The city of Charleston will launch its 350th anniversary commemoration November 26, 2018 with a book release event for
In Darkest South Carolina, a biography of Charleston Judge Julius Waties Waring by Brian Hicks.
This event will be the first in a series of educational and cultural celebrations to commemorate the City of Charleston’s rich history and 350th anniversary in 2020. City Council established the City of Charleston 350th Celebration Steering Committee earlier this year to guide the process.
Steering Committee Chair, City Councilmember Peter Shahid, said, “We’re proud to be kicking off this commemoration honoring our city’s rich history. The committee will be working with community partners and historians to put together a robust and varied series of events, from now through 2020.”
In partnership with Evening Post Books, the City of Charleston will host the official book release event November 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting Street. The event is free and open to the public.
Hicks will serve as keynote speaker and will discuss his inspiration behind the book. The evening will include conversation and insight into the story of Judge Waring, a Charleston native whose courage and judicial leadership helped bring about the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the desegregation of public schools in America.
City of Charleston Mayor John J. Tecklenburg said, City of Charleston Mayor John J. Tecklenburg said, “Earlier this year, we asked the Charleston 350 Commission to help us remember and retell our city’s long and storied history – our triumphs, our tragedies, and everything in between. I want to salute them for their efforts, and for this outstanding inaugural event, which highlights a critical moment in our shared journey from repression to reconciliation.”
Copies of
In Darkest South Carolina will be available for sale, with Hicks onsite for autographs.
About the Book
From Evening Post Books
Four years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, a federal judge in Charleston hatched his secret plan to end segregation in America. Julius Waties Waring was perhaps the most unlikely civil rights hero in history. An eighth-generation Charlestonian, the son of a Confederate veteran and scion of a family of slave owners, Waring was appointed to the federal bench in the early days of World War II. Faced with a growing demand for equal rights from black South Carolinians, and a determined and savvy NAACP attorney named Thurgood Marshall, Waring did what he thought was right: He followed the law, and the United States Constitution.
This is the story of Judge J. Waties Waring, his incredible life and the country he changed. And it all began in darkest South Carolina.
About the Author
Brian Hicks is a columnist for
The Post and Courier in Charleston.
In Darkest South Carolina is his tenth book. Hicks’ journalism has appeared in national and international publications since 1986, and he has written about Southern history and politics for 30 years. He has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, National Public Radio, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel and in
Smithsonian Magazine. His column has won three Green Eyeshade Awards for best commentary in the Southeast from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Hicks is a former South Carolina Press Association Journalist of the Year.
His previous books include
Ghost Ship,
When the Dancing Stopped and
The Mayor.
Toward the Setting Sun and
Raising the Hunley, two of his other works, were selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, as well as the History and Military Book Clubs. A native of Tennessee, Hicks has lived in Charleston for more than 20 years.