While we were celebrating Carolina Day …
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
As readers know, the Lowcountry did an incredible job of coming together to celebrate Carolina Day last weekend. The church service at St. Michael’s was packed; the sidewalks along Meeting Street were full of thousands of citizens waving flags; more than 1,000 attendees were at White Point Garden; tens of thousands of citizens watched the SC250’s patriotic drone show Saturday night over Charleston Harbor, and we are just getting started.
Bill Marshall, architect, and Rawlins Lowndes of Truluck Marine Construction put their heads together to finish a replica of the palmetto fort on Sullivan’s Island and met the highly challenging deadline of the equally impressive SC250 group that provided the funding. Many reenactors fired guns at Fort Moultrie, and hundreds of citizens held cocktail parties, supper parties and galas to celebrate in traditional form. Some even followed Napa Dave’s counsel and toasted with Madeira. All reports to us were positive; interactions on the street with visitors were warm and hospitable; and smiles were broad no matter where you looked.
It was not the same in Washington, D.C. where delegates at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s 135th Continental Congress voted against a resolution to limit members to those “born female.” Now, anyone who claims to be female may apply for membership. The vote was 1,481 to 944.
Meanwhile, the DAR ladies we know held a lovely reception at the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon on June 27 and a good time was had by all. Southern hospitality is a point of palmetto pride as much as South Carolina’s essential role in winning the American Revolution; elegance in manners and integrity in history are part of our collective DNA, and it is too bad that such wisdom has not crossed as many state lines as we would have wished.
After all, Rebecca Motte — for whom the DAR chapter owning the Old Exchange is named — was a heroine of the American Revolution; her bravery and self-sacrifice need to be remembered for their proper place in our long and bloody War of Independence. We salute the patriotic ladies who honor all of our heroes of the Revolution and make us a better nation in the process; bitter political spats — especially those that make a farce of womanhood — need not creep into places where they are unwelcome — it is bad manners.
