Greater Piedmont Chapter - The Beginning 

By John Adams Hodge, FN'74

The Greater Piedmont Chapter of The Explorers Club was created by Dr. George P. Fulton and Horace F. Byrne, both of whom had arrived in Columbia in 1974 after being active members of the New England Chapter. Fulton was assistant director of the SC Commission on Higher Education and Byrne, a former US Foreign Service Officer, was planning coordinator for the commission.

Fulton and Byrne contacted other Explorers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia to solicit advice on the establishment of a chapter for the southeastern states:

· Joseph Hudson, chairman of the SC Wildlife and Marne Resources Commission;
· Richard B. Dominick, founder of the research institute at the Wedge Plantation in McClellanville, SC;
· Alan Albright, director of underwater archaeology, USC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology;
· Col. Ben Covington of Myrtle Beach;
· Donald McChesney of SC;
· Voit Gilmore of Southern Pines, NC;
· Charles Hustis of NC;
· Herb Saltzman of NC;
· Pegram Harrison of GA;
· Sandy Fuller of GA;
· Geoffrey Bourne of GA; and
· Arthur Herr of TN.

A Petition for a Chapter Formation was signed by 29 members in the Southeast. The Board of Directors of The Explorers Club approved the establishment of the Greater Piedmont Chapter. An organizational meeting was held at the Palmetto Club in Columbia on May 24, 1976. Present were Fulton, Byrne, Gilmore, Albright, Covington, John M. Culler, Robert C. Mount Spann, R.K. Anderson, and William E. Scheele.

Below: A petition signed by student member John Hodge:

Byrne was elected acting chairman; John M. Culler (director of information, SC Department of Wildlife and Marine Resources), acting vice chairman; Hudson, chairman of Arrangements Committee; Albright, chairman of Education Committee; Gilmore, NC state coordinator; and Robert W. Fuller of Atlanta, GA state coordinator. The inaugural meeting was held October 3, 1976, in Georgetown with visits to Hobcaw Plantation and Blakes Reserve (hosted by Dr. John Vernberg, director of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology) and a banquet at the Sea Gull Inn. Officials from The Explorers Club in New York attending were President Virgil Kauffman, First Vice President Charles F. Brush, Second Vice President V. B. Cochran, and Board of Directors member Dr. John Loret.

Soon after the meeting the chapter recorded 27 members paying the annual dues of $20. 

The spring meeting of the new Greater Piedmont Chapter was held at Duke University March 18-20, 1977. Members toured the Duke University Medical Center, Hall Laboratory for Environmental Research, and the Duke Forest. It was agreed that the chapter would meet the second Friday of every
month except August. The December meeting would be a Christmas party. 

The 10th Anniversary Celebration was held October 17-19 in Georgetown. Richard B. Dominick was posthumously inducted in the SC Hall of Science and Technology and eulogized by Dr. Bruce Ezell, president of Erskine College. Members toured the Wedge Plantation with fellow Explorer Dr. Winona Vernberg of USC. During this celebration, the chapter's scholarship fund was established under the direction of Fulton, Byrne, and James W. Jackson (producer of Lowell Thomas Remembers for
SCETV), each of whom donated the funds necessary to begin the awards. The scholarship fund is now
managed by the Central Carolina Community Fund with the SC Academy of Science selecting the George P. Fulton Graduate Student Award, the Horace F. Byrne Undergraduate Student Award, and
the James W. Jackson High School Student Award.

Below is a group photo from the 1982 Spring meeting in Charleston

30th Anniversary Honorees

Horace met and married Eleanor at the United Nations where they were both working in 1948. They spent 16 years with the US Foreign Service, then Horace joined the staff of Boston University.

In 1976, the Byrnes moved to Columbia with their three children - Deborah, Charles, and Malcolm. He became planning coordinator for the SC Commission on Higher Education, then later coordinator of the Columbia Council for International Visitors. .

Horace and Dr. George P. Fulton, who had been members of the New England Chapter of The Explorers Club, worked together to create the Greater Piedmont Chapter in 1976. Horace became the
first chapter chairman, a position he held until 1981 when he became treasurer, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Horace received the prestigious Sweeney Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the welfare and objectives of The Explorers Club.

Below is a photo of Eleanor and Horace Bryne at the 1982 Charleston meeting. Horace is wearing his just earned Sweeney Medal which is the highest honor given by the club. Eleanor earned a Master of Fine Arts from USC in 1982. She taught drawing and art appreciation at the university from 1977 to 1982. She was an instructor at the Columbia Museum of Art for five years. Eleanor also served for many years as the Chapter's Secretary and she became a full National member after Horace passed away in 1999.

George received his Ph.D from Boston University in 1941 and is in BU's Academy of Distinguished
Alumni. His specialty was microbiology, a field in which he published scores of articles and numerous books still being used in college courses.

As a professor at BU, George developed a successful education package for high school students to be taught by graduate assistants in a variety of scientific disciplines.

He came to Columbia in 1974 as assistant director of the SC Commission on Higher Education with responsibility for health and medical affairs. George was instrumental in the creation of the SC Academy of Science.

He took credit for recruiting Horace Byrne to join him at the commission. Together George and Horace contacted other Explorers in the southeastern states and successfully petitioned New York for permission to start a new chapter which became the Greater Piedmont Chapter.

James W. Jackson  -  1924-1990

Jim graduated from Dreher High School in Columbia, attended Davidson College and joined the US Air Force in 1943. After the war, he finished his degree at Davidson and began his masters work at USC.

He was on the first crew at WISTV as sports reporter, photographer, and announcer. Jim left Columbia to become a college administrator eventually becoming president of California Institute of the Arts working directly with Walt Disney.

After a three-year stint with the World Health Organization in Switzerland, Jim returned to Columbia where he formed a TV production company in which he produced and directed the Lowell Thomas Remembers series for SCETV Working with Thomas, he got MGM-Fox to donate their news film library
to USC. Jim became film librarian at USC to catalog the precious gift.

Thomas, president of The Explorers Club, sponsored Jim for membership and he became one of the early members of the Greater Piedmont Chapter in 1976.

Below is a 1991 photo of James' wife Jackie (Horace on the left and Bruce Rippeteau on the right). Chapter Chair Bruce Rippeteau congratulates Horace and Jackie on the creation of The Jackson and The Byrne Awards for the South Carolina Academy of Science. Into 2014, Jackie has continued to participate in the Greater Piedmont Chapter meetings.