While most may attribute moonshine to places like Kentucky and Tennessee, western South Carolina become a dominant producer of moonshine after the Civil War up through the 20th century. This presentation not only explains how homemade legal whiskey became illegal moonshine, but also tells the history of the notorious figures involved in its production and … Read more
While lager beer is the top alcoholic beverage in world today, it was not always. This presentation begins at the founding of Colonial America’s desire for liquid spirits and presents the history of America’s evolution of consumption of alcoholic beverages, to the rise of lager beer as the most consumed alcohol.
Many years before the production and sale of alcohol was banned in the United States by the Eighteenth Amendment, the forces of temperance waged political warfare with the purveyors of alcohol. Most Southern states went dry long before the rest of the country did, and as a result, had a ready-made pipeline of moonshine-makers and … Read more
(K-12 OR Adults)In this delicious workshop, poet and educator Kimberly Simms will lead attendees in writing their own “recipe” style poems. Attendees will also discuss several sample poems to help them explore ideas about food and life. The workshop includes a structured poetic form and a craft lesson so that writers of any level can … Read more
This lecture looks at the interesting concept of history vs. memory using the microhistory of one man’s legacy. Silas Butts was a moonshiner in Oconee County who also ran a grist mill and an unofficial orphanage. But people remember him differently- either as a great man or a horrible man. How can one person have … Read more
