University of South Carolina Libraries
Historians ask for repair, renovation to former president’s childhood home mS X THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Local historians say one of President Woodrow Wilson’s childhood homes needs a new roof and other renovations or it might be forced to close to the public. The nation’s 28th president, born in Virginia, was raised in Georgia and South Carolina and lived with his parents and two siblings in Columbia as a teenager during from 1870 to 1874. The family moved into the home, which includes Wilson’s birth bed, in 1872. The Woodrow Wilson house is furnished with period 1870s furniture, but only two of the pieces belonged to the Wilsons, including the bed. A variety of repairs are needed to protect the house. Windows need to be replaced and outfitted with film to guard the furniture and home’s interior from sunlight, plaster ceilings are showing cracks and electric wiring, especially on the second floor, needs updating. Members of the Historic Columbia Foundation, which maintains the Woodrow Wilson house and three other homes in downtown Columbia, asked Richland County Council last week for about $5,000 for an assessment. Councilwoman Kit Smith said the home “is a critical part of Columbia because we have so little left of our history compared to many other Southern cities,” Smith said. If the council approves the assessment, the renovation funding would likely come from private donations and federal grants, said Robin Waites, executive director of the Historic Columbia Foundation. Waites said work could begin as early as July. “The house is at a stage in its life span where it requires a great deal of attention — it’s never received a wholesale museum-quality restoration,” said John M. Sherrer III, director of properties and interpretation for Historic Columbia. Sherrer said the house functioned as a single-family residence between 1872 and 1928, when it was saved from demolition. The house opened to the public as a museum in 1932. An estimated 20,000 people a year visit the four historic homes maintained by Historic Columbia. The Woodrow Wilson house seems to attract more out ofTtown visitors than the others, largely because many people make presidential landmarks a specific destination, he said. “With the increased focus on heritage tourism, we hope to draw more people into Columbia, and a structure like this has to be able to handle that,” Sherrer said. “It’s important to do it right because you get great returns when you maintain cultural assets in the right way.” TIM DOMINICK/THE STATE The Woodrow Wilson house, one of Wilson’s childhood homes, was built by Wilson’s parents in 1872 in Columbia and is in need of repair. Members of the Historic Columbia Foundation asked Richland County Council for about $5,000 to assess the damages. Biracial daughter seeking inheritance of Thurmond estate THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLESTON — A lawyer representing the biracial daughter of the late Strom Thurmond says a challenge could be filed to claim part his estate. When Thurmond, the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, died in 2003 at 100, his will left nothing to Essie Mae Washington Williams, his daughter from a relationship with a black maid who worked at his family’s Edgefield home. Her lawyer, Frank Wheaton, said a challenge could follow if documents emerge that show Thurmond intended to leave the 79-year-old Los Angeles woman with a portion of his estate. “If in fact the late senator decided not to include her, then so be it,” Wheaton told The Post and Courier of Charleston. But if he did wish to include her, “we would want whatever the senator’s intent was ... to be carried out accordingly.” Thurmond’s three other surviving children are in a will that disposes of an estate valued at $1.48 million. That’s just under the level where federal estate taxes are imposed, Wheaton said. In the past, Washington Williams has said her decision to come forward was not related to making a claim on Thurmond’s estate. Thurmond, who became one of the nation’s most visible segregationists, paid for the Washington Williams’ college education and made numerous loans and financial gifts that spanned several decades. But he never publicly acknowledged he was her father. “Without question, the senator provided for (Washington Williams) for at least 62 years,” Wheaton said. “He loved his daughter, and his daughter loved him.” The two infrequently met, but Washington Williams often wrote her father and he would help her monetarily or in other ways. In her recent book, “Dear Senator,” Washington Williams says she was frustrated by the distance between them that was never bridged. “Yes, he had changed, and so had the world, but he and I had never so much as sat down together for a meal,” she wrote, describing her feelings when he died. I Marine with potentially fatal ailment receives new liver in 12-hour surgery By BEN FOX THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LOMA LINDA, Calif. — With little time left before his organs would likely fail, a U.S. Marine received a new liver Sunday for a mysterious ailment doctors said would kill him if he didn’t get a transplant. Doctors operated on Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu, who had been in a coma and on life support, for nearly 12 hours Sunday after an unidentified donor from New Mexico was found late Saturday night. Doctors said the procedure went well, said Sgt. Jennie Haskamp, spokeswoman at Twentynine Palms, where LeBleu was stationed. He was in critical condition late Sunday. In the hospital lobby, his 21-year-old wife, Melany, found comfort in photos of her wedding last fall, shortly after LeBleu returned from Iraq. Despite her fears, she has remained optimistic since her husband’s illness was discovered earlier this month. Several of LeBleu’s commanding officers, fellow Marines and other family members huddled with his wife Sunday as they awaited the outcome of the operation. Burt Parham, who is related to LeBleu by marriage, said he expected bad news when he got the call that a liver had been found. “It was kind of a worried ring, but we were glad of the news,” said Parham, who lives in the family’s hometown of Lake Charles, La. “It’s a shame somebody has to die. But I mean, it’s God’s will, I guess. We sure have been praying for Chris.” The cause of the infection is unknown. Dr. Donald Hillebrand, a liver specialist, said LeBleu most likely caught a virus or was exposed to a toxin or chemical in Iraq or after his return. LeBleu, 22, was a rifleman in Iraq for seven months as part of a 2,200-man task force that lost 21 people and had nearly 200 wounded in action. His battalion commander, Lt. Col. Matt Lopez, said he wasn’t aware of any other members of the unit with similar ailments to LeBleu. Fellow Marines call him “Blue,” and say the Marine kept a cool head as his 160-man company guarded a base near the Syrian border. “He’s a real resilient guy, the most relaxed, confident person you’ll ever meet,” said Lance Cpl. Rob Whittenberg, 23, of Spring Branch, Texas. The infection developed gradually. In mid-December, just months after he returned from Iraq, LeBleu told his new wife he felt tired, a little under the weather. Still, he was strong enough to drive them home to Louisiana for the holidays from his Marine Base in Southern California, going for 36 hours straight. On Jan. 2, he found the strength to go wild boar hunting with relatives. “We kept telling him to go to a doctor, but he said it was just a sinus infection,” Melany LeBleu said. “Of course, we didn’t think it was anything major.” Days later, he felt much worse during the drive back to the Marine base at Twentynine Palms. In Texas, LeBleu felt so nauseous he had to pull over. They made it back to their home on the base, but he didn’t get better. On Jan. 10, she took him to a base emergency room, which sent him to Loma Linda University Medical Center, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. “He couldn’t keep anything down, not even water,” she said. As recently as Thursday, he was jaundiced and swelling but could still answer questions, Hillebrand said. Within 24 hours, however, he was no longer coherent and had to be put on life support. Without a new liver, his other organs would have started to fail, his doctor said. About 17,500 people are waiting for liver transplants in the United States, Hillebrand said. LeBleu’s family and friends had sought a liver from someone with O-positive blood as a directed donation, outside the usual waiting process. “It’s hard to see your husband in that situation,” Melany LeBleu said. “You can’t even describe the feeling.” Associated Press Writers Doug Simpson andJanet McConnaughey in New Orleans contributed to this report. REED SAXON/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Melany LeBleu, wife of U.S. Marine Lance CpI. Christopher LeBleu, holds her husband’s portrait while sitting next to Lt. Col. Matt Lopez, LeBleu’s battalion commander, at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif., Saturday. ■ MILLER Continued from page 1 Miller said the film might also borrow some from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a popular cult classic from 1975. Miller said that “The Last Horror Picture Show” will have a bigger budget than “Jolly Roger.” We have Robert Englund attached to that he said. Englund played the role of Freddy Krueger in the popular movie series “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Miller started writing film scripts during high school. When he graduated from USC in 1992, he began a career in film scriptwriting. “I got my first writing job when I was 23 with a company out of Charlotte,” Miller said. While the film Miller wrote there was not produced, Miller said he had remained optimistic. “I finally decided I would make my own films,” he said. “The three movies that I made in South Carolina, I did that for myself.” Still in South Carolina, Miller collaborated with Paul Talbot and Bill Cooke as an associate producer of “Freakshow,” and as a co-producer and co-writer of “Hellblock 13.” He also worked with them to write, produce and direct “Head Cheerleader Dead Cheerleader.” Miller sSid that even with his career on the rise, he noted that he still has time to watch USC football games with a few other South Carolinians in the Los Angeles film industry. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockneus@gipm.sc. edu TH^AMEGOGK Online five days a week. Word. ■ www. dailygamecock. com / , sa « i - < ‘ ^ ' f « ^ ’ .ft " *•' ",