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"C" is for Crum, William Demosthenes (1859-1912)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"C" is for Crum, William Demosthenes (1859-1912). Physician, civic leader, political activist. Born a free person of color, Crum attended the University of South Carolina and received his medical degree from Howard University. In 1881 he returned to Charleston where he served on the staff of McClennan Hospital and Training School for Nurses. Crum was heavily involved in politics, chairing the Charleston County republican Party for more than two decades and serving as a delegate to the party’s national convention. In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Crum as collector of customs for the port of Charleston. Despite furious opposition from the state’s political leaders and the Charleston press, Crum’s appointment was approved. William Demosthenes Crum continued as collector until 1909 when President Taft appointed as minister to Liberia--a post he held almost until his death.

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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.