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The University's South Carolina Political Collections will provide a major boost to the study of former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell's life and career following an upcoming yearlong cooperative project with The Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University.
Campbell was a key figure in the development of the Republican Party in South Carolina and the South, and a major player on the national Republican scene.
"He was a very pro-active leader who, as governor, is credited with starting the modernization of state government and provided heroic leadership during Hurricane Hugo and its aftermath," said Herb Hartsook, director of South Carolina Political Collections. "We're proud to be associated with the Campbells and this project, which will help to fulfill our goal of promoting the study of Gov. Campbell's life, career, and contributions."
USC will arrange Campbell's Congressional Papers, which he gave to Clemson in 1986 just before leaving Congress, and will produce a guide for researchers before returning the papers to Clemson.
In addition to giving his Congressional papers to Clemson, Campbell gave his personal papers to USC, and he turned over his official gubernatorial papers that documented his two terms as South Carolina governor to the S.C. Department of Archives and History.
Together, the records document the life of one of South Carolina's most important political leaders of the 20th century, Hartsook said.
USC's work in processing Campbell's legislative and other personal papers, and completion of a series of oral history interviews with Campbell's family, friends, and associates, is being made possible through support from Mack Whittle, '71, '75 master's, president and chief executive officer of the Carolina First Corp. in Greenville. Whittle also represents the 13th Judicial Circuit on the USC Board of Trustees.
Kristi Castro, a recent USC library science graduate who interned at South Carolina Political Collections, will do the bulk of the work on Campbell's Congressional papers. In July, she will become a fulltime temporary employee whose work will be dedicated solely to Campbell's Congressional papers.
"Kristi did wonderful work as an intern and we're very excited to have someone like her for his project," Hartsook said. "She immediately grasped what we do here and was very productive."
South Carolina Political Collections hold the papers of more than 70 leaders in government and politics and political organizations documenting the state's political history since World War II. It is a member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress and is South Carolina's key repository for legislative collections.
"Our staff has developed an expertise that is fairly rare," Hartsook said, "We're always willing and eager to help other repositories in the state deal with these large and complex collections."
6/07
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Kristi Castro will work with Herb Hartsook at South Carolina Political collections to arrange and produce a guide for use of former Gov. Carroll Campbell's Congressional papers.
