Tracing South Carolina's hidden history of lumber, labor, and forest conservation across two centuries
South Carolina's forests have long shaped the state's economy, landscapes, and labor practices, but its history has remained surprisingly understudied. Wood Basket of the World brings together essays that explore how lumbering, wood-product manufacturing, and forest conservation transformed the state's sandhills and coastal plain from the late nineteenth century to the present.
Featuring contributions from both emerging and established scholars, the essays in the volume examine how South Carolina became central to the global timber economy while also serving as a testing ground for labor organizing, environmental reform, and conservation movements.
Engaging environmental, economic, and social history, this collection offers new insight into the industries, people, and policies that have shaped South Carolina's wooded landscapes—and the national conversations they continue to inform.
Jessica Elfenbein is professor of history at the University of South Carolina and an award-winning public historian. She is the principal investigator for the ongoing multifaceted "Wood Basket of the World" project.
Mark Kinzer recently retired from the National Park Service where he was awarded the Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award. Trained as a lawyer, he is the author of Nature's Return.
