Fort Mill History Museum talk: Life of Colonial Renaissance Woman

The accomplishments of a South Carolina woman who lived more than 200 years ago can be used as a template for how women can get ahead in the business world, one historian says.

That’s one of the messages included in an upcoming talk March 5 about Eliza Lucas Pinckney at the Fort Mill History Museum.

Faye Jensen, director of the South Carolina Historical Society, teaches, writes and speaks about history in America, including women’s history. She will present her popular lecture “Eliza Lucas Pickney: Colonial Renaissance Woman” for Women’s History Month.

Pinckney’s father moved her family to South Carolina from Antigua when she was 16. He was a colonel in the British Army and was later called away for service. Shortly thereafter Eliza’s mother died, which left Eliza to raise her siblings and manage three family-owned plantations. She had a passion for botany, which she used to research and grow one of South Carolina’s most successful cash crops – indigo.

Her success forever changed agriculture in the state.

Pinckney was the first women to be inducted into South Carolina’s Business Hall of Fame.

“She’ a modern example for women in business today,” said Kira Ferris, deputy director of the Fort Mill History Museum. “She was able to overcome. She was what we want to be today. She had a business and she ran the household.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 11:35 AM.