The Tillman Era

1890-1914. Ben Tillman served as governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894, and as United States senator from 1895 to 1918. Tillman introduced experimental agricultural methods to the state and was a founder of Clemson University. In 1895, during his service as a senator, he became known as "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, after becoming the ring leader of the convention that would wipe out the reforms of the 1868 Constitution. African Americans were robbed of the rights that define a true democracy. 
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McSweeney, Miles Benjamin | South Carolina Public Radio
McSweeney, Miles Benjamin | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades: 6 7 8

“M” is for McSweeney, Miles Benjamin [1855-1909]. Governor. After serving as co-publisher of a newspaper in Ninety Six, McSweeney moved to Hampton and founded the Hampton County Guardian. He became an...
Governor Benjamin R. Tillman | History of SC Slide Collection
Governor Benjamin R. Tillman | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 137

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Born near Trenton, in Edgefield County, Governor Benjamin R. Tillman (1847-1918) attended a local "field school" and Bethany Academy. During the 1890s, farmers began to organize a national movement to...
Governor John Gary Evans | History of SC Slide Collection
Governor John Gary Evans | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 54

Photo

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Born in Cokesbury, Governor John Gary Evans (1863-1942) attended Cokesbury Conference School. In 1879, he enrolled at Union College in Schenectady, New York, but withdrew before he graduated to study...
Robert Smalls, Part 1 | The Big Picture 1
Robert Smalls, Part 1 | The Big Picture
Episode 1

Video

Grades: 4 8 11

In this episode, host Alex Sanders, takes a look at a South Carolina Civil War hero, Robert Smalls. Smalls was born as an enslaved person in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1851, Smalls was hired...
The Broom of Justice | History of SC Slide Collection
The Broom of Justice | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 1

Photo

Grades: 4 8

The broom of justice sweeps the Coleman Livingston Blease (see Governor Coleman L. Blease) administration out of office in this cartoon from the Columbia "Record" on September 9, 1914, titled "Good...