Society Snippets: The State Fair and the SCDAR

The State Fair is well under way in Columbia with beautiful weather for people to take in the rides, shows, exhibits, and all the foods that can be fried imaginable.  Did you know that the State Fair and the SCDAR have a connection?  After our state society was formed, state conferences needed to be held but when and where?   The answer was when the most people would be in one place at the same time, and that was the time of the State Fair.

The State Fair was generally held the second week in November because the fair needed to be held well after the crops were harvested and off to the market.  This demonstrates just how important the fair was to the agricultural community.  During the early years of the fair and the SCDAR, the State Fair was the major social and business activity of the year.  Not only did the fair have exhibits, competitions, and educational activities for the farm family, it also featured industrial exhibits.  These exhibits featured the latest in farm mechanical equipment as well as the newest industrial products. Since many of the state's residents would be traveling to the State Fair anyway, it made perfect sense to hold state meetings during this time.   In 1897, there are at least 10 groups that held their state meetings during the fair.  These meetings were listed as part of the State Fair's activities.  However, the SCDAR state conference was often referred to as the one of the "principal events of the week."

The State 1897 November 10 - SCDAR is listed to meet at 4:00 - first page of article

If you are a Clemson or South Carolina football fan, then you have heard of "Big Thursday."  That was the day the Carolina/Clemson football game was played beginning in 1896 until 1959.  Once again, you can see how important the State Fair was to the activities of the state of South Carolina as the game was part of state fair week except for a few years in the early 1900s.  In 1960, the format of every other year each team hosting the other on their own campus began.

It is also interesting to note that from 1870 until 1917, the State Ball was the social event of the year in South Carolina.  The ball was held at the State House in the hall of the House of Representatives for many of those years.  By the late 1890s, it was also a debutante ball.  The State went to great lengths to describe the grandeur of the affair even describing the dresses worn by all of the ladies in the issue the day after the ball.

The State 1897 November 12 - a description of the state ball - first page of the article

If you have attended the State Fair, then you know that the State Fair Grounds are now at the Rosewood site.  What you may not know is that from the 1870s until 1914, most of the fair took place on Main Street.  The midway and rides were on Main Street and activities stretched from Elmwood Street to Gervais Street.  Some of the activities were along the side streets as well.  Main Street was decorated with bunting and lanterns on every corner as well as many of the buildings.  In 1904, the fair began moving its activities to the Rosewood site.  Today, it is totally housed at that location.

a drawing of the State Fair from 1872

As I stated earlier, many groups held their meetings during fair week.  SCDAR was no exception.  Malvina Waring, first Regent of the Columbia Chapter and second elected State Regent, graciously opened her home to the daughters of the state to hold the state conferences.  Her home was on Laurel Street close to the activities of the fair.  Early in the existence of the SCDAR, our state conferences were always held in November with state elections occurring at that time.   Based on the available information at NSDAR, it seems that the state regents also changed at the time of the state elections which is different than is done today.

The State November 8

The state meetings were usually held in Columbia at the Waring home on Wednesday of fair week until the election of Sara Aldrich Richardson in November 1900.  As the number of members was growing, the need to meet in a larger location in Columbia was necessary.  In 1901, the state conference was held at the YMCA.  In 1902, the state conference was held in the Senate Chamber of the State House.  In 1903, the state conference was held in the Council Chamber of City Hall.  Beginning in 1904, the state conferences were held in cities where chapters were located and were willing to serve as the hostess chapter for the conference.  The Cowpens and Kate Barry Chapters jointly hosted the first state conference outside of Columbia in the city of Spartanburg that year.  The Nathaneal Greene chapter served as the hostess in Greenville for the 1905 state conference, and Kings Mountain Chapter served as the hostess chapter in York for the 1906 state conference.

The SCDAR has come a long way since its beginnings.  We have gone from being able to meet in the home of Malvina Waring with a tea served at the conclusion of the meeting to needing a hotel with conference and banquet facilities to hold our state conference.    I hope that our celebration of our 125th anniversary during our state conference in March 2018 will be our biggest ever!

A thank you goes to the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina for providing valuable information to share with you concerning the history of the State Fair as well as the picture of the 1872 view of The State Fair.