Joyner Reading Room dedicated
A “quiet place” in the heart of the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts honors a distinguished member of the Coastal Carolina University faculty. The Charles Joyner Reading Room was dedicated on Thursday, Dec. 1, in Room 202. Located across the hall from the Office of the Dean, the space is designated as a place for students and faculty to read and reflect. A plaque marks the entrance to the room, which displays photographs, posters, cultural programs, news clippings and other memorabilia related to the life and scholarship of "Chaz" Joyner.
Joyner joined the CCU faculty in 1988 as Burroughs Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Southern History and Culture. He holds two earned doctorates, a Ph.D. in history from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. He also pursued postdoctoral studies in comparative slave societies at Harvard University. In 2005, he was elected by his fellow historians to serve as president of the Southern Historical Association, a 5,000-member international organization of scholars. In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of American Historians in recognition of his historical writing.
Joyner’s “Down by the Riverside,” a landmark study of rice plantations along the Waccamaw River, has been cited as “the finest work ever written on American slavery.” Joyner is the author or editor of several other books, including “Shared Traditions: Southern History and Folk Culture” and "Folk Songs of South Carolina."
Robert Sheehan, provost of CCU, was instrumental in the establishment of the reading room. “It’s a tradition in higher education that there are places of reflection. In honoring ‘Chaz’ with this space, we establish a place of memory for him.”
“This is just beyond what anyone would have dreamed of. I’m so thrilled,” Joyner said, crediting his accomplishments to the late Henry Burroughs Sr. and the establishment of Burroughs Distinguished Professor chair. “It was the chair that made this possible.”
