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ETV Spotlights "The Barnwell Ring"
Documentary Takes a Look at Legendary Circle of Power Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m.
For Immediate Release
May 15, 2007
Columbia...On Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m., in conjunction with the Horse Country Road Show, ETV airs the political documentary, The Barnwell Ring. This 30-minute program takes a look at the careers of two influential South Carolina politicians who would later become principal players in the storied clique: Senator Edgar A. Brown and Speaker of the House Solomon Blatt.
The zenith of the so-called Barnwell Ring was in 1941 when four men dominated all of state government: Brown, Blatt, Governor J. Emile Harley, and Winchester Smith, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. However, it was Brown and Blatt who, in the long run became the central figures of the Barnwell Ring that lasted for more than three decades.
While critics of the day railed against the group for holding the state back and controlling its political and economic future, others denied its very existence. In one famous photograph, Blatt points to a wrought iron circle enclosing the letter "B" on a Barnwell building and remarks, "That’s the only Ring I know of in Barnwell." It wasn’t until a 1963 testimonial dinner for Speaker Blatt that Senator Edgar A. Brown got a hearty ovation when he proclaimed: "Long live the Barnwell Ring."
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.
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