Folk Ghetto History

The Folk Ghetto was...

The Folk Ghetto was a coffee house located in several rooms above a drugstore on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, South Carolina , close to the corner of Reynolds Avenue . It was a good location for the sailors stationed at the nearby Charleston Naval Base and it provided them an alternative to the sleazy bars and joints that lined Reynolds Ave. The Folk Ghetto was also a magnet for many local young people, both those living in nearby neighborhoods like Chicora as well as those from the more distant suburbs such as Mount Pleasant .

The Folk Ghetto was founded by the Methodist church, and existed from 1968 until 1971. Jim, a conscientious objector discharged form the marines, was the manager until 1969. Later Bob Hopper, (a young minister) and his wife took over.

The Folk Ghetto served drinks such as coffee, cocoa and Russian tea. It's attractions included the Rap Room, a head shop, and the main room that featured a cafe-like setting with an open stage and open mike. Anybody at all could go onto the stage and play a guitar and sing, and that was the entertainment. The music was typically from the contemporary folk genre of Simon & Garfunkle, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary, the Beatles, etc.

So what was the Folk Ghetto really? It was a place for young people to hang, to be accepted, to form a community. It existed in the context of its times and what a time it was. It was the late 60s and the hippie movement and the cultural revolution of the 60s still had a couple of years to go before unwinding. Drugs were still seen as an way to expand your consciousness; it was hip to be a searcher of truth; and music could still blow your mind. It was almost the end of the era of peace and love; and an altruistic, nearly desperate uprising of social consciousness that would soon give way to the me-ism of the yuppies.

Meanwhile, sleepy Charleston was mostly oblivious to the great drama of change that was transforming the country. If you were young and you weren't into the beach music party scene, if you didn't wear Bass weejuns and Gantz shirts, or if you thought that seeking the meaning of life was of vital importance, then you were probably withering in Charleston 's cultural, spiritual and artistic desert and the Folk Ghetto would have been an oasis to you. It was one of only a few such watering places for the parched soul, the others being the Poet at the Circular Congregational Church and the at the Unitarian Church's Gage Hall, both in downtown Charleston.

Young people have a strong social need to gather with others of like mind, in a group setting and the Folk Ghetto was where that need was met for us. It was about meeting and making friends, making and listening to music with lyrics that spoke to the idealism of youth, a place to share great insights into the existential meaning of things, a place for comfort and healing, and to be honest a place to get into trouble sometimes, and get out of it too. It was our place...

And it was also...

Please add corrections, details, and your own memories in the form at the bottom of the page. Your comments will show up in this next section.

From From "Pete"(r) Roseman _____

Apr 20, 2006

Remember this? Something of a tour:
You just stepped from the Rivers Avenue side walk, east through the doorway of the Ghetto, & the echoes of your footfalls on old wooden staircase, up -- past the beautiful "knock-off" paisley mural on the right hand wall: blues, red, yellow black arches, arcs, shapes of all kind that would psychedelically make sense in an attempt to "shift the consciousness" of even the straightest of us on the way up the stairs.

Top landing, straight ahead, the bathroom -- thank god! Close the door. Sit pondering the significance nature of Alice B. Toklass cookies & their impact on the War in Viet Nam and if offering one to Romalar Sue, would get me laid. "Maybe some advice from the Graffiti, barely intelligible, etched of posterity into the plywood walls!
No luck.

Out of the bathroom, the prohibited aroma of someone secretly smoking a Joint somewhere. 10 steps down the balcony's railed hall, into the "Rap Room" on the right.
Flat black, soundproof ceiling tiles on the walls and ceiling, layer upon layer of "day-glo" graffiti that waxed prophetic under the intensity of the blacklight that brought it all to life & to voice. And pillows carpeted the floor & yes, human bodies half dressed, eyes half closed lucidly, slurring, pointedly pondering the reality of the half alive house fly in the upper corner of the room; knowing of its ability to see, not only the entire etheric field of each person in the room, but how those fields interconnected to each other...and how they went on to create this web that interconncted all forms of all things, to all forms of every other thing--and how that web evolved to create the Matrix in which we all lived & believed was our currant reality! --until-- we saw this fly in the corner of the room...my god, the irony of it all

Ah the Rap Room, where sober conversations about theosophics, physics, whatever, quickened the spirit & spun the wheel, leaving you feeling like you really did make a difference on the planet -- Ah, what feeling.
Leaving the Rap Room (if you could get away from all of the human consciousness evolving right before your eyes (or should I say, behind your eyes?): Now, retracing echoes of leather boots or bare feet, or mocasins on hardwood floor, back down the balcony's railed hall that looked down upon the stairway to the street, below.

Enter the Main Room (did we have a name for this? 20'x30' maybe? What do you think? Flat black, undecorated walls. post in the middle that held the 3 "spot lights", converted from silver, conical desk lamps. They REALLY worked well after someone brilliantly duct taped cardboard toilet paper cylinders on to the bulbs & placed colored gel stolen from god knows where over them. Looked great, worked great -- really proud of those lights, remember?? Well, till they,,,caught fire. Oh well. Acoustic songs sung on that 7x7, flat black stage, made of 4x8 planks, were the songs of the times. Don Hudson, Jim Coates. Pete (me!), Kentucky, Bob Gatz, you know, all those guys. Renie Davis with the Chicago 7.
Remember? We did a peace rally with him in a park right in a park in Charleston Remember?

The kitchen was pretty good size & Goldie and Eric, and sometime Heeni & Dee would hang out there. Oh Paula too. Did you know that I had a crush on you Paula? Well, I did! Oh, I loved Goldie, but secretly...well, maybe she'll show up here in the Cyber Ghetto & I might tell her then... The folk Ghetto? A place quite literally, where personalities were birthed, mine, among the 1st & maybe the most profoundly (who knows?). I'm "Pete" Roseman. Remember me?

From Gypsy Durling _____

Jun 26, 2006

Sometime in late spring / early summer 1970 (not sure of the exact timing) I met Bob Hopper & we spent sometime getting to know each other. He suggested that I might help at the Folk Ghetto Coffee House. So a few days later I went to the Folk Ghetto to observe. A little later I agreed with Bob Hopper to become involved informally in a managerial sense. My memory was that we served drinks from the kitchen (at the back of the Coffee House) such as coffee which we brewed in a Corning Ware Coffee Percolator, hot chocolate, a drink we called Adam & Eve – cherry phosphate & apple juice which if poured in a glass judiciously stayed separate – a red section & a yellow section – what else I don’t really remember. The main room which was painted a flat black had a stage open to all comers – particularly musicians, a rap room at the front facing Rivers Avenue & in the absence of live music we had some canned music. I don’t remember a head shop although I foggily remember mention of such.

Sometime in the early day of my involvement with the Folk Ghetto, we closed early one night & some of us went as a group to a bar / dance venue or some such. While we were there a woman kept calling out to me as Gypsy (up until then I was known as Fred) & I went to speak to her for a few minutes. From that time on I was known as Gypsy to all the Folk Ghetto people & then to every one else after I became comfortable with the name.

Besides my involvement with the Folk Ghetto I helped out with the newly formed Hot Line – a crisis intervention telephone service in Charleston run by David Furchgott which ran from Friday night at 6 pm to Sunday night at midnight. Some of the other Folk Ghetto people such as Eric Fox also helped out with the Hot Line service. My main involvement with the Hot Line service was in a training capacity.

The Folk Ghetto was a meeting place for young people & even for some who weren’t so young such as me – a place for making friends & healing wounds from the military or from society & family (particularly parents) in general. It did a lot of good for some of those who felt alienated from society.

I remember Pete having heard an LP of Leo Kottke came to the Folk Ghetto a few days later to play on his guitar one of the musical sections with the same sort of skill as was shown by LK on the LP.

Sometime later I asked Eric Fox to help me by being second unofficial manager of the Folk Ghetto. I remember one time a female folk singer of some repute came & sang free of charge at the Folk Ghetto.

I spent most of my time at the Folk Ghetto between the kitchen & the main room. One night I was in the kitchen when a gruff voice from behind me asked me what my name was. I replied Gypsy Durling. Then Sgt Tom Botchie of the Charleston Drug Squad introduced himself. I then reintroduced myself as Dr Gypsy Durling of the Medical University of South Carolina. He then became more friendly towards me & possibly also to the Folk Ghetto. He came by occasionally to inspect us & to whiff the smoke, etc watching for evidence of drugs, I suppose. We from this time on had a general agreement amongst the regulars that drugs were not to be brought into the premises of the Folk Ghetto Coffee House assuming that if drugs were discovered on the premises then we would be closed down.

My impression is that the Charleston Chief of Police along with some others within the Charleston community respected what we were doing at the Folk Ghetto but that the Drug Squad simply went on about their task as they saw it – namely to arrest the druggies when & where possible.

Love, Peace & Joy

Gypsy Durling

From Doug Salzmann _____

My goodness... I just stumbled across this site and I am overwhelmed.

The Folk Ghetto was, for me, the very essence of a long moment in my life during which I began to learn about ethics, morality, real courage and real consequences. I have often wondered if others were also strongly affected by their time(s) there.

Bob Hopper was a beacon. Pete was a marvel and a joy to be with. All of you are unforgettable.

Peace.

~Doug

From Shasta (Ed Bates) _____

WOW! Pete! Doug! Gypsy! Jim! Al! Jack! Kentucky (Steve) ETC! Is Bob Hopper still around?
To sort of quote ol' Jack McGuire:
"Of all the many memories I treasure in my mind - there's none that's quite so dear to me as.."(The Folk Ghetto & all you wonderful people!) I was Ed Bates back then, married to Karen in the Air Force back in 1968-1970!
My name is wrongly listed as Alan, on the people list. My son was named Allen, after Al Dimenchec there, born 40 years ago on Dec 26th! (After Karen ate red licorice at the Christmas party at Bob Hopper's church! I have 2 grandkids now & am waiting on my first SS check next week! Time flies eh? I remember a few not listed on the people page like: Lee Dickerson, Arvin & Donna Rubida, John & Steph Eichenburg? I'm living in Nashville, TN now & love it! Stumbled on the Folk Ghetto web page searching for something unrelated.
Been divorced since 1975, lived in CA for 27 years, had a band, wrote a bunch & recorded under the name Shasta or Bard Shasta, which I got from the Mountain in CA. All inspired by Dylan & seeing all you guys play back then at the Folk Ghetto! A big THANKS!
Even though I never got rich or famous, I love it! Would love to connect with some of the old crowd! Anyone near Nashville??? I just sent Gypsy and Pete messages on facebook. My latest album is called, Shasta "The Outsider". I'm on ITunes & CDBaby, etc. Check out my sites, www.myspace.com/shastaman & www.shasta-music.com
Message me & lets catch up!
Your old Pal, Shasta (Ed)

From The Revd Dr. J. David (Jack) McGuire, D.D. _____

Wow! I don't know what made me goggle the Folk Ghetto, but I'm glad I did. A little correction, please--I wasn't a C.O. during my stay at the Folk Ghetto, in fact, after getting into some trouble I straightened up and finished my enlistment getting out in Dec. 69. Some of you remember my wife, Scarlett, a tiny strawberry blonde who was crazy about Dr. Durling. We have 3 boys and 4 grands.
The big thing in my life is that I am now an Anglican priest and I'm planting a new church in Claremore, OK named St. Joseph's Anglican. The wierd thing is that we are soon going to open a coffee house with light sandwiches, Starbucks type drinks and you guessed it--Acoustic Folk, Rock and Bluegrass!
By the way, anyone know how I could reach Rev. Robert Hopper or his twin Rev. Richard Hopper. I've tried the Methodist clery search but no trace. Contact me at StJoes@saintly.com .
God bless and keep you by his grace.
Fr. David (Jack) McGuire

From Pam Price _____
What a blast that I stumbled on this site. I remember Jack McGuire and have thought of him and the Folk Ghetto many times over the years. I sang with Jack and others. I now have 6 grands. My oldest son has a rock band. I am the music director of a small Pres. ARP church in Columbia SC . You can contact me at jpprice51@gmail.com

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