Tom Dent interviews Stephen Hoffious of the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston, South Carolina. He is editor of the South Carolina Historical Magazine and does public relations for the organization. He talks about Charleston's lack of "major, dramatic events" in the Civil Rights movement. They discuss the Orangeburg Massacre. Hoffious has been in Charleston since 1976. He interviewed people and wrote an article about the Hospital Workers' Strike and labor issues. He mentions some books and articles to read about the strike and Local 1199. Dent asks Hoffious whether "race relations" have improved in the region. Hoffious is originally from Michigan and attended Duke. He talks about the mixed feelings "everyone" has about Charleston. He characterizes the city as racist and says that there is a traditional society there of which he could never be part. There is a divide between the old families of Charleston and the newcomers. The issue is separate from money, and these families are mostly white. Dent compares the division within the black community of Charleston to that of New Orleans. They discuss the Avery Research Center, now directed by Myrtle Glascoe. She comes from outside Charleston and is trying to widen the constituency of the center, but is running into difficulty. There is movement away from Charleston now. People like Harvey Gantt understood there was no future for them, though that has changed. Hoffious says the white population is embarrassed by the Hospital Workers' Strike, but generally people do not talk about the event. He runs articles about racism and labor and has received complaints. The Society for the Preservation of Spirituals is all white. It was founded in the 1930s and is now operated by the children and grandchildren of the founders. Hoffious comments on the irony of the College of Charleston playing host to the Avery Research Center. Dent talks about attending a Colin Turnbull talk on campus with a mostly white audience, and the following reception. There is a low black population at the college and at The Citadel. There is a lack of a black political community. They talk about the black legislators who were recently arrested as part of a sting. Dent tells Hoffious about his conversation on the subject with Rickey Hill in a previous interview. A black political force was being developed out of Sea Island Comprehensive Healthcare Corporation, instigated by Esau Jenkins, but this movement has gone by the wayside, choked by bureaucracy. Bill Saunders put together an organization called COBRA (Community of Better Racial Assurance), which he put together before the Hospital Workers' Strike.
