Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth-Century Tourism

Name/Title

Charming Charleston: Elite Construction of an Idealized History in Twentieth-Century Tourism

Entry/Object ID

2007.002.0114

Description

Abstract: An innocuous tourist pamphlet? The hyperbolic claim of a self-important city? Or the relics of slavery-era paternalism and nostalgia in a twentieth century Southern city dominated by an elite class obsessed with heritage. The associations that leap from this pamphlet, published and widely distributed in the 1930s and 1940s advertising Charleston as a tourist destination for those seeking the aesthetic and historic, raise illuminating questions about the nature of tourism in Charleston. The artist could have chosen anybody to hold the door open to the incoming public, but he chose an elderly black gentleman, grasping the gate with a huge grin on his face, having taken his hat off, and with a slightly bowed posture. Inside the gate, the luscious gardens and blooming azaleas beckon, along with the steeples of the city’s churches in the distance. The image, in short, seems to invite a very specific audience into Charleston. This brochure markets Charleston tourism as packaged for tourists seeking to go back to olden times; they desired to view gardens, historic houses and landmarks, and in essence experience the Charleston of an antebellum planter, complete with a happily subservient and very visible black population. 123 leaves; typescript

Collection

Pamphlets, Guidebooks, Reports, Theses/Dissertations

Acquisition

Accession

2007.002.

Source or Donor

New Library Catalog Records (2007)

Acquisition Method

Found in Collection

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Report

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Administrative Records

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Search Terms

Tourism--South Carolina--Charleston, Culture and tourism--South Carolina--Charleston, Heritage tourism--South Carolina--Charleston, Historic sites--South Carolina--Charleston, Memory--Social aspects--South Carolina--Charleston, Charleston (S.C.)--Cultural policy, Charleston (S.C.)--Intellectual life, Charleston (S.C.)--Race relations

Publication Details

Author

Mossman, Ellen Louise

Publisher

S.n.

Date Published

2007

Call No.

F279 .C447 M67 2007

Notes

Copy No.: 0

Other Names and Numbers

Other Numbers

Number Type

Other Number

Other Number

P134

Location

Location

Shelf

Books-Pamphlets

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

General Notes

Note

Notes: Paging begins at 10. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-123). "Undergraduate Humanities Forum Research Fellows - Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2006-7: Travel."

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

October 31, 2007

Updated By

kemmons

Update Date

July 29, 2021