Copyright Live 5 News WCSC
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Museum hosted an exclusive World War II tour at the Joseph Manigault House in downtown Charleston on Tuesday afternoon. In honor of Veterans Day, the tour focused on the role the house served as a United Service Organization post during the war, which served as a welcoming place for enlisted soldiers to rest, share meals and write letters home. The concept of the post was to put individual organizations like the Salvation Army, YMCA, Young Women’s Christian Association and charities all under one roof to make it more accessible for soldiers and their families. Dozens of people on the tour learned how the house served as a home away from home for thousands of soldiers. Chief of Education at the Charleston Museum Elise Reagan says the house was a place for soldiers to escape and play games, read books, and listen to music. The house also served as a place of entertainment and social gatherings during World War II. “This would have been a place to kind of take their mind off of the true horrors of the war that was going on or that might face them or that they already might have faced and returned home,” Reagan says. “So, we’re very fortunate that this house played that wonderful role during World War II.” The Manigault house was originally built in 1803. The house later became part of a system where enslaved people lived and worked, as Manigault owned hundreds of slaves. It also became the first house saved by the preservation movement in the 1920s. During World War II, historians say Charleston saw a 33% population growth, and the house became necessary to hold all the soldiers who needed a place to sleep. The house also served as shelter from air raids during the war and could hold up to 300 people. Fortunately, all the air raid warnings that occurred during that time were false alarms. The tour also touched on how soldiers who stayed here reacted to the rationing and worked with the cut-downs that were happening across the country. Many of the attendees were also fascinated by the small details of the house, including the spiral staircase, bright chandeliers and artifacts found in the rooms. “This gave me another viewpoint on the history of Charleston,” Melissa Cunningham, a tour attendee, says. “It was amazing that they opened up the Manigault house for this purpose and for the USO to come in and entertain our service members during that timeframe.” Reagan says the Manigault house has come to mean a lot to the veteran community in Charleston. She told the tour that about 900,000 men throughout World War II received some type of military training in the city of Charleston. “This home is really valuable to veterans because even though we don’t have as many World War II veterans still today around, there still is a connection,” Reagan says. “Doesn’t matter if they served the 1940s, the 1960s, the 1990s, the 2000s, all those service men and women are connected through their service and through their sacrifice.”
