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“R” is for Rollin sisters

“R” is for Rollin sisters. The five Rollin sisters were born in Charleston; they included Frances Anne, Charlotte (“Lottie”), Kate, Louisa, and Florence. Descendants of émigrés who fled the St. Dominigue Revolution in the late eighteenth century, the Rollins were free people of color living prosperously in South Carolina during the era of slavery. The girls attended private Catholic schools in Charleston and the three eldest were educated in Philadelphia. Stranded in the North by the Civil War, they returned to South Carolina afterward and made Columbia their base of political activity. During Reconstruction Frances, Lottie, Louisa, and Kate were active in South Carolina politics. Known for their grace, intelligence and charm, the Rollin sisters were active participants in the highest social circles, and their Columbia home became an important, if informal, venue for Republican Party leaders in Reconstruction South Carolina.

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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.