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Quillian Lanier Meaders (d. 1998), Cleveland, White County. Interview recorded June 1981. The Meaders tradition began in 1893 with John Milton Meaders in the small White County town of Cleveland...Pottery
South Carolina, with its rich clay deposits, is the home to two different, but very important ceramic traditions - Catawba earthenware and alkaline-glazed stoneware. Before European contact in the 16th century, the Catawba Nation controlled much of what is now South Carolina and most of the North Carolina Piedmont. This tradition has continued through elder potters sharing their knowledge and skills with younger generations. While their techniques remain ancient, they have adapted their forms to changing markets. Kinship and community were also important in the development and diffusion of the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition during the nineteenth century. Using European and African forms and labor the Edgefield, South Carolina, potteries produced containers used primarily for food preservation and preparation. As some potters migrated west and to other areas in the southeast, they spread the alkaline-glazed tradition into Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.
Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.
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Within this Series
Audio
Arie Waldrop Meaders (d. 1989), Cleveland, White County. Interview recorded June 1981. The Meaders tradition began in 1893 with John Milton Meaders in the small White County town of Cleveland. Several...Audio
Quillian Lanier Meaders (d. 1998), Cleveland, White County. Interview recorded June 1981. The Meaders tradition began in 1893 with John Milton Meaders in the small White County town of Cleveland...Photo
Arie Waldrop Meaders (d. 1989), Cleveland, White County. Interview recorded June 1981. Cleater James Meaders (d. 2003), Byron, Houston County. Interview recorded June 1981. Edwin Truitt Meaders...Photo
John V. Craven opened the original Craven Pottery in White County, Georgia in 1850. Several generations later, Billy Joe Craven (b. 1947) returned to the family tradition and established the current...Audio
Billy Joe Craven describes the birth of an enterprise. Billy Joe Craven, Craven Pottery, Gillsville, Hall County. Interview recorded June 1981. John V. Craven opened the original Craven Pottery in...Photo
By the age of 15, Nola Harris Campbell was well on her way to becoming a master potter. She learned how to make coil-formed pottery from another master potter, her sister-in-law Georgia Harris. Over...Audio
Dr. Charles Zug describes the chaos that occurs when Burlon Craig sells his pottery. Burlon Craig (1914-2002), Craig Pottery, Vale, Lincoln County, North Carolina. Craig is an example of the migration...Photo
Burlon Craig (1914-2002), Craig Pottery, Vale, Lincoln County, North Carolina. Craig is an example of the migration of the alkaline-glaze tradition that originated in the Edgefield District of South...Photo
Walter Lee Cornelison is a fifth-generation potter, turning wares in Bybee Pottery - Kentucky’s sole surviving traditional pottery. Cornelison turns on a wheel set up inside the old log pot shop while...