Coastals noncredit courses explore shared history and roots
The Rice Kings, which starts April 6, will delve into the rice plantations and families of Georgetown County 150 years ago. At that time, Georgetown was home to the wealthiest families per capita in the United States due to the vast agricultural undertaking that produced most of the rice grown in the country.
Sue Mushock-Myers will lecture about the men who shaped rice to their own advantage, the incredible wealth it gave them and the lives they lived. Learn about their families, their travels, their political influence and their fabled houses in Charleston. The course, which is $40, meets Wednesdays from April 6 to 27 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Pull of the Past: Celebration of Inquiry Reprise is a single panel session moderated by Lee Brockington with Don Ullmann, Florida Yeldell, Tom Flanagan, Elizabeth Moses and John Eveleigh. The panel on Thursday, April 7 meets from 10 a.m. to noon, and its free.
Several instructors in the noncredit offerings are teaching their own heritage, rather than the subject matter they were trained to teach (e.g., educator of American history and geography teaches her African American history; a West Point trainer of Cold War spies teaches his German history; a microbiologist teaches his Irish history and literature; a marine scientist teaches southern Jewish history). As people age, the value of the past in its collective form as heritage and in its personal form as genealogy and memoirs rises in importance. Come join this lively discussion of the meaning of roots as we mature.
The center is located at 160 Willbrook Blvd. just west of the Hampton Inn on U.S.17 in Litchfield. For more information, call 349-4030.