The Marion Academy Building c. 1890
The Marion Academy Building was constructed in 1886 for white children by the Marion Academy Society (chartered in 1811). The African-American population attended a frame building on the edge of town. The Society operated its private school for almost seventy years until the institution became a part of Marion County School District I. Renamed the Marion Graded School it ceased operation in 1976.
Three years earlier, October 4, 1973, the old Academy Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. When the school closed permanently it took its distinctive place in history as the longest operating school in South Carolina.
The Marion Academy Building c. 1976
Marion County and the Marion County Historical Society were given the facility with the promise to maintain the structure. There were no immediate plans for its use.
Toward the end of 1980 Maggi Smith Hall, M.Ed.,was searching for another project after she and her husband, Dr. Ronald Hall, Ph.D., completed restoration of their 1896 4,000 sf McIntyre House. The home with its ten fireplaces, located at 410 W Godbold Street, brought the Halls to Marion for what would become the first of multiple restoration projects. Dr. Hall was a Philosophy Professor at Francis Marion University in Florence. Hall had taught in the Florence County School System for six years during which time she created three educational programs for the county: (1) the first self-contained class for slow learners; (2) the first Learning Disabilities Program; and (3) the first self-contained class for emotionally disturbed juvenile delinquents, named such with no regard for sensitivity. When Hall moved to Marion she began the first Learning Disabilities program for the city, teaching at two schools.
1895 McIntyre Home – 410 W Godbold Street
Restoration Interior and Exterior 1979 - 1981
Once the old house was renovated Hall cast about for another project. Her husband suggested she combine her knowledge as educator, historian, and preservationist to establish a museum in the adjacent vacant school building. The idea excited Hall who immediately arranged meetings with the county administrator Mr. Gault Beeson, and the Marion County Historical Society. Both groups gave their blessings and assurance they’d assist in any way possible. Hall’s next step was to create a six-fold strategy: (1) acquire office equipment; (2) acquire storage cabinets and shelving for artifacts; (3) notify residents of the need for artifacts and monetary donations; (4) purchase acid free storage boxes and tissue for conserved material; (5) contact the South Carolina Department of Archives and History for grant information; and (6) restore the building to its original appearance.
First Things First – Cleaning, Maintenance and Equipment…
A thorough cleaning was needed so the county sent in prisoners to handle the job. The county maintained the grounds and eventually loaned Hall several county prisoners who assisted her family with interior painting. It was easy to obtain free office equipment including tables, chairs, metal storage units, etc. from the SC State Surplus Warehouse. The school district donated a typewriter and printer. Hall had a huge table built and carpeted to lay out textile artifacts for conservation.
Let the Directing Begin…
From 1980 to 1984 Hall directed the museum as a volunteer. She collected and conserved hundreds of artifacts while restoring the building. In 1984 she took a leave of absence from teaching and received a small salary from the county to create the museum’s educational outreach programs while pursuing permanent funding. Hall remained museum director until she returned to the classroom September 1986 as a Learning Disabilities Clinician in Mullins, SC, a few miles from Marion
Director’s Continuing Education…
While Hall was creating the Marion County Museum the state was building its museum. Hall became friends with the director, Dr. Tony Ganong, and the various heads of each department. Frequent visits back and forth solidified their friendship and shared expertise. From 1981-1984 Hall took advantage of educational opportunities including: South Carolina State Museum-Long-range Planning for Small Museums; Problem-Solving for Historical Agencies; Collections Management; Conservation Techniques; Exhibits on a Shoestring, Columbia SC; and The Smithsonian Institution-Successful Interpretative Planning, Annapolis MD.
Time for Architectural Restoration and Construction…
The Restored Cupola
In 1982 Hall applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History to restore the cupola, re-roof the building, and centrally air condition and heat the structure. Then in 1983 Hall was honored by the SC Department of Archives and History with its “Adaptive Restoration of a Historic Facility” award.
After the cupola was reconstructed a resident told Hall he’d seen the old school bell in a local junk yard. Hall literally fled to the junk yard and found the bell. She had it installed with a rope that led from the bell way up in the cupola through the second floor ceiling and floor down into the old school room so visitors could ring the school bell from yesteryear.
In order to borrow artwork from the state museum Hall designed a gallery to exclude outdoor lighting so destructive to paintings and artifacts. She had the windows enclosed in the downstairs northwest room to eliminate sunlight. Indirect track lighting was installed.
In 1985 Hall began a fundraiser to reconstruct the double front porches knowing that the state archives had additional funds that would become available for completion of the “finishing touches” to the restoration.
Permanent Funding a Must for Long-term Survival…
Hall applied for and received additional grants from various sources. Personal donations, membership dues, and a variety of exciting programs added much needed funds to the museum coffer. Throughout Hall’s tenure at the museum she, the board, and numerous local residents endeavored to obtain permanent funding from the four school districts and the county in order to create educational outreach programs to all schools and solidify future finances. It was shocking school superintendents and county personnel refused to realize the long-term value of the museum as an educational facility even though teachers and classes clamored to visit. It would take years before the idea of protecting a museum financially by placing it in the budget as a line-item expense would be realized.
The Best Part of All - Acquiring Artifacts…
From the beginning of the project excitement was contagious as local families donated items, inviting Hall to visit their attics and take anything she thought useful. Hall was ecstatic as she uncovered one treasure after another including textbooks used in the old schoolhouse from the time of its construction, 1890’s homemade paper dolls sandwiched between pages of an antique textbook, an antique lunch pail a child carried as he walked to the school. Clothing, farm implements, and furniture came flowing in. Hall donated her family's heirloom spinning wheel as well as numerous other items. Even a delightful miniature farm was donated by a family in Conway. The Tilghman House, one of the largest in Marion County, was owned by Anne Tilghman Boyce, one of Hall’s friends. Built in 1895 at 408 Harlee St., the 7,000 sf Eastlake mansion boasted the largest attic in town. Hall was given carte blanche to “Take what you want!” Anne gleefully promised. And with similar joy Hall did just that!
Hall acquired an antique piano and horse buggy. Her husband pulled the buggy down Godbold Street to the museum as she sat in the “driver’s seat.” However the most exciting acquisition “adventure” was collecting 30 slant-top late 1800 desks to re-create the classroom setting. Her plan was to present local history to visitors, young and old, as they sat in the wooden desks. After all, she informed the public, “The Smithsonian has a replica late 1800 classroom. Why not our museum as well!?”
Hall was told by everyone that “You’ll never find that many” but she was determined. It took a year but Hall got her 30 from across North and South Carolina. Thanks to Jane Waldrop, who sold the McIntyre House to the Halls, she and Hall restored the desks, setting up the school room as it would have appeared in the late 1800s. Hall then acquired an American flag, antique teacher’s desk, period movable chalkboard and storage unit. It was as authentic as the classroom in the Smithsonian.
Funds were raised to build a large glass cabinet in the front Hall to exhibit artifacts. The first exhibit was the installation of antique gowns and wedding dresses.
Rotating art and history exhibits Hall borrowed monthly from the state museum in Columbia, driving back and forth with the valuable items. She’d hang art in the new light controlled gallery for a month then return to Columbia to gather up another exhibit. Historic items were placed in the front hall's large exhibit case.
The miniature farm and multiple farm implements were displayed upstairs in the farm room. Art students were invited to create a farm mural on the large landing between the first and second floors. Hall, quite literally, built the exhibit case for the landing to store fragile agricultural artifacts and to hold tobacco crop implements, as tobacco was a main county crop.
All artifacts donated to the museum were catalogued using the strict process required by the Smithsonian and the SC State Museum.
The Civil War CSS Peedee Gunboat Cannons Emerge…
When Hall became museum director and took over the care of the building she discovered in the second floor hall a massive piece of lumber, sleekly sanded and lacquered. She had no idea what it was until a member of the historical society revealed it to be a slice of the scuttled Civil War Pee Dee Gunboat.
The CSS Peedee, also known as the CSS Pee Dee, was a Confederate gunboat built at the Mars Bluff Navy Yard on the Great Pee Dee River in Marion County. Several large portions of dock beams are still visible. The Pee Dee was launched in January 1865 and scuttled the following month as Union soldiers moved closer to its location. The confederates didn’t want the boat and its three cannons captured.
Years earlier during extremely low tide the boiler and parts of the boat were visible. Eventually someone, name unknown but with a possible connection to the tourist attraction, South of the Border, obtained the boiler. Eventually that historic artifact wound up as fill for I-95 across from the tourist stop.
In 1985 Hall asked a private donor to fund the cost for bringing the state underwater archaeology team to the Great Pee Dee. The group, including Hall and the donor, spent several hours on the boat as the team made depth soundings and marked where they thought the three canons were located.
Above: Hall is second from left; Ron Shelton, History Curator for the SC State museum third from left. Wooden piers still stand from the historic 1800 Mars Bluff Navy Yard. The Great Pee Dee Railroad Bridge can be seen in the distance.
Below: The Highway 301 bridge is on the other side of the railroad bridge. The river separates Florence County and Marion County. Hall and the crew set sail on the Pee Dee.
December 21, 2010, South Carolina’s state archaeologist announced researchers believed they discovered remains of the Peedee. The CSS PeeDee Research and Recovery Team's dive master Bob Butler found the first of the three missing cannons September 17, 1995. He and the team located the second of the missing guns, a Brooke Rifled cannon, on September 23, 2006. These were the first two cannons found from the wreck of the CSS Pee Dee.
September 29, 2015 a team of underwater archaeologists from the University of South Carolina raised the three cannons. Now restored the canons are on display at the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs in Florence. However, had Marion County leaders been astute in their perseverance to obtain at least one of these monumental historic relics, the museum would surely have been caretaker of a bit of its history, however a racist one at that.
Link to historic Pee Dee Gunboat canon recovery:
Programs - Educational and Entertaining, a Smashing Success…
The museum’s borrowed exhibits from the South Carolina State Museum were an immediate success, drawing visitors to return each month while enticing teachers to send their students to the museum for history lessons Hall prepared for individual grade levels.
Hall initiated the county’s first concert series with various musical events on the grounds. She even collected a dozen antique pianos for a concert and piano exhibit in the art gallery. She planned and implemented successful annual art festivals and wildlife oriented weekend festivals partnering with Wildlife Action, Inc. of Mullins, Marion’s neighbor. WLA was a hunting and conservation organization where the Hall’s volunteered and where her husband spearheaded the preservation of the Little Pee Dee River.
The museum’s candlelight tour of historic homes was an elegant event with a full page given the event by the Florence Morning News.
From 1982 to 1986 Hall introduced educational classes at the museum teaching students the value of history as they sat in the antique desks of long ago. From 1983 to 1986 she directed the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Rural Arts Program for Marion County. This program brought to the museum and county schools an exciting assortment of talent including photography, puppetry, dance, music, theater, and art.
Publications to Increase Historical Knowledge…
From 1981 to 1986 Hall published a monthly newsletter informing members of upcoming events. During those same years she published the first county calendar featuring historic structures as well as an introductory pamphlet to encourage residents to visit and join Friends of the Museum.
In 1983 she researched, wrote and published another first for the county, “A Driving Tour of Historic Marion County, SC.” That same year she organized a committee to collect family recipes from residents and enlisted local artist Ray Govis to sketch historic buildings for the cookbook. This attractive keepsake sold out the first month it was printed and went into its second printing which sold out as well.
Hall was asked to enlist four historic homes to be included in a new Bed & Breakfast book for South Carolina. The homes were not B&B’s before the project but in order to be included had to promise to do so for at least two years. Four families signed up for this project which became a huge success.
Several History and English professors at Francis Marion University across the Great Pee Dee River in adjacent Florence County where Dr. Hall taught were asked by Hall to write an outdoor drama, “Francis Marion, Swamp Fox.” Marion, the famous Revolutionary War hero, practiced his creation, guerilla warfare, throughout South Carolina, including the Pee Dee. The professors enthusiastically agreed and began work on this arduous and exciting task. Location for the presentation would be held outdoors on acreage between the museum and the Hall’s historic McIntyre House.
Though there is no historical evidence that General Marion’s feet ever touched the soil of present-day Marion County SC, he and his men road rampant through the swamps of the Great Pee Dee and present-day Florence County as he practiced his infamous guerilla warfare against the Red Coats.
The Most Exciting Historic Acquisition - Denied…
Racism was rampant in Marion County. Hall had no idea how deeply it flowed until she began promoting the history of African American programs at the museum. The last time she checked blacks paid their equal share of taxes but that didn’t seem to matter. When the Halls and their friends supported Willie Smith, a veteran black police officer running for captain one would have thought they’d attempted a coup. Even her daughter received threatening phone calls promising drugs would be planted in her car if her “mother didn’t back off helping blacks.” The county administrator jumped into the fray warning he was “told” Hall “was seen handing out flyers on the street corner for the black candidate.” Going a personal step further he questioned, “Why did you invite him to your house?” Hall was shocked. This interrogation was an attempt to infringe on her First Amendment rights. She ignored the threats. (It would be decades until that same black officer, Willie Smith, finally became Marion’s police chief.)
The board chair, founder of the white private school “thrown up” when integration occurred, cancelled the second Black History Month celebration. The first had been a major success with black artists sharing their work, exhibits of famous black leaders, and talks presented by several college professors. The African Drum Dance and Music program was funded through the S.C. Rural Arts Program.
The “icing” on what would be the 100th Birthday Celebration of the Academy Building’s existence happened spring of 1986. Hall was promised from Francis Marion University one of two historic original slave cabins located on the campus that had been part of the 19th Century Gregg Plantation. Initially the university offered it to the South Carolina State Museum but it had a cabin. The school then contacted the Smithsonian but the Smithsonian had one. The state museum director, Dr. Tony Ganong, one of Hall’s friends at the museum, suggested the university call Hall to see if she wanted the artifact for the Marion County Museum. Of course she did!
Hall arranged for free transport from campus, 20 miles away. This dramatic relic would become an educational outbuilding for teaching colonial crafts including candle-making and weaving, art classes, and storytelling. It would highlight enslaved people and their contributions, suffering, and loss of freedom. Since Marion County had originally been part of Florence County where the cabin stood it was appropriate the museum be allowed this exquisite educational artifact.
Beeson, the county administrator, and museum board chair, Lipscomb, yelled “No. Hell NO! That cabin isn’t crossing the river and coming over here!” It wasn’t until several years later Hall discovered that the county administrator’s second wife was a Gregg and it was her family who’d owned the Gregg Plantation in the 1800’s with its accompanying enslaved work force and their wretched living quarters.
The 100th Birthday Celebration of the Marion Academy Building…
The summer of 1986 should have been an exciting time for the museum, museum commissioners, county residents, museum members, and children. But it wasn’t. Racism reared its vicious head yet again. Lipscomb commanded the museum sponsor a re-enactment of the Civil War on the museum grounds between Hall’s residence and the museum. The desire to promote the civil war spoke volumes even though the North thankfully won.
On the Big Day celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Marion Academy Building hundreds of people arrived. Canons boomed, soldiers fought and died on the grounds, art booths, food vendors, local music groups set up across the five acres.
At High Noon the cornerstone, placed in the building during construction 100 years earlier, was chiseled out and opened to the excitement of hundreds including television and newspaper representatives. When Hall peered inside she found, much to everyone’s disappointment, the remnants of tattered illegible papers and a few coins. Museum commissioners stood beside Hall ready to place inside the cornerstone a protective plastic covering that held a 1986 Silver Dollar, a $25 Government Bond, and the annual board minutes. The cornerstone was not returned to the corner of the museum but carried by board member Dr. Pat Worrell to the county administrator’s office per the request of Lipscomb and Beeson. Not only were those in attendance saddened by the lack of artifacts in the cornerstone but they were not allowed the privilege of watching it replaced for future residents to open 100 years later.
Hall is at the rear with sunglasses as she announces to the crowd that items left in the cornerstone were in ruins.
Hall’s last act as Founder and Director of the Marion County Museum was a roaring speech of enthusiasm and gratitude to the birthday crowd and to those who assisted in the development of the museum. Little did the public know this would be Hall’s last museum project. She’d grown weary of fighting bureaucracy, racism, stupidity, and cruelty. Having dedicated six years of intense study, work, planning and coordinating she decided it was time to go. The final straw was a county employee illegally changing Hall’s museum budget for the following year making it appear to the public Hall was demanding a large salary increase.
The following Monday after the property was cleared of battle remnants Hall walked the block to the historic 1800 courthouse, entered the county administrator’s office, slammed the museum keys on his desk and declared, “I quit. You win.” The county administrator’s mouth dropped wide open.
On Hall’s last day at the museum Erin, her youngest daughter, walked across the field from their old house to accompany her mom home. They loaded the car with personal items, Erin rang the original school bell for the last time then they walked out the back door. Erin picked a wildflower for her mom who later placed it in a plastic bookmarker used to this day. Mother and daughter locked the museum doors for the last time, got in their car, drove around the building once then headed home to the old McIntyre House.
At that moment racism in Marion County South Carolina won the day. Sadly, it would be decades before the atmosphere began to change ever so slightly.
A Shocking Disregard for the Most Valuable Museum Artifacts…
Sadly, the museum director after Hall resigned, a local interior decorator, removed the protective panels in the art gallery to “let in the sunlight” and create a party room. He relocated the restored 1890’s classroom to the second floor. This classrom is no longer a pure restoration, having modern pieces on display. No longer could the elderly or handicapped experience the crowning interpretation of the Marion County Museum as the building has no elevator. The following proves the value of the restored classroom; a letter to the editor regarding an elderly resident of Marion. (Maggi Hall, Letters to the Editor, Star/Enterprise, Marion, SC: 5.30.85).
“Dear Editor: Once upon a time there was a very gentle man, a true supporter of the collection and preservation of history in Marion County. His ancestors settled this area in the early eighteenth century, his roots tapped deeply into the soil of our county. He visited the museum quite frequently, bringing an interesting artifact with him each time, a significant and tangible piece of evidence left by his forbearers.
One day I found him standing quietly in the front hall gazing out the windows that flank the front door. He turned when I approached and inquired very softly, ‘Maggi, what type of security system does the museum have?’
I informed him that we had an inefficient system that needed extensive repair but that the museum did not have the funds required to correct the problem. He told me he wanted to pay for the cost of repairing the system and to find out how much it would be. I did so that afternoon and called him to tell him it would be about four hundred dollars.
The following day as I was working in the office, I heard someone enter the building. After a few minutes, I went up front and found my friend sitting in one of the late 19th Century school desks in the restored late 1800 classroom. He was thumbing through an 1895 roll book from the Marion Academy and found his grandfather’s name in the book. As I came up to him, he looked at me with tears streaming down his face and said, ‘I just love Marion County and I just love history.’ He reached into his pocket and retrieved four $100 bills. As I reached out to accept his love offering, I too found tears well up in my eyes and spill over as I leaned down to kiss his rough cheek. He asked me not to make public his gift, but at some point in time, when he no longer dwelt among us, to share with our community his dedication toward the establishment of a county museum.
This fine man, with a dignity and true spirit of giving, left us several months ago. Lost from our sight, but never forgotten, he shall long be remembered by all that knew him. I shall treasure my memories of a gentleman who endeared himself to our Marion County Museum as he shared both in word and deed, his devotion to our history. Thank you Hal Stanley.”
Amazing Grace Park Honors S.C. Senator Clementa Pinckney...
W. Andrew Beeson (Andy), who watched as a teen Hall vs. Marion School District 2 unfold and now a prominent attorney in Columbia, SC, sent the following article to Hall with a personal message:
SUMMER 2020, MARION, S.C. – Marion County is paying tribute to the late Senator Clementa Pinckney…to unite the community and honor a legacy of public service. …”Amazing Grace Park” …will be a three-acre… recreation area adjacent to the Marion County Museum. The $3 million dollar project will feature accessible seating areas, facilities, native flowers and foliage…a walking trail and venue for gatherings. …[T]he…Museum [will feature an exhibit].…honoring Pinckney… [and] serve as a “memorial to the late Senator as a place of reflection, remembrance and acceptance of all members of our shared society.” The park will feature a playground with sensory interaction and historical significance…[and]…art installation, “The Ascension,”…a group of copper and steel angel wings…13-feet at their highest point.” (Star & Enterprise, Naeem McFadden)
From Andy Beeson, “Maggi, ground was recently broken in Marion on a memorial park honoring the late Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a minister (and friend of mine) who was slain in the Mother Emanuel AME church massacre. The park will be located on the expanse between your old house, the one that drew you to Marion, and the museum you created. I have to think it wouldn’t have been placed there were it not for your efforts restoring the house and founding the museum, which made that expanse worthy of such an important memorial. So something good and beautiful resulted from your sacrifices. God’s design, you might say.”
Author Note: Royalties from the sale of Just Shut Up and Teach will be donated to the “Amazing Grace Park Project – The Senator Clementa Pinckney Memorial.” It was at Senator Pinckney’s funeral at Mother Emanuel in Charleston SC that President Barack Obama sang “Amazing Grace.”
Hall realized soon after moving to Marion South Carolina that the county had many dark sides. The “rest of the story” is found in Hall’s 2020 book Just Shut Up and Teach which relates her various experiences in the county as she battled for the legal rights of teachers. Her lawsuit, Hall vs. Marion School District 2, became one of the most important First Amendment lawsuits to come down from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in over a decade. It stands today as Case Law to protect the rights of public employees to criticize their employer when addressing matters of public concern. Just Shut Up is available at Amazon.com or visit www.FirstAmendmentWins.com to learn details of her lawsuit.
