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“M” is for McGowan, Clelia Peronneau (1865-1956)

“M” is for McGowan, Clelia Peronneau (1865-1956). Civic leader. Born in Columbia, McGowan studied in Sweden with a pioneer in the woman’s movement in that country. After the death of her husband McGowan moved to Charleston and became involved n civic affairs. She was president of the League of Women Voters in Charleston. Shortly thereafter she was appointed to the State Board of Education—the first woman appointed to public office in South Carolina. In 1922 she became involved with the Commission on Racial Cooperation and served as chair of the commission’s South Carolina chapter for several decades. In 1923 she won a seat on Charleston City Council. The most lasting monument to Clelia Peronneau McGowan’s civic leadership is the Charleston County Library, which grew out of her work with the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.