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Time and Again: A Review (Essentials – Books)

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Did illustrator Si Morley really step out of his 20th century New York City apartment one night – right into the winter of 1882?

The U.S. Government believed he did, especially when Si returned with a portfolio of brand-new sketches and tintype photos of a world that no longer existed … or did it?

Time-and-Again-Novel-Cover Simon Morley, an advertising sketch artist, is approached by U.S. Army Major Ruben Prien to participate in a secret government project. He is taken to a huge warehouse on the West Side of Manhattan, where he views what seem to be movie sets, with people acting on them. It seems this is a project to learn whether it is feasible to send people back into the past by what amounts to self-hypnosis—whether, by convincing oneself that one is in the past, not the present, one can make it so.

640px-The_Dakota_1880s

One of Sy Morley’s photos taken during his travel back in time to NYC of 1880.

Published in 1970, Time and Again is one of the greatest and most famous time travel books ever written, and deservedly so. Finney’s time travel premise is that if one gets into the “mindset” so to speak – wears the clothes, speaks the dialect, uses only those things that were available in 1882 in New York City, then the black hole will open up and transport one back to that time. Which is exactly what happened to Simon Morley as he sat and lived in his government rented apartment overlooking Central Park.

Indeed, Central Park itself is a major theme within this book, as it seems to be the clock around which New York City was able to judge its progress over the years. Simon Morley does have many adventures within the Manhattan of 1882, and as he rents lodging in lower Manhattan, he meets and falls in love. Thus Finney sets the scene for the conflict of love and time travel, forcing his protagonist to make a decision between different time periods.

Written with a charming magic of historical detail and illustrated with photos “taken by Morley” which are actually just historical photos of old New York. Highly recommended!

Companion Read: Replay by Ken Grimwood

Today In Charleston History: October 11

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1803

 Capt. Joseph Vesey married his fourth wife, Maria Blair, a wealthy Charleston widow. He moved back into town and purchased a house at 41 Anson Street, which was destroyed by the 1838 fire. His man servant, Denmark, lived in the house with the couple. 

Currently the location is a private home, constructed in 1840.

Today In Charleston History: October 10

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1765 – Elections

The people of the back country of South Carolina decided to show their unhappiness with the Charlestown politicians during the election. Many rode more than 100 miles to vote. The voters of St. Paul’s parish (Colleton County) arrived to discover that the election had been held ten days before the announced date. They were told by Charlestown officials that was due to an error by the printer, which no one believed.

1935
p&b6

Original playbill

The New York opening of Porgy and Bess took place at the Alvin Theatre in New York City and ran for 124 performances, impressive for an opera, and but woefully short for a musical. The reviews were decidedly mixed. Brooks Atkinson wrote in the New York Times, October 9, 1935:

After eight years of savory memories, Porgy has acquired a score, a band, a choir of singers and a new title, Porgy and Bess, which the Theatre Guild put on at the Alvin last evening … Although Mr. Heyward is the author of the libretto and shares with Ira Gershwin the credit for the lyrics, and although Mr. Mamoulian has again mounted the director’s box, the evening is unmistakably George Gershwin’s personal holiday … Let it be said at once that Mr. Gershwin has contributed something glorious to the spirit of the Heywards’ community legend.

Composer/critic Virgil Thomson, writing for the New York Herald-Tribune, was less kind, calling Gershwin’s incorporation of blues and jazz influences into a “serious” operatic score to be “falsely conceived and rather clumsily executed…crooked folklore and half-way opera.”

17b. porgy and bess (loc) blank pg. 170

Porgy and Bess, original cast

Today In Charleston History: October 9

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1784

Capt. Joseph Vesey imported “3000 Gallons of rum and 1 Negroe Woman from Guadaloupe on the brig Le Vigilant.”

By this time Vesey’s manservant, Telemaque, as he was known in the African population, had been taught to read by his master and was an important part of Vesey’s business. Telemaque realized city slaves had larger freedom of movement than those living on plantations. More than half of Telemaque days were spent apart from his Master’s house and business, a freedom of movement enjoyed by a majority of the slaves in Charlestown.  As Frederick Douglass wrote, “A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation.”

Through the years Telemaque became fluent in French, English, and Gullah, the common language among the slaves, born out of a diverse linguistic pool. His formal name was difficult for most Africans to pronounce, so it had been simply shortened to a nickname, “Telmak.” 

1886, Natural Disaster – Charleston Earthquake

Forty days after the earthquake, mass food distribution by the Earthquake Relief Committee (ERC) to the citizens of Charleston ended. There were less than 300 people in need, who were cared for by other charities.

eq - harpers illustrations

Harper’s Weekly – images of Charleston relief efforts

Today In Charleston History: October 8

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1678

Captain Florence O’ Sullivan claimed two town lots on Oyster Point.

1698 – Slavery

The Assembly passed “An Act for the Encouragement of the Importation of White Servants.” Afraid of the growing number of blacks who had been imported as slaves, the South Carolina Assembly passed a law granting £13 to anyone who would bring a white male servant into the province as “…the great number of negroes which of late have been imported into this Colony may endanger the safety thereof.”

The Act also set out terms of indenture service: those over sixteen years old should serve at least four years, those under sixteen no less than seven years.

1817

John C. Calhoun was appointed Secretary of War by Pres. James Monroe. He would hold the position for eight years.

John_C_Calhoun_by_Mathew_Brady,_1849

Today In Charleston History: October 7

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1765 – Stamp Act

The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York City. South Carolina was the only southern colony to send representatives:

  • Christopher Gadsden – a wealthy Charleston merchant and plantation owner. He was an important figure in South Carolina’s Sons of Liberty and later served in the Continental Army
  • Thomas Lynch  – a major South Carolina plantation owner and a friend of co-delegate Christopher Gadsden, he later actively supported independence.
  • John Rutledge – at 26, Rutledge was the youngest delegate in attendance. He was the provincial attorney general at the time and later served in a variety of pro-independence roles in South Carolina. He was briefly appointed Chief Justice of the United States by George Washington in 1795.

For the first time, the South Carolina men learned of the violent August protests in Boston in which the stamp officer, Andrew Oliver, was hanged in effigy and Sheriff Greenleaf and Lt. Gov. Hutchinson were stoned when they tried to intervene. 

gadsden and rutledge

Today In Charleston History: October 6

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1780 -American Revolution

Gov. Rutledge commissioned Thomas Sumter as Brigadier-General in command of all state militia. His instructions to Sumter were to inspire the public, enroll as many men as possible, and be prepared to “co-operate with the Continental forces.”

Rutledge, in order to escape capture by the British, was living in the field, moving from Hillsborough, North Carolina, to Salisbury, to Charlotte, to Cheraw, South Carolina.

1780 – American Revolution – England

Henry_laurensHenry Laurens, was sentenced to the Tower of London for “suspicion of high treason.” His imprisonment was protested by the Americans. Laurens was captured by the British navy while acting as an envoy for the Continental Congress, negotiating treaties with European countries to support the American cause against the British. During his imprisonment, Laurens was assisted by Richard Oswald, his former business partner and the principal owner of Bunce Island. Oswald argued on Laurens’ behalf to the British government.

He was the first American to be imprisoned in the Tower. 

laurens, tower

L: Tower of London. R: Henry Laurens’ room in the Tower. Photos by Mark R. Jones

Today In Charleston History: October 5

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1815

The Broad Street Theater reopened 1815 under the management of English actor Joseph Holman. He planned a network of southeastern theaters with a large company rotating among such cities as Norfolk, Augusta, and Savannah. Upon Holman’s death in 1817, his son-in-law Charles Gilfert took over.

charleston theater, broad and new streets

Broad Street Theater at Broad and New Streets, destroyed by the 1861 fire.

1842- Births

Augustine Thomas Smythe was born in Charleston, the son of Presbyterian minister Rev. Thomas Smythe. Gus grew up to become an important character in the history of Charleston, an eyewitness to secession and documenting the Federal bombardment of 1863-65 through a series of letters. 

1917

The notorious and open red light district of Charleston, SC was officially closed. Commercialized vice, an Charleston tradition since the early 1700s was wiped out through a combined pressure of federal officials, anxious to protect the many soldiers and sailors who are stationed near Charleston, and Mayor Hyde, a Baptist elected on a reform ticket.

Market Hall, 1917

During a large raid, Charleston police and federal officials arrested 54 “fornicators” and closed eight brothels. Within three weeks, the “segregated district” was so quiet that property owners began to complain that the “anti-vice campaign had been too successful.” 

For more history of Charleston debauchery, purchase my WICKED CHARLESTON books.

marks books - wicked 2 cover (hi res)

marks books - wicked cover (hi res)

Charleston Historic Image #1

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This is the earliest outdoor known photo taken in Charleston, South Carolina.- Seigling’s Music House which sat on the corner of King and Beaufain Streets from 1840 until the early 1970s. It advertised itself as “America’s oldest music house.” 

German-born John Seigling started his music store in 1819 on Meeting Street, selling harps, pianos and wind instruments. He relocated to 243 King Street (at the bend) after the 1838 fire. During the War (Between the States) Seigling’s firm manufactured drums for the Confederate Army. C. Casimer Seigling closed the store in 1970, after being a Charleston institution for 150 years.

Seiglings Music House 1853

Seiglings Music House 1853

#Today In Charleston History: October 4

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1769  – Backcountry

In a letter to Lord Hillsborough, Lt Gov. William Bull complained about those:

backcountry inhabitants who chose to live by the wandering indolence of hunting than by the more honest and domestic employment of planting … little more than white Indians.

1776   

A grand jury in Charlestown recommended:

 that Jews and others may be restrained from allowing their negroes to sell good in shops, as such practice may induce other negroes to steal and barter with them … a profanation of the Lord’s Day.