August 17
1837: Charlotte Forten (Grimke) is born a free Black in Philadelphia. Forten would later become the first Black teacher at the Penn School on St. Helena Island. She would reside at Seaside Plantation and chronicle her time there in a collection of essays, published in 1864 in Atlantic Monthly, entitled Life on the Sea Islands. She became close friends with Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the famous all-Black 54th Massachussetts Regiment during their Sea Islands campaign. Among her writings in 1862, she was also one of the first writers to make reference to “the blues,” already attached to a sad, depressed state, to refer to a style of song or music popular among Blacks, in church and among the slaves.
2019: South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic candidate for President, speaks to supporters in a campaign stop at Whale Branch Middle School.
August 19
2019: S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson speaks to Beaufort Academy students during the school’s annual convocation.
August 20
2021: Whale Branch running back Joseph Hicks scores six touchdowns in a 54-50 season-opening win over Calhoun County.
– Compiled by Mike McCombs
