Blythewood Historical Society and Museum

06/21/2026

Father’s Day is often credited to Sonora Smart Dodd, who was raised by her father—American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart—in Spokane, Washington, after her mother passed away.

Legend has it that while listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day in 1910, Dodd got to thinking about the wonderful job her father was doing with her and her siblings and decided fathers should have a day of honor, too.

Dodd's own father’s birthday was June 5th, and so she encouraged hers and other churches in the area to celebrate fathers that month. Thus, the first Father’s Day celebration was held on June 19, 1910, at the Spokane YMCA

Over the next few decades, the popularity of Father’s Day spread, and eventually people started lobbying Congress to make the holiday official.

1966: President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.

1972: President Richard Nixon signed a law making the observance a permanent, official national holiday.

Through the years, many famous fathers and every-day heroes have been honored with the gift of a Chelsea and we're thrilled to be a part of the wonderful tradition of giving thanks.

06/20/2026

Due to staff illness the museum will not open today June 20, 2026. We will open regular hours this week Tuesday -Thursday 9am -4pm. Thanks for your understanding. Visit us online at https://www.blythewoodhistoricalsociety.org

06/19/2026

Juneteenth is officially marked on June 19, 1865, the year when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, a full two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2021, a bill was introduced by U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. President Joe Biden signed the bill on June 17, 2021, making it the eleventh U.S. federal holiday. Juneteenth celebration across the country continue to commemorate the date not as a relic of the past, but as a living, breathing movement.

Pictures are from previous years celebration of Juneteenth celebrations in Doko Meadows Park in Blythewood. Pics by Robert White.

06/14/2026

06/10/2026

Thanks to Scout Pack 1879 who volunteered at the Blythewood Historical Society and Museum today and installed patriotic swag for Flag Day and our nation's birthday. A big thanks to Pack leader Eddie Rameriez and Scouts Leo, Daniel and Tino!

06/09/2026

Blythewood history video of Frances Davis.

Francine Davis' family moved to Blythewood in 1940 so she can attend the only black high school available in District 2. There were several church-based schools for black children to attend,

06/06/2026

Blythewood history video- Ruby Brice Explore the African American community through the experiences of Blythewood resident, Ruby Brice. Brice's paternal family lived in Blythewood since the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, her maternal family moved to Blythewood to attend the local schools. Bethel High School was the only black school in the district. Students traveled from surrounding towns like Elgin, Pontiac, State Park and even Fort Jackson. Since schools were segregated, African American students from the military base had to travel to the only black high school in the area.

Baseball was the number one recreation for African American families in the area.

Brice, grandfather David Hagler, worked as a track layer on the Southern Railways for forty-four years. Her grandfather was also an entrepreneur, owning a store that used to be located where the current Blythewood town sign sits near I-77, Exit 27 Blythewood.

Explore the African American community through the experiences of Blythewood resident, Ruby Brice. Brice's paternal family lived in Blythewood since the late 1800s.

06/04/2026

Blythewood History videos.

In 2017, Modos Media was asked to produce a film telling the story of the African-American history of Blythewood, South Carolina These films tell that story as told by six women representing some of the most well known families that have lived in Blythewood for many generations. The stories cross many generations of their families and reflect the translation of the big events of American history both good and bad, via their families’ personal experiences. The stories are inspiring, disturbing and empowering. We hear of families and their neighbors, building a better future from the days following emancipation, sharecropping, working together to create the first black high school in the area, encouraging friends and neighbors to register to vote, despite occasional fierce and frightening opposition, and so much more. Through the lens of Blythewood, we see the story of the south in America.

The film was produced by Raymond Smith and filmed and edited by Andrew Smith for the Town of Blythewood in 2017. Thanks also to Larry Griffin and Malcolm Gordge for asking us to make this film.

Dorothy Wilson talks about her grandfather, William Griffin. The history of William Griffin goes back to 1886. The Griffin family were sharecroppers and farmers.

06/02/2026

With our latest election cycle in full swing we thought we would share the story of Blythewood's Elizabeth H. Gasque, the first woman U.S. Representative from South Carolina.
Visit the Blythewood Historical Society and Museum to learn more about her and other prominent Blythewood citizens.

Elizabeth Hawley Gasque was born Elizabeth “Bessie” Mills Hawley near Blythewood, South Carolina, on February 26, 1886, daughter of John Meade and Emina Nelson Entzminger Hawley. Bessie Hawley was a member of the southern aristocracy and spent her childhood on the expansive “Rice Creek” plantation, which covered 4,000 acres.2 She attended the South Carolina Coeducational Institute in Edgefield, South Carolina, and graduated with a degree in expression (drama) from Greenville Female College (now Furman University) in 1907. She married Allard H. Gasque, a teacher and school administrator, in 1907, and they had four children: Elizabeth, Doris, John, and Thomas.3 Bessie Gasque became interested in politics through her social connections. Later she would boast that she had been personally acquainted with every President from Woodrow Wilson to Franklin D. Roosevelt.4 In 1923 Allard Gasque won election to the first of eight terms as a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, eventually becoming the chairman of the Committee on Pensions and a champion of war veterans and their families.5 It was during her husband’s congressional service that Bessie Gasque fell in love with Washington, plunging into the social scene. She became one of the regular hosts of an annual ball to raise funds to fight polio, held on President Franklin Roosevelt’s birthday. Washington became her “natural home.”6

Chairman Gasque entered Walter Reed Hospital in Washington in May 1938 and died there on June 17, the day after the 75th Congress (1937–1939) adjourned.7 At the time of his death, Gasque was unopposed for reelection. The district encompassed eight counties in northeastern South Carolina, including Gasque’s home county of Florence. State and local Democratic leaders persuaded Bessie Gasque to run for her husband’s unexpired term; even the filing fee was provided for her.8 In the perfunctory one-party special election of September 13, 1938, Elizabeth Gasque succeeded her late husband in little more than name. The election took place on the same day as that for her successor. John Lanneau McMillan, a former secretary to Allard Gasque, was elected to the full term in the 76th Congress (1939–1941).9 The 75th Congress had already adjourned, and although there was always the possibility that the President would call for a special lame duck session, observers considered that highly unlikely.10 She captured 96 percent of the vote compared to a combined four percent by her two male Democratic opponents.

Following the election, Congresswoman Gasque returned to Washington. The fall races, however, went badly for the Democrats nationwide. Earlier that summer, President Roosevelt had led unsuccessful efforts to campaign against opponents of the New Deal in Democratic Party primaries. The failure of the highly public “purge,” along with losses for Roosevelt proponents in many northern races, signaled the beginning of the end of the New Deal.11 This chain of events also ended any possibility for a special lame duck session.

Gasque never received any committee assignments, and she was never sworn into office. She did, however, continue to be a presence on Washington’s social scene, attending a presidential reception held in honor of the new Secretary of Commerce, Harry Hopkins, in December 1938.12

After the 75th Congress officially ended in January 1939, Gasque returned to South Carolina. She maintained her social ties in Washington, remaining active largely through her membership in the Congressional Club. After former South Carolina Senator Nathaniel Barksdale Dial died in Washington in 1940, Gasque shared a Washington home with Dial’s widow, who was noted for her parties. Locally, Gasque was active in dramatics and was an author and lecturer. At one point she served as the head of the Fine Arts Department of South Carolina’s Federation of Women’s Clubs. In her many travels, she was a constant booster of South Carolina as a vacation destination.13 She eventually married A. J. Van Exem. The couple lived at Cedar Tree Plantation in Ridgeway, South Carolina, where she became a master tree farmer. She died on November 2, 1989, at the age of 103.