Charleston’s Dock Street Theatre felt especially warm inside Tuesday night. And it wasn’t just because of the blast of winter weather that blew people in.
It was the warmth of a community that came together to celebrate a man who led the city for 40 years, former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley.
Hundreds of people filled the theatre for a sold-out event entitled, “Riley Forty: Joe Riley and the City He shaped.” The event was meant to promote the mayors recently released memoir, “Windows on Washington Square.”
But noticeably absent was the author himself.
Riley’s son, Bratton, faced his father's absence with the moderator’s first question, “How’s your dad doing?”
Bratton Riley revealed his dad has Alzheimer’s disease and is in memory care.
“One of the greatest things that we’ve been able to do over the last few weeks was, a few days before Christmas, hand him this book,” said Riley.
“You know, it was the greatest Christmas present we could ever have.”
Bratton Riley, Joe Riley’s son
Riley told the audience his father wanted to do two things after he retired in 2016; finish the International African American Museum, which opened in 2023, and write his memoir, released earlier this month.
“He wrote it all,” said Riley.
“The beautiful thing is, you know, dementia started creeping in, but it really was after he had pretty much finished the book, thank goodness.”
On stage, memories of the former mayor and his legacy flowed for six panelists, including Bratton Riley, and the moderator, longtime Post & Courier columnist, and author Brian Hicks.
Brian Hicks, columnist and author
Hicks wrote Riley’s biography, “The Mayor: Joe Riley and the Rise of Charleston”, published in 2015. He told the audience he was asked by the newspaper to do so because, “Some of the editors called me the mayor’s spokesman.”
He wasn’t sure that was a compliment.
Hicks said he didn’t always agree with Riley and when he’d write something the mayor didn’t like, he’d hear from him.
“He would send you a letter, very polite, very polite,” said Hicks.
Hicks got a slew of them.
“Every one of them, single spaced, three pages, in which the mayor of Charleston very politely told you exactly how you were a dumb*ss and why you needed to think differently about it."
The audience erupted in laughter. Hicks travelled with the mayor during his final year in office.
Jean Toal, former Chief Justice of the SC Supreme Court
Joining the panel by phone was former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal who is recovering from a recent bout of Covid. Bratton Riley said she was like an aunt as he placed the call.
“I’ll never forget the first time I met your dad,” said Toal.
Toal explained she met Riley when she was 9 years old and he was ten. She recalled her dad and Riley’s father were friends when she took a trip to Charleston and the two were introduced by Riley’s dad.
“He said, ‘Now Joe, this is little Jean. You look after her.’”
“I looked at this little guy. He had a glove on his hand and a baseball bat in his hand,” she said.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Do you play roller ball?’”
“I said, 'Yes, don’t think anything about this little dress I’m wearing.'"
The two would go on to attend law school at the University of South Carolina.
“We had a bunch of folks our age that were intent on changing the dynamics of South Carolina politics,” said Toal.
“And Joe was the first of us that got elected to the House of Representatives.”
Toal remembered Riley telling her that after three terms, he wasn’t going to run for the statehouse again. Instead, he wanted to serve as Charleston's mayor.
Toal said she told him, “That place is a dump.”
At the time, downtown Charleston was dilapidated. But Riley would go on to be elected mayor in 1975 and change the city's course over ten terms.
“We collaborated on so many things,” said Toal.
“It was a friendship from childhood that morphed into one of the most wonderful relationships for the two of us, forever.”
Frances Cantwell, Charleston attorney
Frances Cantwell served as a city attorney during the Riley administration. She recalled Riley’s vision for what the city could be when he first took office at the age of 32.
“He had a plan and he set out to accomplish it,” said Cantwell. “And he did it with a bang.”
Cantwell remembered how Riley set out to revitalize King Street, then plagued by so much crime businesses had bars on windows.
The new mayor envisioned what is now The Charleston Place, a luxury hotel and retail complex that was much debated because of its price and size.
“But he wouldn’t give up,” said Cantwell. “He was relentless.”
Harry Lesesne, former senior advisor to Mayor Riley
Harry Lesesne advised Riley during the mayor's later years in office.
“By the time I began working for him in 2004, he was already a legendary mayor,” said Lesesne.
Lesesne recalled Riley always drove himself to events, wrote his own speeches and was the first person to arrive at City Hall.
“And about 9:30 or 10 o’clock, I would get a phone call that said, ‘Harry, look up here a minute’".
That meant come to his office where the mayor held a morning meeting with key staff members. But, Lesesne said, that call came only after Riley had what he called “thinking time”.
“He would write speeches. He would answer his correspondence, write letters, make phone calls, and think,” said Lesesne.
“He always talked about how valuable thinking time was for busy people.”
Dr. Bernard Powers, historian
Dr. Bernard Powers was the lead historian for the International African American Museum and once served as its interim director at the request of Mayor Riley.
He told the audience he was a relative newcomer when he learned about a portrait of Denmark Vesey on display at what is now the Charleston Gaillard Center in 1976.
The painting, commissioned by Mayor Riley, was quite controversial as Vesey was a freed Black man who in the early 1800s allegedly planned an insurrection and was hanged.
“But Mayor Riley understood that Denmark Vesey was a representative and a voice and an image that was cherished in this Black community,” said Powers.
“And he championed it.”
Charleston during the 1970s was dilapidated, not only physically but racially.
“And Mayor Riley believed that by creating the kind of city that he had a vision for, you could restore that sense of brotherhood and that sense of welcome and camaraderie amongst people," said Powers.
Kendra Stewart, director of the Riley Center for Livable Communities
Kendra Stewart leads the Riley Center for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston. It focuses on urban planning, economic development and public policy.
She said Riley’s legacy extends far beyond the city of Charleston as he’s become a mentor for mayors across the country.
“I spoke with mayor of Pittsburgh, and one of the things he told me was that they have this monumental waterfall statue in the center of the city that is now an icon of the city,” said Stewart.
“He says it would not be there were it not for Joe Riley.”
Stewart said she’s working to collect stories from more leaders about the impact Riley has had on other local governments.
The event, put on by Evening Post and Buxton Books, wrapped up with questions from the audience, and a parting thought from Riley's son.
His father loves people.
"All the projects that happened, Waterfront Park, Charleston Place, the ball field, the museum, everything, it all happened as a consequence of those love relationships."
"And that's how dad feels about everyone," said Riley. "It's a very, Christian belief of unconditional love for everyone."
That love seemed mutual as members of audience lingered long after the event was over, reminiscing about their own Joe Riley stories.
