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Digital Traditions

Home to a wealth of folk traditions, South Carolina is culturally and geographically diverse. 

General - Traditional Arts

Home to a wealth of folk traditions, South Carolina is culturally and geographically diverse.  From the Appalachian Mountains to the Sea Islands and from rural crossroads to urban centers, the state boasts rich sources of traditional culture and folklore. Rooted in family and community activities, folklife involves expressive forms of many kinds that are communicated verbally and by observation or imitation.  Folk artists can learn through apprenticeships, but most often are taught informally by family members or close friends. This sharing of information can occur in many different group settings - familial, occupational, religious, social, and educational. Folklife is dynamic by nature, a part of a community's history that continues to develop every day, with every generation.  

Digital Traditions was developed to provide access to the Folklife Resource Center (FRC) at McKissick Museum.  For thirty years, deeply rooted traditions like quilting, pottery, basketry, communal foodways, and folk music have been documented through audio, video, and photography. For further information about any of the artists featured on Digital Traditions, send your questions and comments to hallagan@mailbox.sc.edu.

Resource Type
Jane Wineglass Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

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Jane Wineglass Photos | Digital Traditions
A McClellanville, SC (Charleston County) resident, Ms. Wineglass has long been known for her folk medicine remedies, as well as the ability to interpret dreams. Interview conducted by Gail Matthews.
Will Moreau Goins Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Will Moreau Goins Photos | Digital Traditions
Dr. Will Goins dedicated his life to preserving Native American music traditions, beadwork, and storytelling. His artistic inclinations were passed down by family members, matriarchs, and those who...
Veronica Gerald | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Veronica Gerald | Digital Traditions
Veronica Gerald’s familiarity with the South Carolina Gullah culture extends well beyond her professional career of researching and teaching about this unique community. One could say she has spent...
Stan Woodward Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Stan Woodward Photos | Digital Traditions
R. Stanley “Stan” Woodward has two passions – documentary film making and the folk cultures he captures with his camera. For more than 40 years, Woodward has advocated for the traditional arts and...
Donald Roper Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Donald Roper Photos | Digital Traditions
An ambassador for the textile industry in and around Piedmont, Donald Roper was also the area historian. A self-described “linthead” for his upbringing on Cotton Mill Hill, Roper spoke fondly of his...
Ted Brackett Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Ted Brackett Photos | Digital Traditions
Ted Brackett was from Inman, South Carolina. His father, a farmer by trade, played an old time claw hammer banjo and Ted’s uncle played the fiddle. Growing up in a musical family, he soon showed...
T.C. Foster Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
T.C. Foster Photos | Digital Traditions
T.C. Foster learned the ways of the fiddle at a very young age, often listening to his father play on the front porch for hours at a time. Sneaking around with his father’s fiddle at first, by the age...
Billy Hammond Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Billy Hammond Photos | Digital Traditions
Grover "Billy" Hammond, a native of Clarks Hill in McCormick County, exemplified the important craft of split-oak basketmaking in South Carolina. The thin strips – or splits – that can be riven from...
Roger Bellow Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Roger Bellow Photos | Digital Traditions
Roger Bellow is a scholar, teacher and award-winning performer who has been a lifelong proponent of early country music traditions. He first learned about country music in Uptown, an area of Chicago...
Nick Hallman Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Nick Hallman Photos | Digital Traditions
A multi-instrumentalist from the Piedmont, Nick Hallman is a life-long devotee of old-time country music indigenous to the South Carolina. As founding member of the Nickpickers, Hallman assembled one...
Loyd & Steve McGaha Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Loyd & Steve McGaha Photos | Digital Traditions
Loyd “Slick” McGaha epitomized the essence of a traditional performer and nicely encapsulated the traditions of South Carolina as well. Slick learned to play “bones,” a traditional rhythmic technique...
J.C. Owens Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
J.C. Owens Photos | Digital Traditions
Master fiddler J.C. Owens learned from the best musicians in the South Carolina Upstate, his brother, Lonnie Owens, and the legendary Pink Cassels. Owens is a master of various fiddling styles native...
Harold Vernon Riddle Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Harold Vernon Riddle Photos | Digital Traditions
Harold Vernon Riddle played the fiddle for well over fifty years. He was first exposed to the rural folk music of upstate South Carolina in the mill village of Glendale where he was born. He heard...
Gene Wyatt Photos | Digital Traditions

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Grades

  • Higher Education
Gene Wyatt Photos | Digital Traditions
Born and raised in a mill village in Converse, South Carolina, Gene Wyatt, or “Colonel Gene” as he was known on the music scene, first picked up the guitar when he was 10. From a musical family, Wyatt...