ANTH 305: Sustainable Communities (Dr. Alysa Handelsman)

• Spartanburg County Public Library’s Kennedy Room--"Houses an extensive collection of source material for genealogy and history researchers. In addition to books, types of materials in our collection include microform, maps, media clippings, manuscripts, visual arts, and access to several online genealogy databases. The materials’ focus is on Spartanburg County but also includes South Carolina and regional information"--From the Kennedy Room's homepage.  Research appointments are recommended.  Walk-ins will be assisted as space and equipment are available.  The Kennedy Room provides on its homepage an extensive list of websites for information on South Carolina genealogy.

• ​​​​​​Spartanburg County Public Library's Digital Collections--through which online platform the Kennedy Room provides immediate access to many of its materials.
  • SCP's "Black History in Spartanburg" digital collection--"Black history in the Spartanburg area remains obscured by the biases and scarcity of early records. By 1790, the first year with a reliable population estimate, Spartanburg County was home to 866 black slaves and 27 “free persons not white,” representing about 10% of the total population. At the time of emancipation, some 8,300 African-Americans lived in Spartanburg County, around 30% of the total population. Today Spartanburg County is about 21% black. The continued triumph of Spartanburg’s black community over the marks of slavery and prejudice is a powerful story worth telling. The items featured here sample some of the library’s holdings that illustrate that story"--From the Digital Library.
• South Carolina Department of Archives & History--"An independent state agency whose mission is to preserve and promote the documentary and cultural heritage of the Palmetto State. The department houses one of the most comprehensive state archival collections in the nation, spanning more than 325 years of South Carolina history"--From the Department's homepage.
• South Carolina Digital Library--"Provides free [online] access to historic materials from over 40 cultural heritage institutions across the state. Over 200,000 items have been added so far"--From the Digital Library's homepage.  The materials can be browsed by geographic location or time period, or can be searched by family name, personal name, or other keyword phrase.

• Resources on Spartanburg history--consider adding keywords of your own (say, women, Black, African American, children, poverty) to this search to narrow its focus
• Resources on Spartanburg genealogy--again, consider adding keywords, including family names or personal names
• Spartanburg censuses
• Other Spartanburg statistics
• Photographs of Spartanburg

Search in and access Spartanburg's newspapers and other news outlets using the database Access World News.

Here are the steps: Once you are in Access World News, choose one searchbox to type in your keyword phrase, personal name, or family name of choice.

Then, in the other searchbox, type "Spartanburg" and then select "Source" from this box's drop-down menu to limit your search to newspapers and other news outlets that are headquartered in or that concentrate on Spartanburg:

Wofford Library's Special Collections has--in print--most of the volumes of The Spartanburg City Directory published between 1905 and 2005: The directory's call-number is [Spec Coll] F279.S7 S63. Wofford has these specific print volumes: 1905, 1908-09, 1911, 1913-18, 1920, 1926, 1942-45, 1947-52, 1954-74, 1976, 1978-82, 1984-92, 1994-99, and 2001-2005.