The Secret Life of Bees and The Color of Water similarities between Lily and Ruth?

Image by hdes.copeland
Charleston, SC. 167 Ashley Avenue., Porter Military Academy, site of the former US Arsenal in Charleston. Historic American Buildings Survey, or HABS, photo by Louis Schwartz, taken c.1963.

Louis Schwartz was a professional photographer with the editorial staff of both Charleston daily newspapers at the time, the Charleston Evening Post and the News and Courier. In addition to his duties with the local press, he worked freelance, including such projects as documenting the city’s historic architectural assets through his pictures. Many of these photos are now in the collections of local institutions, but most notably, the US Department of the Interior and the Library of Congress as part of the ongoing HABS program.

The more modern two story building to the left in the photo is Summerall Hall, a dormitory and classroom building constructed in 1955. The much larger building with a cupola was built c.1840 and was originally called New England Hall. It was designed to be a barracks for enlisted men and petty officers with assembly rooms on the ground level. The cupola served as both a watch tower and a gravity driven ventilation system benefiting the lower floors.

The Arsenal was one of the first US military facilities to be captured and occupied by South Carolina Militia immediately after the state seceeded from the Union in December 1860. Confederate forces used the Charleston Arsenal to manufacture, assemble and store weapons, including heavy cannon, during most of the hostilities that followed the out break of the American Civil War. In February 1865, with the evacuation of Confederate troops and the city’s surrender, the Arsenal was again occupied by Federal military personnel.

For the eleven years that followed, Federal troops occupied the city and were housed at the Arsenal and other military installations in and around the city. With the election of 1876 and the end of Reconstruction in South Carolina, Federal troops were finally withdrawn from the state and home rule was restored. The Arsenal was emptied and eventually became surplus government property.

A few years later, at the behest of several US Senators, notably including more than a few Union veterans from Northern states, the Arsenal was offered to Dr. Anthony Toomer Porter and his Holy Communion Church Institute for use as an orphanage and industrial training school. This was despite opposition from other Union veterans, but also some outspoken former Confederates in Charleston who wanted nothing to do with this symbol of the former rebellion or a school which might raise up a new generation of potential rebels too far removed from the late unpleasantness. In the end a balance between the charity of the victor and the humility of the vanquished prevailed with Dr. Porter’s school taking possession of the Arsenal without a fight or a surrender.

With good public relations in mind, and as an added precaution against the possibility of the former Arsenal ever being used again in support of hostilities against the United States by the locals, the empty weapons facility was thoroughly cleaned before it was turned over to the priest and his school’s faculty who themselves were former members of the Confederate military. A band of volunteers arrived in Charleston by train. All were Union veterans and they came to Charleston less than 10 years after the Union occupation had ended.

These Union veterans were under the direction of William T. Sherman, their General and former commander. They traveled to Charleston at their own expense to prepare the campus to be turned over to the Episcopal priest and his students. Their arrival was without fanfare and their departure went equally unnoticed.

This was a marked difference from the last time General Sherman and his men were in the vacinity. That campaign and his feign toward the city before laying seige to Columbia, had directly led to the city’s surrender in Feburary of 1865. This visit also involved no destruction of property and no cities to be set afire. This was a mission of mercy.

From the 1880’s until 1965, the former Arsenal was exclusively used as a school. In the spirit of a well known biblical exaltation, they beat their swords into plowshears. In this example, they transformed a weapons factory into an orphanage and school. Today this and most of the other buildings associated with the Charleston Arsenal and later Porter Military Academy are gone. The site is now part of the Medical University of South Carolilna. It is now an arsenal of medicine and a school for training those dedicated to health care and medical research.

It should be noted that most of the original buildings associated with the US Arsenal in Charleston were constructed between 1840 and 1865. These were mostly solid masonry buildings constructed on what is known as a foundation of continuous piers with spread footings. The record of earthquake related damage to these buildings in 1886 indicates actual damage was minimal. None of the buildings located on the grounds of the US Arsenal would have met current seizemic code specifications for new construction, yet none of these buildings, according to the historic records at the time, posed a direct threat to the health or safety of the occupants at the time of the Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886.

Photo is attributed to Louis Schwartz who was a freelance photographer for the Charleston newspapers. The photo is believed to be in the public domain and the collections of HABS and the LOC. Charleston, SC. HABS photo taken by Louis Schwartz in 1963.

Photo and text posted: 1 February 2008
Revised: 7 December 2010
Copyright references: HABS photograph from the collections of the Library of Congress, LOC; image is belived to be in the public domain.

Question by Nike: The Secret Life of Bees and The Color of Water similarities between Lily and Ruth?
Please help me. What is a big similarity between Lily and Ruth/ Rachel/ Mommy? I already came up with that they were raised with values that became obsolete later in life…

Also, could you give me any ideas for a thesis encompassing these?

Thank you
By the way, I am not just being lazy. I have tried so hard to do this. I’ve had probably 5 theses that the teacher pretty much just stared at in disgust. I am terrible at English, and your help would be monumentally appreciated.

Give your answer to this question below!