Arie Waldrop Meaders (d. 1989), Cleveland, White County. Interview recorded June 1981.
The Meaders tradition began in 1893 with John Milton Meaders in the small White County town of Cleveland. Several generations later, brothers Lanier and Edwin Meaders were still turning out the drippy green alkaline glazes that had originated in the Edgefield district of South Carolina and the family had popularized in White County.
Their parents, Cheever and Arie Meaders, were well known for producing utilitarian ware like jugs, churns and crocks.
Lanier, Edwin, and their cousin Cleater added face jugs and other decorative pieces to this traditional repertoire. All three worked in other occupations before returning to the wheel later in life to build one of the most dynamic folk pottery dynasties in the South.
