A Capital Blog

Dorothy and I pose with some of the 1700+ VHS tapes in our collections.

AV records are significant historical resources that complement textual records.

AV records give us (often unpolished) insight into a public official’s thoughts on the big topics of the day like integration, the power of the federal government, war, and whatever else is affecting the lives of the people they represent.

AV records allow us to witness a representative democracy at work, as public figures respond to concerns at town hall meetings and other public venues.

AV records bring us right into heart of the local campaign trail, allowing us to sing along to jaunty jingles and to hear the emotion and passion in candidates’ voices at stump meetings and debates.

A “quad” tape, a video format introduced in the 1950s.

For example, one of our quad tapes helps us to understand Senator Hollings’ motivation for exposing poverty across the state during his well-known “Hunger Tours” of the late 1960s. The quad shown here is over a foot in diameter and is as heavy as a bowling ball.  Despite its size, quad tapes often hold only 30 minutes of footage…or much less!

These blue SoundScriber discs were a dictation format introduced in 1945 (in a variety of colors) and used for two decades.

Despite the wonder of AV records, they come with a set of challenges (and often, the best things in life do, don’t they?).  A majority of our 102 collections include AV records.  In these collections, we have over a dozen audio (including reels, cassettes, wire and Soundscriber recordings) and video (U-matic, VHS, betas, quads) formats.

Audio reels from the 1950s and 1960s and a reel player. We are lucky to have playback equipment that is compatible for a majority (though not all) of our reels.

One huge challenge is that access to most formats is limited or non-existent due to deterioration of media (even VHS!) and outdated playback equipment.  Of course, the wide variety of formats means they deteriorate in different ways and play on different equipment.  To address these challenges, we plan to reformat and digitize as many of our old AV items as possible.  If you’d like to help us in our quest to increase access to our AV records, please let us know!

Rita Louise Liddy “Peatsy” Hollings passed away on Sunday, October 14, 2012.  She had suffered  for years from the progressive effects of Alzheimers.  Peatsy was a remarkable woman in many ways and I got to know her well through my association with her husband, Senator “Fritz” Hollings.

Peatsy was a school teacher when they met during his 1966 campaign for the U.S. Senate, and he frequently tells people that he became her perpetual student during the course of their 41 year marriage.   They were inseparable and she acted as an advisor and confidant.

A favorite photo showing Sen. and Mrs. Hollings waving to President and Mrs. Clinton in their limousine en route to the Inaugural Parade.

She had great people skills.  My favorite memory of Peatsy is from a rally in the early 1990s on the USC campus.  The Senator was addressing a crowd on the Russell House patio and a heckler was shouting at him about Hollings’ involvement with the Parents’ Music Resource Center, an organization concerned with violence and obscenity in popular music.   The heckler was loud and it was difficult for the Senator to continue.  Peatsy walked over immediately, took the heckler by the arm, and began to speak to him and draw him towards the edge of the crowd, explaining that she and Tipper Gore were behind the movement and that his argument was with her, not with her husband.  The Senator resumed his talk to the crowd and throughout the rest of the address, the heckler remained silent, while Peatsy continued to speak with him.  Rather than further disrupting the rally, the heckler ended up totally under the spell of the eloquent and elegant Peatsy Hollings.

Another favorite photo showing Sen. and Mrs. Hollings touring an exhibit on presidential politics at McKissick Museum. Also in the picture, from left, are Bud Ferillo, Lynn Robertson, and myself.

The Senator has been inspirational in his devotion to Peatsy throughout her decline over the course of the last eight or so years.  I want to say that we will miss her, but in truth, Alzheimers took her from us some time ago.  Peatsy Hollings is dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

Please stop by the Hollings Library to see an exhibit mounted in her honor.

-Contributed by Herb Hartsook

South Carolina has lost a remarkable treasure with the passing of “Nick” Zeigler yesterday.  The Florence native personified the concept of the Renaissance man.  He melded careers and interests as an attorney, public servant, naval officer, educator, playwright, gardener, scholar, spouse, and parent, and achieved recognition and success in each area.

Zeigler had a distinguished legal career. During the sixties and seventies, his name was frequently mentioned when vacancies arose in South Carolina’s federal judiciary.  During the seventies, Zeigler was counsel for the plaintiffs in a tobacco anti-trust case, Windham v. American Brands. He was also involved in Eslinger v. Thomas, et al., a sex-discrimination case concerning female pages in the South Carolina Senate.

His public service began with his election to the South Carolina House in 1960.  In 1966, Zeigler was elected to the South Carolina Senate, where he served until November of 1972.

His collection consists of over thirty feet of papers dating back to 1921 and relating to all aspects of his life and is particularly valuable in providing insight into the development of Florence’s cultural institutions.  His last book, In Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes, was published just last month and contains profiles of forty-seven unpopular, misunderstood, and otherwise neglected South Carolinians.  We will miss this great gentleman.

Read his obituary here or learn more about his 2008 memoir here.

We will shortly be mounting a memorial exhibit in the Brittain Gallery of the Hollings Library.

–Contributed by Herb Hartsook