Poems: In Honor of South Carolina Tricentennial

In honor of South Carolina Tricentennial celebration, Archibald Rutledge, Poet Laureate of South Carolina, wrote this collection of poems about his home state. Rutledge (1883-1973) was born in McClellanville and had family ties to many prominent South Carolina families, including the Rutledges, Middletons, Pinckneys, and Horrys. After retiring as an English professor in Pennsylvania, Rutledge returned to South Carolina after being appointed the state’s first poet laureate in 1934. In his poems, Rutledge depicts the natural beauty of South Carolina inspired by his childhood growing up on his family’s ancestral home of Hampton Plantation in Charleston County.