Life in Old Hartsville Remembered in New Book

Hartsville, S.C. — In “Growing Up in the Brown House: Memories of Old Hartsville” (Coker College Press, 2008) independent scholar Mary Coker Joslin recalls her childhood in what is now Coker College’s Administration Building. The book is compelling personal history and an engaging look at life in a Southern town through the 1920s and 1930s.

“For me, the culture of a small Southern town was a good place to begin life,” Joslin writes in the book’s preface. “We had close friends and relatives. We had ample time to surround ourselves in the beauty of the surrounding area.”

Born in 1922, Joslin is the second-youngest child of D. R. and May Roper Coker and the granddaughter of Major James Lide Coker, founder of Coker College. The Brown House, built by D.R Coker adjacent to the College’s campus in 1916, is known to generations of students as “Miss May’s.” The house became the college’s Administration Building in 1976.

Joslin’s parents were among their generation’s leading citizens, connected to state and national leadership, and deeply concerned with the issues of the time. Consequently, the Brown House was a lively home filled with a constant stream of visitors that included extended family, her parents’ friends and colleagues, as well as college professors, student and guest speakers.

“Living next door to a liberal arts college, in an atmosphere conducive to learning, was a privilege,” Joslin writes.

Most of Joslin’s recollections in “Growing Up in the Brown House” are fond memories laced with local history. She occasionally takes a more serious tone, however, when recalling the social issues and circumstances of the era.

“The time and place of my childhood years allowed me to glimpse some of the problems of our area,” she says, “an already flounder cotton culture newly besieged by the boll weevil, and the deprivations of the Great Depression.”

Joslin attended Hartsville High School for a short time before finishing high school in Richmond, Va. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and advanced degrees from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, including a Ph.D. in Romance Languages. Joslin lives in Raleigh, N.C, with her husband, William, a retired attorney.  

“Growing Up in the Brown House” is Joslin’s gift to Coker College in honor of its centennial this year. Proceeds from its sale benefit the college’s annual scholarship fund. The book is available locally at Burry Bookstore, the Hartsville Museum, and the Coker College Bookstore.

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 Book Info: “Growing Up in the Brown House: Memories of Old Hartsville” by Mary Coker Joslin, 127 pages. Published by Coker College Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-97036442-5

Author Info: Mary Coker Joslin grew up in Hartsville, S.C., in the Brown House, now known as the Administration Building of Coker College. The College was founded by her grandfather, Major James Lide Coker, in 1908 and has been a primary influence in her life. A retired teacher of French, Mary Joslin lives with her husband, William, in Raleigh, N.C., where they have raised a family. She has written three other books, including “William Chambers Coker, Passionate Botanist” (University of North Carolina Press, 2003).

July 25 , 2008