I Discover the Keowee Courier

I Discover the Keowee Courier

Library of Congress Digital Collection of Newspapers

I’m researching the historical background of my novel. Thus, I needed to get a sense of daily life in Upcountry South Carolina in the early 1900’s. I figured the best ways to do that was to find the archives of a local newspaper in the area. Then, I’d read as many issues as I could. I really hit a bonanza when I found the Library of Congress resource Chronicling America. It’s where historic, digitized newspapers are available and free.  http://bit.ly/2uZ6BkA

The Keowee Courier–1849-present

When I filtered the data base by South Carolina and 1907, I discovered the Keowee Courier. It’s one of South Carolina’s longest running newspapers. The paper began publication in 1849 and has continued to the present day. It closed briefly from 1862-1865, on account of the war.

The Keowee Courier was the perfect find because the readership would have been drawn from Oconee and Pickens Counties. That’s the general location of my fictional town of Calhoun. It could very well have been a newspaper to which the Barton’s, the family with whom Hattie Robinson boarded, subscribed.

I became immersed in reading weekly issues of the Courier from January 1906, and continued through December of 1909. It felt like a time machine had transported me back to an earlier time and a simpler day.

Castoria Promotes Digestion and Cheerfulness

Did you know that Tutts Liver Pills will ensure a well-conducted Liver? That Castoria promotes digestion and cheerfulness, and cures diarrhea, constipation, convulsions, and worms? And, that Wine of Cardui goes to the womanly organs and cures all womanly diseases?

Oh, and if you happen to suffer from catarrh, whatever that is, a bottle of Hall’s is guaranteed to cure it, or you can apply to the FJ Cheney Company in Toledo, Ohio, for a one hundred dollar refund.

The articles and editorials were clothed in the journalistic style and language of the day. But surprisingly, their content was often as contemporary as last night’s news.

People Always Looking for Somewhere to Lay Blame

This was especially true whenever issues of politics or public education were addressed. It may be a case of history repeating itself, but I suspect it has more to do with the fact that some things about human nature never change.

People are always looking for something to complain about and for somewhere to lay blame. Complaints that the schools are failing and the federal government is squandering the public’s money were expressed in the media as loudly in 1907 as they are today.

The dialogue in my novel, where the characters comment on the condition of the schools and on political issues of the day, is drawn almost exclusively from the content of the editorials and articles that I read in the Keowee Courier.

In the next few blogs, I’ll share some snippets that helped me understand both the uniqueness and the universal nature of the historical setting of Hattie’s Place.   

For more on this topic, see A Woman in a Man’s World and The Trouble with the Schools.

1 Comment
  • Janette
    Posted on 09 April 2015 Reply

    Hi my name is Janette and I just wanted to drop you a quick note here instead of calling you. I came to your I Discover the Keowee Courier page and noticed you could have a lot more visitors. I have found that the key to running a popular website is making sure the visitors you are getting are interested in your subject matter. There is a company that you can get targeted traffic from and they let you try the service for free for 7 days. I managed to get over 300 targeted visitors to day to my website. Check it out here: http://ci8.de/2NaB

Post A Comment