More than 500 years ago, a tribe of Native Americans lived peacefully next to a river in an area called Cofitachequi, near what is now Camden, South Carolina. A kind and generous woman, who was a member of the Otter Clan, ruled this tribe. She became known as the Lady of Cofitachequi. All the people of the tribe and animals in the area loved the Lady. An adoring otter tells this true historical account of what happened to the Lady and her kin when Spanish explorers led by Hernando de Soto came looking for gold and silver. De Soto demanded that the tribe hand over precious metals and gems, but all the people had to offer were freshwater pearls and copper. In anger de Soto ordered his army to loot the temples and take all the food. Before leaving, they took the Lady captive and forced her to go with them. Otter watched with tears in his eyes as the Lady was taken away. Where did the Lady of Cofitachequi go, and would Otter and the people of the town ever see her again?

In Cherokee Asegi udanto refers to people who either fall outside of men’s and women’s roles or who mix men’s and women’s roles. Asegi, which translates as “strange,” is also used by some Cherokees as a term similar to “queer.” For author Qwo-Li Driskill, asegi provides a means by which to reread Cherokee history in order to listen for those stories rendered “strange” by colonial heteropatriarchy. As the first full-length work of scholarship to develop a tribally specific Indigenous Queer or Two-Spirit critique, Asegi Stories examines gender and sexuality in Cherokee cultural memory, how they shape the present, and how they can influence the future. The theoretical and methodological underpinnings of Asegi Stories derive from activist, artistic, and intellectual genealogies, referred to as “dissent lines” by Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith. Driskill intertwines Cherokee and other Indigenous traditions, women of color feminisms, grassroots activisms, queer and Trans studies and politics, rhetoric, Native studies, and decolonial politics. Drawing from oral histories and archival documents in order to articulate Cherokee-centered Two-Spirit critiques, Driskill contributes to the larger intertribal movements for social justice.

Volume Two: The biographical essays in this volume provide new insights into the various ways that South Carolina women asserted themselves in their state and illuminate the tension between tradition and change that defined the South from the Civil War through the Progressive Era. As old rules--including gender conventions that severely constrained southern women--were dramatically bent if not broken, these women carved out new roles for themselves and others. The volume begins with a profile of Laura Towne and Ellen Murray, who founded the Penn School on St. Helena Island for former slaves. Subsequent essays look at such women as the five Rollin sisters, members of a prominent black family who became passionate advocates for women's rights during Reconstruction; writer Josephine Pinckney, who helped preserve African American spirituals and explored conflicts between the New and Old South in her essays and novels; and Dr. Matilda Evans, the first African American woman licensed to practice medicine in the state. Intractable racial attitudes often caused women to follow separate but parallel paths, as with Louisa B. Poppenheim and Marion B. Wilkinson. Poppenheim, who was white, and Wilkinson, who was black, were both driving forces in the women's club movement. Both saw clubs as a way not only to help women and children but also to showcase these positive changes to the wider nation. Yet the two women worked separately, as did the white and black state federations of women's clubs. Often mixing deference with daring, these women helped shape their society through such avenues as education, religion, politics, community organizing, history, the arts, science, and medicine. Women in the mid- and late twentieth century would build on their accomplishments.

Prior to the twenty-first century, most historical writing about women in South Carolina focused on elite White women, even though working-class women of diverse backgrounds were actively engaged in the social, economic, and political battles of the state. Although often unrecognized publicly, they influenced cultural and political landscapes both within and outside of the state's borders through their careers, writing, art, music, and activism. Despite significant cultural, social, and political barriers, these brave and determined women affected sweeping change that advanced the position of women as well as their communities. The entries in 101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina, which include many from the landmark text The South Carolina Encyclopedia, offer a concise and approachable history of the state, while recognizing the sacrifice, persistence, and sheer grit of its heroines and history makers. A foreword is provided by Walter Edgar, Neuffer Professor of Southern Studies Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of South Carolina.

Interesting topics Include: Books and printing in the age of Columbus; The Inca Empire; The horse in North America; The legend of El Dorado; The Nootka Convention; The Pueblo Revolt; The role of California missions.

Of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians the Cherokees were early recognized as the greatest and the most civilized. Indeed, between 1540 and 1906 they reached a higher peak of civilization than any other North American Indian tribe. They invented a syllabary and developed an intricate government, including a system of courts of law. They published their own newspaper in both Cherokee and English and became noted as orators and statesmen. At the beginning the Cherokees’ conquest of civilization was agonizingly slow and uncertain. Warlords of the southern Appalachian Highlands, they were loath to expend their energies elsewhere. In the words of a British officer, "They are like the Devil’s pigg, they will neither lead nor drive." But, led or driven, the warlike and willful Cherokees, lingering in the Stone Age by choice at the turn of the eighteenth century, were forced by circumstances to transfer their concentration on war to problems posed by the white man. To cope with these unwelcome problems, they had to turn from the conquests of war to the conquest of civilization.