Eastside Collection: Pillars of Palmer

Mary Edwards retired from Trident Technical College (TTC) after working 28 years at college as a counselor, College Skills instructor and TRIO program director. She was born in Charleston's Eastside and attended Shaw Center on Mary Street, Buist and Columbus Street elementary schools. She graduated in 1967 from C.A. Brown High School, now the home of TTC's Palmer Campus. She furthered her education with a Bachelor's of Arts in social work, Master's of Social Work in Community Organization Planning and Administration and completed the paralegal program at TTC. Mary resides in Charleston's Eastside Community and has played and instrumental role in the partnership between the neighborhood and TTC's Palmer Campus over the years. 

Tyeka Grant is a longtime Eastside native, community parent advocate, and activist. She served as president for the Eastside Community Development Corporation neighborhood council and co-chair of  Trident Technical College Palmer Campus Eastside Day celebration for three years. She also served on Charleston Charter School for Math and Science Board of Directors, Charleston Promise Neighborhood Board of Directors and Community Engagement Council, Sanders-Clyde PTA and SIC Organization, and Charleston Rise Parent Advocacy Program. She is a former Charleston County School District employee and because of her passion for education continued her journey to Meeting Street Academy. Tyeka enjoys helping her community family by educating, encouraging, and empowering.

Marvetta Daniels is a Registered Nurse of 26 years at Medical University of SC, where she currently serves in a leadership position as the Clinical Staff Leader of her unit. Marvetta is homegrown, having attended and graduated from Charleston County public schools and MUSC.  She resides in the Eastside community and continues her work to improve the quality of life of others in her community in her role as a community organizer and change agent.  She serves as a board member of the Eastside Community Development Corporation, and served as president from 2009-2011. She continues to delight in her service of others as a member of The Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM).

Gerald Mackey joined Trident Technical College as an English instructor in 1991.  He assumed the duties of Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at the Palmer Campus in May 1993 and was named director of the Palmer Campus in 1996.  Prior to TTC, Mr. Mackey worked in various positions for the Charleston County School District for 17 years.  Mr. Mackey retired from TTC in 2008 after a 34-year career in public education, teaching and administration.

Latonya Gamble has been a flight attendant for 26 years, starting her career with Continental Airlines and currently working for United Airlines. In her spare time, she helped reorganized her neighborhood council to become a 501(c)(3) organization, now known as the Eastside Community Development Corporation. She was the organization's first President and she is currently serving in the role again.TLatonya has been very active in the local public schools, serving as School Improvement Council and PTA Chair. She also organized a youth committee to plan the Stop the Violence Unity Day event, advocated for TTC Palmer Campus to add a GED program, partnered with Palmer Campus for the annual Eastside Day Celebration and the friends of Cigar Factory to develop a scholarship to assist a high school senior of the Eastside community with attending TTC, as well as organized a number of events and activities for youth in the Eastside community.

Susan Millar Williams is the author of A Devil and a Good Woman, Too: The Lives of Julia Peterkin, winner of the 1998 Julia Cherry Spruill Award given by the Southern Association of Women Historians. She also co-authored, with Stephen G. Hoffius, of Upheaval in Charleston: Earthquake and Murder on the Eve of Jim Crow. Her essay on the Eastside neighborhood, “The Corner of Columbus and America,” appeared in State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love, Volume 2, in 2015, and her exploration of the history of what later became the Cigar Factory, “Charleston’s Cotton Factory, 1880-1900,” is available through the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative at http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/charlestons-cotton-factory. Dr. Williams teaches English, including creative writing, at Trident Technical College and contributes posts on the history of the neighborhood to the Palmer Campus blog, http://ttcpalmernews.blogspot.com/.

Carolyn M. White was born in Charleston, where she graduated from Burke High School. She furthered her education by earning a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing and a Master's of Public Health in Heathcare Administration. Carolyn also served 20 years in the military and obtained the rank of colonel. After returning to Charleston, she became active in the community and her church, Vanderhorst Memorial CME Church. Carolyn served as past president and is now treasurer of the Eastside Community Development Corporation. As a result of her efforts and hard work, she was awarded Woman of the Year for her church and the National Council of Negro Women Inc.