative Techniques for Classifying Mouldings: an Exploration of Logistic Regression within Architectural Investigations

MSHP Class of 2023 Graduation Ceremony

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MSHP Class of 2024 Internships Megan Adornetto: Meadors, Inc.

Winter Hein: BVL Historic Preservation Research and

Caroline Byrne: National Parks Service, National Mall and Memorial Parks

the Powder Magazine Jacob Hockenberry: Richard Marks Restoration

Deryn Candelaria: Warren Lasch Conservation Center

Chloe Martin: Classical American Homes

Lyrik Castro-Bailey: Motley Design Group

Paige Regna: Historic Charleston Foundation

Chris Cone: Seashore Farmers Lodge No. 767 Claire Cox: Page & Turnbull Rachel Fore: Historic Charleston Foundation Sarah Gaston: NCPE, Longmire

Preservation Trust Gabby Rowsam: National Trust for Historic Preservation Brianna Schmidt: Maine Preservation Hannah St. Onge: Drayton Hall Jack Sutton: Richard Marks Restoration

Congratulations, Graduates!

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A lu mn i Ne ws Kayleigh Defenbaugh (2020) married in 2022 and welcomed a baby boy, Liam La, in July 2023.

Karl Sondermann (2013) was promoted to Colonel in January 2023 and was selected to represent the US Army as a military fellow at the MIT Security Studies program for the 2023-2024 school year.

Patricia Stone Ploehn (2022) married husband Brandon in March 2023. She received a chair position with the Lowcountry Alliance for Response network.

She also presented work at the American Institute for Conservation’s 2023 annual meeting and at the Slave Dwelling Project 2022 conference.

Gabriel Cristofari (2021) received research credit concerning the Negro Traveler’s Green Book project.

He was also promoted from planner to Senior Planner in October 2022, and was made a lead staff member for the Town of Abingdon’s Historic Preservation Review Board.

Rucha Kamath’s (2019) latest project was featured in Architecture Digest and Elle Decor.

Erin Morton Pugh (2014) married in May 2023.

Leah Applewhite (2021) is working at Brockington & Associates, and is planning her March 2024 wedding to fiance Travis Galli.

Diana Inthavong (2018) was recently promoted to her current role as Preservation Planner, allowing her to do both preservation planning and growth management planning for the couth of Loudoun County, VA. She is also recently engaged.

Shea McEnerney (2022) was elected as a 2023 CoChair of the White House Historical Association’s Next-Gen Leaders Committee as a Historic Preservation Representative.

Kenneth Marolda (2020) is running for Charleston City Council, District 9, with Historic Preservation as a part of his platform. He was also honored in Charleston’s Regional Business Journal in the FourtyUnder-40 2023 class

Katherine Ferguson Ashworth (2012) is working for the U.S. Department of State, and married John Ashworth in May 2023.

Sada (Stewart) Troutman (2019) was named as a 2023 Business NC Trailblazer.

Jennifer Leeds (2017) married Benjamin Walker (2017) in May 2023 in Virginia. They live in Northern Virginia with their cat, Biscuits.

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A lu mn i Eve nt

Photo by: Sam Beetler

In the Spring of 2023, alumni from the Clemson University and College of Charleston joint Historic Preservation graduate program were invited back to the Cigar Factory for a weekend of tours, networking, and reconnecting with old classmates and colleagues.

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Photo by: Sam Beetler

http://www.clemson.edu/caac/academics/architecture/programs/historic-preservation/ Keep up with us throughout the year by following us on Facebook and Instagram!

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION CLEMSON UNIVERSITY 701 EAST BAY STREET, SUITE 202 CHARLESTON, SC 29403