If you don't care about clemson football 'history' stop reading, go elsewhere. I don't care if you think too much is said about the tigers. YOU can avoid it. If you continue to read that's ENTIRELY up to you. If you consider it a 'waste' of time do something else!!! It's YOUR choice.
WHO SAVED clemson's MEMORIAL FOOTBALL STADIUM? WE DID!!!
So ... you think the Lake Hartwell 'finger' that projects into Clemson is attractive, huh? Well, HOW it 'got there' (and WHO paid for it) is an UGLY story. One riff with lies, political deals, racism, collusion and 'typical' historical machinations by 'loyal' clemson backers.
First, it's not 'natural', it's not that old and it's not something clemson did for 'themselves' - WE (the people of SC and elsewhere in the United States) paid for it and we paid dearly. They PROMISED to 'pay us back'.
They NEVER HAVE.
It SAVED their 'hallowed' Memorial Football Stadium (but cost 'em a new one) ... NOT because it was so 'hallowed' or desirable but because WHITE bodies were buried next door. When the 75,000 acre (give or take a few acres) Lake Hartwell 'project' was initiated there was no 'lake' ... the land west of Memorial stadium was just your typical mountain 'holler' ... roamed by wild pigs and clemson cadets hopin' to do 'em harm.
But a 1956 'deal' tween clemson grad Strom Thurmond, then Lt.Gov. Fritz Holling's (Citadel), then Governor George Timmerman (Citadel), clemson Pres. Robt. Edwards and the head of the US Dept. of Agriculture MADE WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE of the US Army Corps of Engineers threatened the ENTIRE project and made it a requirement that TWO unplanned, unbudgeted 'dams' be constructed on the Seneca River to restrict the level of the clemson 'finger'. This 'coup' was possible because Thurmond had (after the fact and after the authorization and after the earlier approval of the clemson Board of Trustees) arranged a 'gift' of 7,500 FEDERAL ACRES to clemson college for ONE DOLLAR, which clemson then used to claim their loss' of that land would be irreplaceable - forcing the Corps of Engineers to 'redesign' the project ... ADD two new dams (at taxpayer expense) so as to 'save' relocation of Memorial stadium and 'protect' the everlasting final resting places for 'dozens' of "loyal, WHITE, citizens interred next door" to the football stadium. No matter that the 'planned' waterline would not have reached the crest of the cemetery and no matter that dozens of 'black' cemeteries with HUNDREDS of graves were forced to either 'relocate' or were eventually flooded by the same project.
During 1956 in Columbia laws were being passed to make 'public employment' by a member of the NAACP 'illegal'. Opposition to civil rights was at its zenith and it was all LED by the 'upstate/Charleston' cabal of clemson/Thurmond/Hollings/Timmerman.
After 'redesign' of the Hartwell project became inevitable clemson's President Edwards PROMISED the 'citizens' of South Carolina that clemson university would 'repay' every dollar expended on these new, required dams to "save our bottomland, our beloved stadium and the hallowed ground forming the final resting places for clemson's founders and SC's 'patriots'."
It NEVER happened. Indeed, ongoing upkeep for these dams has cost taxpayers many millions more than their original construction costs. THEIR debt is getting BIGGER!!!
clemson's 'football' history is inextricably linked to its sordid 'political' history and it's been that way for decades and decades. clemson fans like to 'claim' their independence but they've been TOTALLY dependent on sleezy backroom political-deals since their very founding.
So, you THOUGHT those thousands of acres 'here, there and yonder' around clemson cow college was the result of some demonstrable largess of a long-ago benefactor? Well, think again. It was bartered for a $1buck from one pol to another in exchange for 'continued' block-voting support in opposition to pending civil rights bills that were popping up like asparagus spears in the halls of SC government as well as Washington, DC in the 1950's.
So much for the 'natural beauty' of clemson. So much for the 'beauty and bragging rights' of an 'on-campus' football stadium. If you're a clemson fan you can say 'thank you' to any citizen you happen to walk by for 'saving' that location. You're welcome ... BUT
... we STILL WANT the money you owe us, too. TYPICAL clemson. Approve the deal in '49, MAKE the deal in '52 - let it proceed with tens of millions expended for several years then RENEGE on EVERYTHING you said or agreed to previously. Dabo's 'spin' continues the 'legacy' of deceit.
WHO SAVED clemson's MEMORIAL FOOTBALL STADIUM? WE DID!!!
So ... you think the Lake Hartwell 'finger' that projects into Clemson is attractive, huh? Well, HOW it 'got there' (and WHO paid for it) is an UGLY story. One riff with lies, political deals, racism, collusion and 'typical' historical machinations by 'loyal' clemson backers.
First, it's not 'natural', it's not that old and it's not something clemson did for 'themselves' - WE (the people of SC and elsewhere in the United States) paid for it and we paid dearly. They PROMISED to 'pay us back'.
They NEVER HAVE.
It SAVED their 'hallowed' Memorial Football Stadium (but cost 'em a new one) ... NOT because it was so 'hallowed' or desirable but because WHITE bodies were buried next door. When the 75,000 acre (give or take a few acres) Lake Hartwell 'project' was initiated there was no 'lake' ... the land west of Memorial stadium was just your typical mountain 'holler' ... roamed by wild pigs and clemson cadets hopin' to do 'em harm.
But a 1956 'deal' tween clemson grad Strom Thurmond, then Lt.Gov. Fritz Holling's (Citadel), then Governor George Timmerman (Citadel), clemson Pres. Robt. Edwards and the head of the US Dept. of Agriculture MADE WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE of the US Army Corps of Engineers threatened the ENTIRE project and made it a requirement that TWO unplanned, unbudgeted 'dams' be constructed on the Seneca River to restrict the level of the clemson 'finger'. This 'coup' was possible because Thurmond had (after the fact and after the authorization and after the earlier approval of the clemson Board of Trustees) arranged a 'gift' of 7,500 FEDERAL ACRES to clemson college for ONE DOLLAR, which clemson then used to claim their loss' of that land would be irreplaceable - forcing the Corps of Engineers to 'redesign' the project ... ADD two new dams (at taxpayer expense) so as to 'save' relocation of Memorial stadium and 'protect' the everlasting final resting places for 'dozens' of "loyal, WHITE, citizens interred next door" to the football stadium. No matter that the 'planned' waterline would not have reached the crest of the cemetery and no matter that dozens of 'black' cemeteries with HUNDREDS of graves were forced to either 'relocate' or were eventually flooded by the same project.
During 1956 in Columbia laws were being passed to make 'public employment' by a member of the NAACP 'illegal'. Opposition to civil rights was at its zenith and it was all LED by the 'upstate/Charleston' cabal of clemson/Thurmond/Hollings/Timmerman.
After 'redesign' of the Hartwell project became inevitable clemson's President Edwards PROMISED the 'citizens' of South Carolina that clemson university would 'repay' every dollar expended on these new, required dams to "save our bottomland, our beloved stadium and the hallowed ground forming the final resting places for clemson's founders and SC's 'patriots'."
It NEVER happened. Indeed, ongoing upkeep for these dams has cost taxpayers many millions more than their original construction costs. THEIR debt is getting BIGGER!!!
clemson's 'football' history is inextricably linked to its sordid 'political' history and it's been that way for decades and decades. clemson fans like to 'claim' their independence but they've been TOTALLY dependent on sleezy backroom political-deals since their very founding.
So, you THOUGHT those thousands of acres 'here, there and yonder' around clemson cow college was the result of some demonstrable largess of a long-ago benefactor? Well, think again. It was bartered for a $1buck from one pol to another in exchange for 'continued' block-voting support in opposition to pending civil rights bills that were popping up like asparagus spears in the halls of SC government as well as Washington, DC in the 1950's.
So much for the 'natural beauty' of clemson. So much for the 'beauty and bragging rights' of an 'on-campus' football stadium. If you're a clemson fan you can say 'thank you' to any citizen you happen to walk by for 'saving' that location. You're welcome ... BUT
... we STILL WANT the money you owe us, too. TYPICAL clemson. Approve the deal in '49, MAKE the deal in '52 - let it proceed with tens of millions expended for several years then RENEGE on EVERYTHING you said or agreed to previously. Dabo's 'spin' continues the 'legacy' of deceit.