Bass, Poole explore state history in new book

"The Palmetto State: The Making of Modern South Carolina" by Charlestonians Jack Bass and W. Scott Poole reflects Bass' assurance that "We believe telling a good story is telling the whole story."

The authors wanted to move beyond the tendency of many state histories to focus solely on well-known individuals and incidents by introducing some figures of whom many are not aware, not least the role of African-Americans in South Carolina history.

"I think we keep both Jack's priorities to register recent change within the state and to write a short book that newcomers to South Carolina would find useful in understanding their adopted home," says Poole, associate professor of history and the director of the master's program in history at the College of Charleston. "But the rapid pace of change over these last decades made necessary a fairly significant update of Jack's 1972 history, 'Porgy Comes Home.'"

Among the updates is an economic one, moving from the beginnings of the new economy in the post-World War II years and Civil Rights era to developments that followed.

"We address the whole role of BMW, of Michelin Corp., of the State Ports (Authority) in economic development, as well as the role of political leadership and education in furthering the economy," says Bass, director of the Citadel Alumni World War II Oral History Project and professor emeritus of humanities and social sciences at the College of Charleston. "The material pulls it all together and gives the reader some understanding of those aspects plus the role of tourism as a driving economic force in the state."

There is also a principal focus on the dynamics of historical memory, and how the tensions of race, religion and cultural life, as well as economics, often are central to major historical shifts in history.

Read more in Thursday's editions of The Post and Courier and in Sunday's Arts and Travel section.