The opening and closing wraparounds take place by an old abandoned tenant farm house in Pickens County near Clemson University. Here the host establishes the location and story line.
The Reenactment: The year is 1943. Ben Robertson, a noted journalist and native South Carolinian from the "red hills and cotton" area around Clemson, is in a military airport near New York awaiting boarding the "Yankee Clipper" to take him to London where he had been assigned as a correspondent for the New York Herald-Tribune. While waiting, he has a conversation with Bill Winchester (a fictional character). In this conversation Ben tells of his boyhood days growing up in South Carolina near Clemson. This conversation includes a series of flashbacks.
In these flashbacks, Ben and his two boyhood friends, Harve and Popcorn, discuss their plans for the future; Ben's father, a landowner, talks with one of his tenants; Ben, Harve and Popcorn meet at the train station as Harve and Popcorn prepare to go north for what they hope will be a better future. Also at the station is Winnie Mae, another friend headed north.
Standards
- 3-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of life in the antebellum period, the causes and effects of the Civil War, and the impact of Reconstruction in South Carolina.
- 3-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century.
- South Carolina experienced major economic, political, and social changes during the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. To understand the effects of these changes, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following ind...
- 3-5.1 Summarize the social and economic impact of developments in agriculture, industry and technology, including the creation of Jim Crow laws, the rise and fall of textile markets, and the expansion of the railroad.
- 3-5.2 Explain the causes and impact of emigration from South Carolina and internal migration from rural areas to the cities, including discrimination and unemployment; poor sanitation and transportation services; and the lack of electricity and other m...
- South Carolina experienced major economic, political, and social changes during the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. To understand the effects of these changes, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following ind...
- 8-5 The student will understand the impact of Reconstruction, industrialization, and Progressivism on society and politics in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To understand South Carolina’s experience as represen...
- 8-5.6 Compare the plight of farmers in South Carolina with that of farmers throughout the United States, including the problems of overproduction, natural disasters, and sharecropping and encompassing the roles of Ben Tillman, the Populists, and land-g...
- 8-5.7 Compare migration patterns of South Carolinians to such patterns throughout the United States, including the movement from rural to urban areas and the migration of African Americans from the South to the North, Midwest, and West.
- During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To understand South Carolina’s experience as represen...
- 8-6 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the role of South Carolina in the nation in the early twentieth century.
- South Carolina’s response to national crises during the first half of the twentieth century brought it back into full participation in the national experience. To understand the state’s changed status, the student will utilize the knowledg...
- 8-6.2 Explain the causes and effects of changes in South Carolina and the nation as a whole in the 1920s, including Prohibition, the destruction caused by the boll weevil, the rise of mass media, improvements in daily life, increases in tourism and rec...
- 8-6.3 Explain the reasons for depressed conditions in the textile mills and on farms in South Carolina and other regions of the United States in the 1920s and the impact of these conditions on the coming of the Great Depression.
- South Carolina’s response to national crises during the first half of the twentieth century brought it back into full participation in the national experience. To understand the state’s changed status, the student will utilize the knowledg...
- This indicator was designed to promote inquiry into the devastation of the Great Depression and the impact of the New Deal on a largely agricultural South Carolina. This indicator was also designed to foster inquiry into the economic diversification between World War II and the present, to include tourism, global trade and industry, and the maintenance of military bases.
- P Periodization-Organize a historical narrative into time periods using units of time (e.g., decades, half-centuries, centuries) and significant turning points.
