USCAMAGAZINE

Going the Extra Mile

– page 23

Fellowship of the Pacers

– page 14

Making a Movie, Making Memories – page 4

2010

A Surreal Honor– page 40

4 USCA Magazine 2010

Edgewood:

5

Making

by Deidre Martin

Renowned Aikenite Eulalie Salley once said:

Stage of Southern History

a Movie, Making Memories

“Don’t you know, the things of this earth are just loaned to us for a little while…”

6 USCA Magazine 2010

Over the past two years, I have had the incredible experience of working on a

project that is hard to describe in words alone. It’s a project centered on a special house and its people … a house that history has “loaned” to the University of South Carolina Aiken for safekeeping … a house with a story to tell.

The project is “Edgewood: Stage of Southern History,” a docudrama of the more than 180 years of history that have occurred in the Pickens-Salley House. The house was originally known as Edgewood, and over the years it has served as the stage for many important periods in Southern history. Originally built in 1829 in Edgefield, South Carolina for secessionist governor Francis W. Pickens, the house was home to two remarkable women, Lucy Holcombe Pickens and Eulalie Chafee Salley.

Lucy was known as the “Queen of the Confederacy” and was the only woman to be featured on Confederate currency. Eulalie was one of South Carolina’s earliest

business women and was also a leader in the women’s suffrage movement. The docudrama tells the stories of the many people who lived, worked and visited the house in its 180 years of existence including stories of: the Antebellum era, the Pickens visit to Czarist Russia, the War Between the States, the Suffrage movement, the Winter Colony settlement in Aiken, the Civil Rights Era, and the impact of the Savannah River Site on Aiken.

Moved twice in its many years and now in its third location as the

oldest building on the USC Aiken campus, the Pickens-Salley House gives our modern campus a special tie to the history of our area. I’ve said often throughout this project that it is almost as the house

compels people to “love” it and want to care for it. It’s difficult to think of any other reason that the house still stands today after sitting in disrepair in Edgefield for many years and surviving the two moves.

The idea for the project had its inception more than eight years ago. Inspired by what I had learned about the house and its history, I sought the USC Aiken administration’s support to begin an annual symposium during Women’s History Month to remember the two remarkable women who lived in the house.

The Pickens-Salley Symposium on Southern Women began in 2003 and each year featured Southern women and their impact on history. At the conclusion of the 2008 symposium, Dr. Maggi

Edgewood production team (from left to right): Chris Saxon Koelker, Maggi Morehouse, Barbara Morgan, Deidre Martin, and Judith Goodwin

7

Edgewood

Morehouse and I put our heads together and decided we needed to tell the stories of the house. Dr. Morehouse said, “Let’s make a movie about it.” I said, “We don’t know anything about making movies.” And she said, “Well, why should that stop us,” and the docudrama project was underway.

Without a doubt, the women of the house were the center of the story from the very beginning. As we began planning, it also became clear that a team of women was coming together to make the project a reality. I became the Executive Producer. Dr. Morehouse was our Assistant Director and Historical Consultant. Chris Koelker was our Director. Judith Goodwin was the “voice” of Edgewood. Barbara Morgan was our historical stylist. What our official titles don’t reveal is the personal responsibility each of us took and the many roles we eagerly embraced – from casting to costumes to props to serving as extras. There was nothing this group of women wouldn’t do to make Edgewood a success.

Equally important was the opportunity to involve our students in the process. Many students were involved in the filming, acting and research for the project. We even put one of the most important aspects of the project – the soundtrack – into the hands of a student. JR. Hall ‘09 is the USC Aiken graduate and current graduate student at USC Columbia who wrote the original music and supervised its recording for the project.

Another special aspect of the project is that we received so much support from so many people and organizations. Our

Reflections on

Chris Saxon Koelker, Director

“Never, in my more than two decades in media production, have I had a more rewarding, collaborative experience than in the creation of Edgewood. From conception to completion--events, people and circumstances were almost eerily perfect. The right cast members showed up with impeccable timing. The facts that held the narration together showed themselves when I wasn’t quite sure where the story might lead next. And as incredible as it seems, the house became more and more of a real, living character to all of the people involved in the production of the movie. By the time we had wrapped, we all hated to leave her because she had become so precious to each one of us.”

Maggi Morehouse, Assistant Director/Historical Consultant and Associate Professor of History at USC Aiken

“For me, there were many brilliant moments in the filming and production of Edgewood: Stage of Southern History. Especially significant for me, were the times that students reenacted African American life associated with the Pickens-Salley House. I have used documentaries in the classroom when I am teaching African American history, and I know the impact film can have on student learning. When my students took their knowledge of slavery and brought that to life as we filmed the story of a young enslaved child dying, I was brought to tears by the sensitive portrayals these students brought to this difficult scene. And we had to shoot and reshoot from different angles, on a 100-degree day inside a dark “slave cabin.” Each time I witnessed this reenactment I was emotionally affected. When we watched the “dailies” on the monitor and witnessed how the medium of film conveyed this aspect of African American life during slavery, all of us—teachers, students, filmmakers—were able to feel and experience in some small way what it must have been like for the enslaved men and women who lived on the Edgewood plantation. To be part of this visual illustration, as difficult as the topic is to discuss and teach, was the most meaningful aspect of my involvement with this film. And now I know the story will continue on for future students and educators to experience.”

8 USCA Magazine 2010

primary sponsors were The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area, The Humanities Council of South Carolina, the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, the Porter Fleming Foundation, the SC League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women-Aiken Branch, and the Julian B. Salley, Jr. Pickens-Salley House Endowment at the University of South Carolina Aiken. As one can tell from viewing the credits for the docudrama, there were hundreds of other individuals and organizations who stepped forward to make this project a reality. This was indeed one of the most affirming experiences for all of us associated with the project.

On March 29 and 30, we showed the docudrama to an enthusiastic audience and the response has been amazing. One of my goals has always been to make history come alive for people who might otherwise find it irrelevant or boring. To that end, our next step is to take Edgewood on the road to audiences outside of Aiken and to take it into South Carolina middle schools. To this end, USC Aiken education major Lauren Stephens, has written a curriculum that will accompany the film allowing it to be part of the learning process when South Carolina history is taught in the eighth grade in Aiken and across the state.

Eulalie was right. We only have the things of this earth for a little while. This project has taught me to savor the special moments and to find ways to share those special moments with those who walk behind me.

Barbara Morgan, Historical Stylist

“I came to be a part of Edgewood after the project was well underway. Chris recruited me shortly before the actual filming was to begin. She assured me that a long career as a prosecuting trial attorney was the perfect background for helping prop a film. It wasn’t long before I realized how right she was. A film is shaped by props in the same way a trial is shaped by evidence. Planning and preparation are the necessities because unpredictability is the reality of both endeavors. What matters in a trial is what is presented to the jury and what matters in a movie is what is captured by the camera. The pace for the prop crew is ever-changing—in one day we could do a picnic, a wedding and even a funeral or two! The most amazing part for me was seeing how history being remade could have such a powerful affect on all those involved. The scene in the slave cabin … the young man being “led” with a rope around his waist …I could go on and on about so many scenes and incredible things that happened, but in the end it all comes down to the amazing people involved in this project. They knew there was a story which needed to be told and the shared love and desire to see that it was done. Simply amazing.”

Judith Goodwin, The Voice of Edgewood and Major Gifts Officer at USC Aiken

“How fortunate I was to be asked to be the narrator for this exquisite work of art. I feel a special kinship with the team of women I worked with and with the women who lived in this house. Being the “voice of the house” solidifies this feeling of being one of the Edgewood women. When this project began, I had no idea of the measure of quality that would result. I think it is best described by the selection written by our student soundtrack composer, JR. Hall, entitled, “Struck by Beauty.” Several times I have been overcome with the beauty of the project. The first was when I heard JR.’s music that he had composed for the film. It was right after we had completed our first weekend of filming and I had seen the Pickens characters come to life. The music completely fit and I knew we had something very special on our hands. As the project progressed, I saw everything just fall into place in the most perfect way. It was a dream of a lifetime fulfilled to be involved in the making of this film.”

Deidre Martin, Executive Producer and Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at USC Aiken

“One of the best moments for me in the making of Edgewood was the story of Lucy Dugas Tillman, granddaughter of Lucy and Francis Pickens. Her story in the early 1900s had a tremendous impact on the women’s suffrage movement when her husband took their children and deeded them to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman. Lucy Tillman fought for years in the court system to regain custody of her children at great personal and financial cost. The case was the big news of the day and even appeared in the New York Times in 1910. Really special to me was that we filmed the courtroom scene of the trial in the Edgefield County Courthouse almost 100 years to the day that it actually occurred. It was a very moving experience for me as a woman. It was also one of the pivotal moments in Eulalie Salley’s life and fired her passion as a suffragette. Talk about reliving history!”

9

“Edgewood: Stage of Southern History”

Docudrama of the more than 180 years of history that have occurred in the Pickens-Salley House

DVDs, CDs, and posters of the movie available by calling 803.641.3630 or visiting www.edgewoodfilm.com

The house was originally known as Edgewood

and over the years it has served as the stage for many important periods in Southern history.

Originally built in 1829 in Edgefield, South Carolina for secessionist governor Francis W.

Pickens, the house was home to two remarkable women, Lucy Holcombe Pickens and Eulalie

Chafee Salley.

Morgan Stanley Smith BarneyJob no: 6214 Size: 3.5x4.75 Description: Marvin, May 14, 10

CS 802

©2010 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

Proud Supporter.

We are pleased to support USCA

Because serving the community is an important part of putting wealth to work.

Chip Marvin Certified Financial Planner™

Branch Manager

200 The Alley Aiken, SC 29801 (803) 642-7048 www.fa.smithbarney.com/chip_marvin charles.marvin@mssb.com

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P.The Firm of Choice in the Southeast.

Augusta, GA 706-724-3557

Thomson, GA 706-595-6150

Aiken, SC803-648-2692

The depth of talent and resources of a national firm with the responsiveness

and service of a local firm.

www.cbh.com