AIKEN --- The history of an old home in Aiken, complete with a carriage and re-enactors dressed in period costume, is being relived so it can be preserved on film.
On Saturday, shooting started at the University of South Carolina Aiken for the docudrama Edgewood: Stage of Southern History -- a feature on the 1829 house originally known as Edgewood that now houses USC Aiken's Office of the Chancellor and University Advancement.
It is also known as the Pickens-Salley House for its connection to Lucy Pickens, the wife of secessionist governor Francis W. Pickens, and to Eulalie Salley, a crusader for women's rights in the 1920s and '30s.
Deidre Martin, the film's executive producer and USC Aiken's vice chancellor for advancement, said SCETV has expressed interest in the film. Plans include area showings with a long-term goal of having a middle school curriculum developed around it.
"We're covering just under 200 years of history," Ms. Martin said. "The house was a stage. The characters of history moved through this house, from the governor of South Carolina to the leaders of the Confederacy."
Saturday's shoot was just the start of filming, and several more shoots are planned throughout Aiken and Edgefield in the coming days.
Ms. Martin said that because Edgewood is now used as office space for USC Aiken, other locations that have an indoor setting befitting the time frame being represented also are being used.
"There were so many interesting stories of all the people affected by the house, and so we're looking at it from anyone (involved)," she said. "So it's even the slaves who were associated with the house; we want to tell their story as well."
Ms. Martin said Edgewood has quite a history, including the fact that it has been moved twice, first from its original site near Edgefield and then from an Aiken site to the USC Aiken campus.
It's said that Eulalie Salley fell in love with the home in the late 1920s and had the then-fading structure moved board by board and reassembled in Aiken using a numbering system.
Before that, the plantation-style house had been abandoned for many years.
But in the 1800s, Ms. Martin said, it was a hub for Confederate officials during the Civil War because it was the home of slave-owning Francis Pickens, who became governor in 1860, and his wife, Lucy, who was known as the "Queen of the Confederacy" and was the only woman featured on Confederate currency.
As part of the filming, Ms. Martin said, a Lucy Pickens re-enactor from Florence has agreed to participate.
"She is really into Lucy, to do it right, knows how she wore her hair, has clothes made from what she's read about her in her diaries. ... It's great for our project."
Many locals, including students, also are helping fill parts. Ms. Martin said the film, being funded by several grants, has a premiere date set for March 30. More information on the film can be found at www.edgewoodfilm.com.
Reach Preston Sparks at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
UPCOMING SHOOT LOCATIONS
Today: Hopelands Gardens, 8-11 a.m.; Aiken County Museum, 1-7 p.m.
SATURDAY: Entrance to Hitchcock Woods, 8-10 a.m.; Green Boundary Club, 3-7 p.m.
SUNDAY: Edgefield at Oakley Park, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Source: Jennifer Conner, spokeswoman for USC Aiken
Today: Hopelands Gardens, 8-11 a.m.; Aiken County Museum, 1-7 p.m.
SATURDAY: Entrance to Hitchcock Woods, 8-10 a.m.; Green Boundary Club, 3-7 p.m.
SUNDAY: Edgefield at Oakley Park, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Source: Jennifer Conner, spokeswoman for USC Aiken
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Good grief, honoring a known "secessionist" and those who were complicit in horrendous crimes against humanity, appears to be a favorite past time in the CSRA. Who were the individuals that actually built the Pickens-Salley and how were they compensated for their efforts? (Capitalist system = work & pay) Of course "we" know the history and making films to soften, to revise, to make acceptable, or to just change the facts, does a disservice to those whose ancestors' blood, sweat, and tears stain the soil in that location...and a fresh coat of paint along with favorable camera angles cannot hide the unspeakable horrors associated with that era, which remains a permanent stain on the fabric of the entire nation.
justus4... Do you want some cheese with that whine? Good grief, honoring a known "womanizer and plagiarist" in Martin Luther King. Admit it. You are a racist, and cannot stand the white man. You remind me of a whiny, snot nose brat!!!
The film will be funded by several grants should have read " the film will be funded by taxpayers through tax deductible grants". I doubt the donations would have been made if the gifts had not been deductible and had been bonafide gifts.
LOL...justus you never fail to give me a laugh...you are a hoot!! dissman some people love History and work hard to preserve it.......LOL if the donations were tax deductable then the doners were at least "Taxpayers"....lol think about it.....(looks like we have another sheeple here folks....baaaaaa)
justus4 makes some excellent points. As a minimum, it must never be forgotten that, as the "graciousness" and "elegance" and "grandeur" of the lives of the aristocracy in the old South are studied and admired, the luxuries which they enjoyed were made possible ONLY because they owned human beings who had no choice but to do what they were told -- or suffer the consequences. This is not unlike the story of Aiken's most notable street -- Laurens Street. It is named after Henry Laurens, the biggest slave trader and importer of slaves in the nation. Laurens County, SC was also named for him. In the fashion of those whose wish to overlook the criminal activities of their heroes, the Laurens County web site says about its namesake only that he was a "statesman." It is a truism that those who choose to ignore history (or conveniently forget it) are surely doomed to repeat it. Preservation of historic features and the study of them is admirable and worthwhile. Regrettably, there are too many in these parts who long for the return of the good old days, when people owned other people. Therefore, they don't want to hear about the inconvenient history of that barbarism and cruelty.
Knave and J4, I'm not going totally disagree with your posts. But it seems you are little different from those whose Confederate past means more than the present. TODAY, guys, is where our problems are. If some old Southerners want to dress funny, talk funny, and act funny in a big house, let them. If you want to make a difference, don't try to change the minds of rednecks. Don't try to change or explain history. Why not educate, serve people, campaign for justice TODAY. There is nothing you can do about the past or those who wish today were like those good ole days. Those days are gone.
Good grief, why don't we just go on ahead and erase every shred of evidence that slavery existed by renaming all the sites and roads named after slave owners and people who were documented as being for slavery, like say, John C. Calhoun? As gcap just said, it's better to educate, serve people and campaign for justice today instead of whining about the past. I think gcap hit the nail on the head with those words. And Knave: not all who are proud of their Southern heritage long for the return of those days when people owned other people. In fact, most of them don't. I'm certainly glad I don't possess the ignorance regarding slave ownership that some of my ancestors had back in those days. I feel they certainly got their payback when the Federal government seized their lands and redistributed them. Many people tend to forget most slave owners ended up losing everything. I don't mourn their loss. However, I do feel people on both sides of the issue who still harbor strong feelings about it need to get over it and get on with the business of living in the present. The past is gone, learn from it and resolve never to allow a situation like that ever again.
My family never owned slaves...they immigrated from France in the 1700 and worked and bought property in Charleston and operated an indigo and tea platation there for over 200 years... so do not lump everyone together....I am glad to see some of the History preserved.....
It's interesting to read the comments and reactions to this article. Go to:
http://www.edgewoodfilm.com/promo.html for a short promo about the specific scope of this docudrama.
Don't miss the big picture here...from reading the premise of this documentary, it's more about WOMEN who inhabited this home - one of them happening to live during the time of the Civil War, the other a huge proponent of sufferage for women in later years. While we're reminded of the horrors of slavery when we look at that time period, we can also feel the power of where we've come.