They call the northeastern slice of South Carolina the Pee Dee, after the great river that traverses it. Its epicenter is Florence, and it’s from here that the riches of African America flows. Art, storytelling, handicrafts – all are wrapped in a single word: heritage.
This salient of South Carolina lies well off the beaten path, divorced body and soul from tourist favorites Charleston and Myrtle Beach. If its’ roots you’re after, and the genuine you treasure, listen up.
Storytelling lives in the Pee Dee. Before Emancipation, slaves were forbidden to learn to read or write. Heritage was passed on orally, from person to person. Hear those tales today at family reunions and community and community get-togethers. Hear them from the lips of people like Chesterfield County’s Lila Hooks (843-537-9083) or Marlboro County’s Evertha Cooper.
Perhaps nowhere in the Pee Dee is the heritage of this land, these people, so powerfully distilled as at the Southern African Heritage Center. Come learn, and marvel.
If museums and storytelling reflect the soul of the people, so too does art. Gina Bowles sees the world in shades of silk, and the folds of folk art. Working in pencil and charcoal, artist Lance Rhodes captures the rhythm of a more urban reality.
The handcraft of the Pee Dee is sometimes peaceful, always passionate. Local quiltwork is extraordinary. LaToya Chanel Thompson (843-325-1196) sees her work in visions, as if from a dream. Then, the cuts and sews. “Rockin’ Chair Man” James Hunter (843-669-7054) crafts rocking chairs full-time these days. So popular is his product.
Pull up one of those chairs, wrap yourself in a quilt and listen to the storyteller weave her spell. The Pee Dee is not a vacation for everyone. But for a few, it borders on perfection.
Story by Jerry Chandler
