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Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John Minott Rivers Papers #4757, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from John M. Rivers, Jr., of Charleston, S.C., in December 1990 (Acc. 91004), May 1995 (Acc. 95066), February 1996 (Acc. 96017), June 1997 (Acc. 97077), January 1998 (Acc. 98006), and May 2002 (Acc. 99250).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, February 1996 with subsequent additions

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Broadcasting--South Carolina--History.
• Buist family.
• Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Ingram, Martha Rivers, 1935-
• Lewine family.
• Radio stations--South Carolina.
• Rivers family.
• Rivers, John Minott, 1903-1988.
• Rivers, John Minott, 1945-
• Rivers, Martha Robinson, 1909-1994.
• Robinson family.
• Television stations--South Carolina.
• WCSC (Radio station : Charleston, S.C.)
• WCSC, Inc. (Charleston, S.C.)
• WCSC-TV (Television station : Charleston, S.C.)
• Women--South Carolina--Social life and customs.

• M. Rutledge Rivers Papers (#4553).

John Minott Rivers, Sr., was born in 1903 in Charleston, S.C., son of lawyer and civic leader Moultrie Rutledge Rivers (1868-1940) and Eliza Ingraham Buist Rivers. He was educated in Charleston public and private schools and at the College of Charleston and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received his B.A. degree in 1924.

Rivers began his business career in 1924 with the Greenville branch of the Bank of Charleston (later the South Carolina National Bank). He was assistant vice-president of the bank when he left in 1936 to join the Charleston office of McAlister, Smith & Pate, a Greenville securities firm.

In 1937, Rivers joined WCSC-AM radio as president of the South Carolina Broadcasting Company, the licenser of WCSC. In 1938, he became president and manager of WCSC Radio, Charleston's first broadcasting station. He purchased the station in 1944. In 1948, WCSC-FM went on the air; in 1953, WCSC-TV, the first VHF television station in South Carolina, became operational. Rivers became chairman of the board of WCSC, Inc., in 1973. In 1987, WCSC, Inc. was sold to Crump Communications, Inc., of Houston, Tex.

Rivers was president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce in 1936 and of the South Carolina Broadcasters' Association in 1952. He was also president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, which named him Businessman of the Year in 1961. In 1974, he became the second person elected to the South Carolina Broadcasters' Association Hall of Fame, and, in 1977, he received the Silver Medal from the Advertising Federation of Charleston.

Rivers served as a board member or trustee for many organizations and institutions, among them the South Carolina Educational Television Commission; Coker College; Winthrop University; Ashley Hall School, where the library bears his name; the Charleston Development Board; the CBS Radio Affiliates' Board; and the Historic Charleston Foundation. The Communications Museum at the College of Charleston is named after Rivers, and the Rivers, Ingram, and Lewine Family Fund of the Historic Charleston Foundation was established in his honor.

Martha Robinson Rivers was born Martha Elizabeth Robinson in 1909 in Gastonia, N.C., daughter of John Craig Robinson (d. 1934) and Ola Stowe Craig Robinson (d. 1970). In 1925, she entered Converse College, Spartanburg, S.C. She made her debut at the 1928 Debutante Ball in Raleigh, N.C., and met and married John Minott Rivers, Sr., in 1929.

Settling in Charleston, Martha Rivers immediately became active in the city's civic and social life. She served on numerous boards and commissions and as president of the Charleston County Association for the Blind and the Garden Club of Charleston. She was active in community improvement projects sponsored by, among others, the Junior League of Charleston, Inc., and the Historic Charleston Foundation, and was a member of the Charleston Parks Commission for twelve years. In addition, she was vice-president and secretary of WCSC, Inc.

Martha Rivers was a frequent contributor of articles and opinion pieces to local newsPapers, magazines, and journals. In 1979, she published her recollections as Ole Timey Time. She also wrote many descriptive pieces during the frequent travels she and John Rivers, Sr., undertook, especially in their later years.

John Minott Rivers, Jr., was born in 1945. He attended Charleston Day School, Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After college, he served as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy, stationed chiefly in Charleston.

After his discharge, John Rivers, Jr., entered into the family business, taking charge in 1973 after his father's heart attack, and into the family's spirit of community service. Among other activities, he served as director of the Charleston Trident Chamber of Commerce and of the Charleston Industrial Association. He was also active in the Charleston Travel Industry Development Council, the United Way, the Boy Scouts, and numerous broadcasting associations.

Martha Rivers Ingram was born in 1935 and attended Ashley Hall School and Vassar College. After entering briefly in radio (she hosted a classical music program on WCSC-FM for a year), she moved in 1958 to Nashville, Tenn., when she married E. Bronson Ingram, head of Ingram Industries, which at the time was one of the largest privately owned businesses in the United States. Martha Ingram became active in Nashville civic and social affairs, concentrating especially on cultural and art programs. In 1972, she was appointed to the advisory board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Elizabeth Craig Rivers Lewine was born in 1937 and also attended Ashley Hall School and Vassar College. After college, she taught history at Ashley Hall for a year before moving to New York City, where she taught and attended Columbia University. She worked for the Authors' League for twelve years and married one of its directors.

(Adapted from articles in the News and Courier/Charleston Evening Post, 29 May 1977 and 25 January 1987; the Charleston Evening Post, 25 January 1988; Cobblestones, a Junior League of Charleston, Inc., publication, September 1991; and other publications, and from Ole Timey Time by Martha Robinson Rivers.)

Family and business papers relating to John Minott Rivers, Jr., and other members of the Rivers family, especially John Minott Rivers, Sr., Martha Robinson Rivers, and Martha Rivers Ingram. Included are writings by Martha Rivers and other family members; materials documenting civic activities of and trips taken by Rivers family members; and items that relate to Rivers, Buist, and Robinson family members and family history. Also included are many family photographs and photographs that document business and community activities; a few scrapbooks; and several college annuals. There are also several drafts and other materials relating to Martha Robinson Rivers's autobiography. Business papers include a few office files from WCSC, Inc., documenting real estate, property development, and broadcasting activities. The WCSC-TV materials include photocopies of broadcast editorials, 1962-1974, on various topics. Also included are videotapes and a film relating to family and WCSC activities.

• SV-4757/2, 4, 5
• PF-4757/1-39
• PA-4757/1-2
• D-4757
• VT-4757/1-36
• F-4757/1