Between the Waters: Hobcaw Barony Website Planning Project

FAIN: GE-50581-12

ETV Endowment of South Carolina, Inc. (Spartanburg, SC 29302-1970)
Betsy Newman (Project Director: August 2011 to August 2013)

Planning for a website, a virtual tour, and educational materials about the history of Bernard Baruch's rural estate in coastal South Carolina, its African American residents, and its legacy for regional land conservation.

"Between the Waters" is a proposed website that will interpret the culture and history of Hobcaw Barony, the former South Carolina winter retreat of financier Bernard Baruch. Baruch purchased the property in 1905 when it was home to more than 100 descendants of slaves living in conditions little changed since Emancipation, and it became a haven for world leaders, writers, businessmen, journalists, artists and movie stars. Belle Baruch, Bernard's daughter, preserved the property and founded the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, securing Hobcaw for education and research. "Between the Waters" will connect material culture to the lives of Hobcaw's residents and visitors through a rich multi-media experience combining video, audio, text and interactives; the website will encourage inquiry and deductive reasoning, allowing users to explore and reflect upon the story of Hobcaw Barony, how it has helped to shape the American present and its implications for the future of South Carolina and the country.