Program

Hometown Heritage®, Pomeroy Education Program

Subject

Education, People, Science

Location

150 E Church St, Ridgeway, SC 29130, USA

Lat/Long

34.308214140024, -80.960037599882

Grant Recipient

USC Educational Foundation

James DesPortes was born in Ridgeway, South Carolina in 1879. He grew up on Church Street, where his uncle William owned a home.

James went on to attend medical school at South Carolina Medical College in Charleston, matriculating in 1897. After graduating in 1900, he served as a physician in Ferguson for the Santee Cypress Lumber Company and lived in Eutaw. The lumber company built a hospital to treat their workers, who were frequently injured, which he ran. Dr. DesPortes served as their staff physician until 1912, when he went to Iowa Medical College to continue his medical education.

Following taking a special medical course in Iowa World War I broke out, and Dr. DesPortes served as a physician at Port Terminal in Charleston. According to his obituary, he also served during WWII as a Colonel on the medical staff for the South Carolina State Guard. Following WWI, he settled in Fort Mill, where he then opened his own practice, which he operated for 28 years until his death in 1947. Dr. DesPortes also served as President of the South Carolina Medical Association from 1937-1938, and for a number of years before he passed away he served as a trustee for the South Carolina Medical College, his alma mater.

The student-led application for this grant came from students at the University of South Carolina, led by Dr. Jessica Elfenbein. The students researched James DesPortes, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.

This historic marker is also part of the Wood Basket of the World project at the University of South Carolina. The project has produced exhibits, oral histories, an anthology, and a mapping project, among many other educational efforts related to the history of the lumber industry in South Carolina. To learn more about the history of the lumber industry and its impact on South Carolina, visit the Wood Basket of the World site here: https://digital.library.sc.edu/woodbasket/