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Dr. Anne Austin Young was one of the first female physicians to practice medicine in Anderson County. Born in Cross Hill South Carolina, she graduated high school in 1906 at the age of 14 and entered Presbyterian College that same year. She graduated at the top of her class in 1910 and promptly entered nurses’ training at the University of Maryland. After completing her training, she returned to South Carolina and taught school in a one-room schoolhouse near Cross Hill to earn money to attend medical school. Young entered the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1911, where she earned a scholarship and also worked as a lab assistant and typist to pay her way through school.

She graduated in 1915 with the highest scholastic average in her class. Young interned at the Women’s Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before returning to South Carolina where she passed the South Carolina State Medical Exam with the highest grade in the history of the state. In Columbia, she joined the staff of the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane where she supervised the treatment of over six hundred female patients. While there, she developed innovative occupational therapy for female patients, even funding the program with her own funds at the onset. After her marriage to Dr. Charles Young in 1918, the two set up practice in Anderson where Dr. Anne Young worked as an obstetrician. During a career that spanned sixty-three years, Dr. Young delivered over 10,000 babies. In addition to her work as an obstetrician-gynecologist, Young also practiced as a surgeon and psychiatrist. In recognition of her accomplishments, she was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 1981.

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Pearl R. Fant was a pioneer in women’s work, a champion of conservation and environmental causes, an advocate of education, and an avid historian who gave tirelessly of herself and of her resources to benefit the community.

Mrs. Fant envisioned the need to organize the women of Anderson into a Federation of Women’s Clubs. At the time, she was president of the South Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs. She knew that such an organization could unify and coordinate the work of women to meet the needs of the Anderson community. On September 23, 1920, a group of representative women from each of Anderson County’s twenty-two clubs met at Mrs. Fant’s home to organize the Anderson County Federation of Women’s Clubs. This federation, under this purpose; worked for improvements at the county jail and chain gang and the county home; cooperated in the development of the Anderson County Fair with the women of the Federation submitting handiworks, foods, and other goods for judging, as well as tending the booths and serving as judges’ assisted and lobbied the county legislative delegation to establish the first state-sponsored Health Unit (Department) in Anderson County; pushed for the assistance of ex-servicemen prior to the establishment of the Legion Auxiliary; established the first circulating library in Anderson County; started a program called the Loan Chest to dispense sick room articles and a program called the Maternity Fund to provide money for needy maternity cases; and planted more than 80,000 trees in Anderson County to improve the environment.

Mrs. Fant also organized and led the Civic Association of Anderson that took the initiative in beautifying sections of the city of Anderson and providing recreational parks for public use. These projects included the building of the Robert Anderson Memorial Fountain and its surrounding park; Buena Vista Park, established near Mrs. Fant’s home on River Street; and the planting of trees and exotic plants in the city square. She was a founding member of several organizations, including: Hudson Berry Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution; the DAR’s Tamassee School; and the Electric City Garden Club.

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A native of Charleston, Ellison Adger Smyth, along with four other businessmen, with the capital of Mr. Francis J. Pelzer, obtained a charter of incorporation from the state of South Carolina in 1881 for Pelzer Manufacturing Company. Smyth was chosen as president of this new company that began construction of a cotton mill in Anderson County. It was there that the town of Pelzer was born. In the mill’s first thirteen years of existence, the community grew to over 4,000 people, with 700 houses, three churches and numerous other buildings being erected. The Pelzer Manufacturing Company featured one of the largest cotton mills in the world under a single roof. In the years to come, Smyth served as president of several businesses including the Chicora Savings Bank, Belton Mill and Anderson Phosphate and Oil Company. He also served as a director in more than forty other corporations. In 1906, upon its organization, he was elected president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of South Carolina. He served as a presidential appointee to the United States Industrial Commission.

Mill No. 4 of the Pelzer Manufacturing Company, completed in 1895, was the first manufacturing facility in the United States to be operated with electricity that was generated at a distance. Smyth had the mill built close to the village and the railroad, but not close to the river. Power then had to be sent approximately three miles from the electrical power station downstream at Holland Shoals.

Seeking to make Pelzer a model mill town, the company had its own rules of behavior and employed constables in the community to enforce them. Smyth was a leader in requiring compulsory education in Pelzer in 1902, a practice that did not become state law for another fifteen years. The schools, run by the company, were open ten months a year and were free to all children of Pelzer. It is believed that the first kindergarten in Anderson County was started in Pelzer in 1899, in addition to a night school for adults. Smyth also donated a 3,000-volume library to the community, open after work and on Sundays for the workers. He oversaw the construction of a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a park with a zoo, a golf course and a hospital. His company was a pioneer in welfare work, erecting and supporting six church buildings in the community. Smyth lived in Pelzer until moving to Greenville, but continued to commute to Pelzer daily. In 1899, he bought an estate in Flat Rock, North Carolina, and named it Connemara. It was here that he spent weekends and summers until retiring in 1924. Smyth lived there until his death in 1942, at which time Connemara was purchased by renowned poet, Carl Sandburg. It is now a national historic park.

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Freddie Stowers the grandson of a slave and the only African –American recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War I grew up in Sandy Springs, one of twelve children of Wylie and Annie Stowers. At 21, already married and the father of one daughter, Stowers was drafted into the United States Army and sworn into service in Williamston on October 4, 1917. He served in the all-black 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division at Camp (now Fort) Jackson, in Columbia. Within two months, he was promoted to private first class and by the spring of 1918, he was assigned to the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), sent to France and promoted to corporal.

Participating in the autumn AEF campaign that led to the Allied breakthrough of the German military line and to German surrender six weeks later, Corporal Stowers led his squad during some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, especially for African-American soldiers. Stowers was killed on September 28, 1918, while leading an assault on enemy trenches after the enemy seemed to surrender, drawing the Allied troops out the safety of their trenches. With the platoon leaders and over half of his company wounded or dead, Stowers, mortally wounded, continued to lead his troops forward until his death. Spurred on by Stowers’ courage, his troops continued the attack that led to heavy enemy casualties and the capture of Hill 188. Stowers was buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.

Soon after the war, Stowers was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross. In December 1918, his commanding officer upgraded the recommendation to the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, no action was taken. In the mid-1980’s, an investigation into the lack of African-American Medal of Honor holders for World War I and II led researchers to find Stowers’ original recommendation. In 1991, when the award was finally made, a Pentagon spokesman called this an “administrative oversight”. President George H.W. Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Stowers’ surviving sisters during ceremonies at the White House on April 24, 1991.

There are no known photographs of Corporal Stowers.

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William Church Whitner, a native of Anderson, graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1885 with intentions of becoming a lawyer. Talked out of this career path by his father, Whitner returned to USC where he took a job as assistant to the professor of mathematics while pursuing a degree in civil engineering. After graduating in 1885, he worked on successive engineering jobs for railroad companies in the southeast. His career with the railroads ended when the mayor and city council of Anderson approached him with the challenge of constructing a system of waterworks and electric light plant for his hometown. Both of these systems were built and the city of Anderson was lit with 75 incandescent lamps powered by electric current from a steam power plant. These investments proved less than profitable and led Whitner to seek less expensive methods of producing electricity.

In 1891, Whitner was convinced by experiments occurring in Europe in the development and transmission of electric power from waterfalls that the water resources of Anderson County were fitting for this purpose. After interviewing Nikola Tesla, who perfected the alternating current motor, Whitner announced that he would attempt to build a plant to generate electric current by waterpower. In 1894, he leased a part of McFall’s Mill at High Shoals on the Rocky River, six miles from Anderson, and proceeded to develop his project. He built a power plant that created and transmitted 200 electrical horsepower, lighting the city’s incandescent lights, which now numbered 2,000. It also powered the large pumps at the waterworks plant and various smaller industries in the city. This experiment proved Whitner’s theory and “electricity was transmitted over wires from the point of generation to a distant point of consumption for the first time in the South, using a 5,000- volt generator without step-up transformers. This was the first 5,000- volt generator in operation in the world.”*

The owners of Anderson Cotton Mill took notice of Whitner’s work and discussed with him the possibility of building a mill to be operated solely by water-generated power. Whitner had already found a site with great waterpower at Portman Shoals on the Seneca River. In 1896, he contracted with the mill owners to supply them with 1200 horsepower. Needing sufficient power to send electricity over eleven miles of wire to Anderson, Whitner ordered a 10,000-volt generator. With this order, he became the first person in the world to make use of such a powerful generator. The Portman Shoals plant was completed in 1897 and Anderson Cotton Mill became the first large cotton mill in the US to use electricity generated at a long distance without step-up transformers. The City of Anderson became the first town in South Carolina to have an unlimited amount of hydroelectric power, thus earning it the nickname “The Electric City.”

With his project in Anderson successfully completed, Whitner moved on to other challenges in Georgia and North Carolina. He built at least three plants in Georgia before beginning work building a plant in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the Catawba River. In 1899, he became the general manager and engineer for the Catawba Power Company and construction began the following year. The plant took over three years to complete, but revolutionized life in that region when put into use. Dr. Gill Wylie, president and chief investor in the plant, sold interest in the company to James B. Duke and they organized the Southern Power Company that would eventually be known as Duke Power Company. From Rock Hill, Whitner moved to Virginia where he became consulting engineer for the Virginia Railroad and Power Company. In 1915, he organized an engineering firm for the purpose of organizing, financing and building power plants. Whitner eventually returned to Rock Hill, where he designed his farm to be “a model for scientific agricultural methods and the latest developments in dairying.”*

*Quotes from Six Miles That Changed the Course of the South by Beth Ann Klosky

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The Anderson County Museum hosts a range of unique events from Galas and exhibit openings to artisan markets and community events. Monthly programs and presentations offer something for every age group.

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Check out these beautiful bangle bracelets we have Whitner’s Mercantile! Large are $10 and Small are $8! Pick yours up soon because these won’t last long! . #bracelets #shoplocal #whitnersmercantile #iloveandersoncounty #andersoncountysc #visitandersonsc #shopandersonsc (at Anderson County Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnS4SFlDEl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vt07bybsy4vk

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Join us at Anderson County Museum to make your own Kudzu basket on June 1st at 12:30 PM! Supplies will be provided to make their own basket to take home. This workshop is $35 per person and recommended for visitors 12 and up. To register, visit www.andersoncountymuseum.org/events/kudzu https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwe-8nxAuCJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1x0jq5u3xxg11

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Today #sponsorspotlight is our title sponsor Labtech Diagnostics! Labtech Diagnostics is a medical laboratory that serves the Carolinas. They employ our Carolinians, most of who have graduated from our local institutions. Labtech Diagnostics contributes to our local economy and strengthens our municapal and state tax base. Their mission is to provide reliable, timely, accurate, cost effective, and innovative diagnostic services and information to patients, physicians, and other healthcare providers for the benefit of the patient. . Thank you Labtech for your generous donations in supporting this year's Gala! https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcucYugNlh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nabiv8xgtshk

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Did you know #todayinhistory Shirley Temple made her first appearance! . On April 9, 1934, Shirley Temple appeared in her first movie, Stand Up and Cheer, at the age of 6. she would go on to be one of TV's most recognizable child entertainers. . Check out "Shirley Temple is Missing" and other Missy LeHand Mystery Novels from Whitner's Mercantile! https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwcb17-l38Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=tr47kgi4i3yj

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Today’s #sponsorspotlight is Upstate Healthcare Services! . Upstate Healthcare Services specializes in helping older and disabled adults stay at home, where most people want to be. Their extensively trained, compassionate staff are there to support you or your family member. They value and honor their consumers by providing in-home services that preserve dignity and protect independence. Their compassionate caregivers are supportive to their consumers through their medical treatment and aging process. . Learn more at http://uhssc.com/index.html . #acmgala #iloveandersoncounty #andersoncountymuseum #visitandersonsc https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwb_J4_l94n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ozawgugts4gu

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Have you checked out ACM’s event buttons, magenta, and key chains? . Fun fact: all of them are made in-house out of recycled event posters, flyers, and copies! (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwZgjeajMVi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vq4spp3rs33z

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#todayinhistory was the launch of Apollo 13! . On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The spacecraft’s destination was the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, where the astronauts were to explore the Imbrium Basin and conduct geological experiments. After an oxygen tank exploded on the evening of April 13, however, the new mission objective became to get the Apollo 13 crew home alive. . Visit ACM Check out some of our out of this world stuff in Whinter's Mercantile! https://www.instagram.com/p/BwHb9YyjIRP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1c6mogbc922hk

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Don’t forget to register your little ones for the Earth Day recycling program during spring break! This program is on April 18th at 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM! . Thanks KAB for helping with this event! . Register: andersoncountymuseum.org/events/earthday (at Anderson County Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwH3J85DHX6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17455ws3c7yeo

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Have you checked out "Whew, White Lightnin'! Moonshine Culture of the Upstate" yet? Join us tonight for Heritage & History with Dustin Norris at 5:30 PM to learn more about how bootlegging, whiskey runners, and good ole' hooch shaped our history! . #visitandersonsc #moonshine https://www.instagram.com/p/BwC6fUfA-PH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sz5zxnc3fbjz

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It's almost spring break and we are 2 weeks away from our Earth Day Recycling Program! Register online to join us on April 18th at 10:30! This event is recommended for kids 2-12. Learn more at www.andersoncountymuseum.org/events/earthday . #iloveandersoncounty #visitandersonsc #earthday #springbreak (at Anderson County Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv13mDgjAvx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ttrrrytcnuaa

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Today’s #sponsorspotlight is Upstate Healthcare Services, your only locally owned choice for Home Care services in the upstate! Upstate Healthcare Services specializes in helping older and disabled adults stay at home, where most people want to be. Their extensively trained, compassionate staff are there to support you or your family member. They value and honor their consumers by providing in-home services that preserve dignity and protect independence. Their compassionate caregivers are supportive to their consumers through their medical treatment and aging process. . Learn more at http://uhssc.com/index.html . #acmgala #iloveandersoncounty #andersoncountymuseum #visitandersonsc (at Anderson County Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvy5rkolGEV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ajipbnjvu77o