The Horry County Museum and the AVX Foundation present a program by local author and historian Christopher Boyle on Saturday, April 23^rd, on his new book Lowcountry Agricultural and Convivial Societies

“Throughout the first century of South Carolina’s settlement, rice was an important crop but the rice industry did not experience its first boom until the 1720s and 1730s. This book explores the purpose of the social organizations as well as the moral, economic, cultural, and political challenges of the Antebellum Georgetown rice planters. Within the protected confines of their organizations, planters felt safe discussing local and national politics, advancements to their educational system, and agricultural and livestock improvements to better compete with the Industrial North. The alliance of “brothers of the soil” helped solidify South Carolina’s Lowcountry politically. The agricultural alliances of the region promoted Southern Nationalism and provided one pillar for Southerners to the American Civil War.”

Christopher C. Boyle is the international baccalaureate history teacher at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and a part-time teaching associate at Coastal Carolina University in Conway. Upon graduation from Coastal Carolina University with his bachelor’s degree in history, he further studied history at Winthrop University where he graduated in 1996 with his Master of Arts degree in American history. In addition to having written numerous articles for scholarly journals, Boyle is the author of Mansfield Plantation: A Legacy on the Black River and The Road to Secession in Antebellum Georgetown & Horry Districts.

The program will begin at 1:00 pm in the McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street, Conway S.C. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcgmuseum@horrycounty.org. To view a full list of programs, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.