Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Markers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Charleston commission approves Frederick Deming School marker text with minor edits
Summary
The Charleston Historic Marker Commission approved draft text for a Frederick Deming Industrial School historic marker submitted by the Preservation Society of Charleston, adopting minor punctuation and date edits and noting remaining wording questions about annexation and formatting.
The Charleston Historic Marker Commission voted unanimously to approve draft text for a historic marker recognizing the Frederick Deming Industrial School, a site tied to Maryville community history, the commission heard at its meeting.
The draft text was submitted by the Preservation Society of Charleston and prepared in consultation with Diane Hamilton of the Maryville community and with a draft marker text prepared by Dr. Edwin Breeden of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. "Historic markers are a great way for communities to be able to tell their stories," said Anna Catherine Alexander, who presented the submission for the Preservation Society of Charleston.
Commission members said the draft fills a long-standing gap in interpretive material for Maryville. During discussion they raised editorial and factual clarifications the commission wanted reflected on the plaque: how to present the community's annexation into the City of Charleston, spacing and character limits that affect whether numerals or spelled-out numbers are used, and whether to retain the word "wood" where space is tight. Preservation Society representatives said Diane Hamilton's research indicates annexation occurred in the 1990s (Hamilton's book notes official annexation activity in 1993 and 1994) and offered to consult Dr. Breeden if the commission preferred a specific year rather than the broader phrasing.
The commission first approved "Side 1" of the draft as submitted. The commission then approved "Side 2" with two specific edits: add a comma on line 4 and change the year printed on both sides from "2024" to "2025." The motion to accept Side 1 and the subsequent motion to accept Side 2 as edited were carried by voice vote; the chair recorded all present as voting "aye" and said there were no nays or abstentions.
Commission members and Preservation Society staff discussed minor style questions (capitalization of the word "City" when used alone, and whether to spell out numbers below 10) and the practical constraint that replacing numerals with spelled-out words can affect available characters and force removal of other descriptive words (for example, whether to retain the word "wood"). The Preservation Society said it can work with Dr. Breeden and Maryville researchers to refine phrasing if the commission prefers more specific annexation dating.
As housekeeping, the Preservation Society said a separate submission for a Burns/Burnes Downs marker is in progress; the presenter named Donna Jacobs as a local contact and said work is ongoing with Dr. Breeden. The commission said it expects to meet again on March 5 if a quorum is available.
The approvals are procedural — acceptance of the draft marker text and minor formatting edits — and do not themselves obligate funding or installation steps, which the Preservation Society will coordinate with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and local officials.
