Upheaval in Charleston

MUSC following the earthquake

Upheaval in Charleston: Earthquake and Murder on the Eve of Jim Crowe
Susan Millar Williams and Stephen G. Hoffius
Published June 1, 2011


In case you missed the memo, I love history.


On August 31, 1886, an earthquake struck Charleston, SC shaking a city still reeling from the Civil War off of its foundations.  Williams and Hoffius explore Charleston and its biggest egos as it struggles to rebuild itself and find its identity in post war America.  Looming over reconstruction is newspaper editor Francis Dawson, a South Carolina transplant that has become the embodiment of the "American Dream."   He started with nothing to become a wealthy man with amazing sway in a city where outsiders aren't often welcome.  Dawson's "liberal" views and political meddling run him afoul of the good ole boy network.  When Dawson is murdered, corruption reigns supreme as his murderer is acquitted.  Racial tensions run high as freed slaves struggle to establish themselves in a "white world."  The relief effort exposes the inequities between the races as well as a conservative view of welfare that is still prevalent in modern day South Carolina (and America in general).

Earthquake bolts

Didn't know about the Charleston quake?  Don't feel bad, neither did I, and I make it my business to know.  Seismic knowledge was in its infancy in 1886, so there isn't much known about the earthquake.  With an estimated magnitude of 7.3, the earthquake killed 60 people and caused millions of dollars of damage.  "Earthquake bolts" can still be seen in period buildings around modern day Charleston. 

As history books go, Upheaval was an easy and very interesting read (though it did take me longer than normal to get through).  Williams and Hoffius mesh multiple plot lines together seamlessly. As a historian, I feel too much credit was given to the accuracy of personal accounts of the earthquake.  I find it hard to believe that an amateur geologist could accurately time the duration and direction of an earthquake that jolted him from his slumber.  Still, that is my opinion.  It does not detract from the facts of the book on a whole.