The South Carolina Department of Archives and History revealed a historical marker that commemorated the burning of Columbia which occurred 150 years ago Tuesday.
“We are here to commemorate a very traumatic event in the history of Columbia,” said Eric Emerson at the start of the ceremony. “Which was really a culmination of a number of traumatic days in the state of South Carolina.”
Emerson is the Director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History as well as the chair of South Carolina’s Civil War Sesquicentennial advisory board, opened the historic event. The marker program of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History was established in 1905, and according to Emerson, this marker becomes one of the 1,560 historical state markers that are located throughout the state of South Carolina.
The omission of a marker to commemorate the burning of Columbia was a concern that the department set out to remedy, Emerson said.
The marker was “tricky to produce,” he said, because of the varying accounts of the events from the night of Feb. 17, 1865.
Ehren Foley, historical marker coordinator of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, said the event still has cultural relevance for Columbia despite the fact that it occurred over 150 years ago.
“I think it’s an important thing to reflect upon how and why we remember the past,” Foley said. “It’s a reminder that the past is not merely a chronicle of all of the events that came before this moment but rather is about telling and retelling stories about the past.”
Foley was sure to note that the words upon the plaque were not necessarily the final words that would be spoken about the burning of the city of Columbia all those years ago.
“We should enjoy it and hope that we have some small impact on the way people walking down Main Street remember this day in February 1865,” he said. “But I hope we can also remember the the work of history goes on and that our words will hardly be the final ones to be spoken on this subject.”
When it became time to reveal the marker, Foley and Emerson pulled off the black cloth covering it to showcase the newest addition to Columbia's historical markers.
Nestled in front of the ABC Columbia station and Roll Call on Main Street, the marker details the events that occurred during the burning of Columbia. The marker says that “much of Columbia’s main commercial district and more than 450 buildings in all” lay in ruin after the burning.
The department also unveiled a marker at the former location of the Confederate home at the corner of Confederate Avenue and Bull Street.
“Students need to think about what it is about the unity of this narrative,” Foley said when asked about the relevance to USC students. “It continues to have a resonance.”