Biographical Note: Marjorie Peale

Marjorie Peale—scholar, artist, and author—is a Charlestonian very proud of the literary activity and artistic achievements of her city.

An English major planning to teach, Peale graduated from the College of Charleston with highest senior honors. Other awards and honors included the Alumni Medal, given to the junior with the highest grade average, and membership in Sigma Alpha Phi, an honorary fraternity recognizing academic excellence. Honoring Peale's continuing civic and academic contributions and her dedication to her alma mater, the Alumni Association of the College recently awarded her the title of "Distinguished Alumna."

Peale's choice for graduate study was Duke University, where she specialized in Southern literature. For her master's degree she researched Charleston's most productive literary era and presented a study entitled Charleston As a Literary Center, 1920-1933, the nucleus of this present work.

Peale's teaching experience in the schools of South Carolina spanned thirty years. While at Rivers High School in Charleston, Peale supervised the practice teaching of trainees for the Citadel and the College of Charleston. During this time she served as president of the Central Council of Charleston Teachers and was initiated into Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society of women who have given distinctive service in education.

Toward the end of an illustrious career, Peale advanced to the university level and served as assistant professor of English at Charleston Southern University. Believing that local students of English should have knowledge of Charleston's literary heritage, she introduced as an interterm course "Charleston Writers, 1920-1933." Peale also lectured intermittently at the College of Charleston.

In the mid-sixties, Peale, always intensely interested in art, began to explore what turned out to be a significant artistic talent. She studied under several local instructors and, after joining the Charleston Artists' Guild, began to exhibit her works at the Dock Street Theater, the Church Street Sidewalk Show, the Custom House, and the First Federal Bank on Broad Street. After serving two terms as president of the Guild, Peale was instrumental in promoting this organization which had become a pivotal force not only in the art world of the city, but also of the South.

By the 1970's art had become almost a second career for Peale. She was recognized for her local color landscapes and seascapes—the marshes, beaches, and gardens of the Lowcountry—which had offered an inexhaustible source of subjects for the writer and an inspirational supply of regional material for the artist. By this time, the artist's horizons had expanded beyond the local scene. Peale had exhibited her watercolors in the Carolinas, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii.

Today, Peale continues to paint the marshes, beaches, and gardens of the Lowcountry, and also the churches of the city of Charleston. Whether tutoring or painting, Peale is happiest when she is productive, exemplifying the philosophy of Ulysses:

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!