Introducing the Chandler-Peterkin Room
Thanks to our generous supporters, FOWL was able to honor a local family by naming one of the Waccamaw Library meeting rooms the Chandler-Peterkin Room. The Chandlers and the Peterkins have contributed greatly to the cultural, literary, civil rights, and environmental heritage of the Waccamaw Neck for generations. The families' literary legacy began with Julia Peterkin, who won the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel for her groundbreaking work, Scarlet Sister Mary. Julia's daughter-in-law, Genevieve "Sister" Chandler Peterkin, authored a number of books including Heaven is a Beautiful Place, a memoir of growing up at Wachesaw Plantation with her siblings, June, Tommy, Joe and Bill. During her childhood while recovering from rheumatic fever, "Sister" traveled with her mother, the artist and writer Genevieve Willcox Chandler, as she interviewed locals - blacks and whites - for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the depression. These interviews were chronicled in Coming Through: Voices of a South Carolina Gullah Community from WPA Oral Histories. "Sister" also has the distinction of having served as the first librarian of the new Georgetown County Library just after World War II.
She appeared on South Carolina ETV in such documentaries as "Legacy of Conflict," "Grand Strand," "A Myrtle Beach Story," "Saving Sandy Island" and "Cheating the Stillness: The World of Julia Peterkin." These earned her statewide recognition as what the poet Thomas L. Johnson called "a vitally engaged and engaging historian and environmental activist." She also served on the boards of the Coastal Conservation League and the Freewoods Foundation.
The gentle legacy of the entire Peterkin and Chandler families will be honored in the dedication of a meeting room to their memory and contributions. FOWL sincerely appreciates all of the generous folks who helped make this tribute possible. The funds that were remaining after the room was renamed will be put toward a "starter set" of books for the soon-to-be-built South Georgetown Library.
Thank you so much for supporting FOWL and the Friends Center. The Library is so much better because you care! Sponsored by Friends of the Waccamaw Library
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