Events

  Professor Emerita Pat McNeely taught writing and reporting in the University of South Carolina College of Journalism for 33 years. Before joining the faculty, she was a reporter and editor for The Greenville News, The State and The Columbia Record. She has written 15 books, including Elizabeth & Ann Timothy: America’s first female journ

  Professor Emerita Pat McNeely taught writing and reporting in the University of South Carolina College of Journalism for 33 years. Before joining the faculty, she was a reporter and editor for The Greenville News, The State and The Columbia Record. She has written 15 books, including Elizabeth & Ann Timothy: America’s first female journalists in Colonial and Revolutionary War Times; Historic South Carolina Ghosts and Legends; and Edgar Allan Poe in South Carolina. 

Her subject for our speaker series is:

Elizabeth & Ann Timothy:  America's First Female Journalists in Colonial and Revolutionary Times

When her husband died in 1738, Elizabeth Timothy of Charleston became the first female newspaper publisher in America. Though her young son Peter was listed as publisher of The South Carolina Gazette, Elizabeth managed the business and ensured the paper’s success until he came of age. Under her steady leadership, the Gazette became one of the most enduring newspapers in the colonial South.

 During the Revolutionary War, tragedy struck again when Peter Timothy died after being held prisoner by the British. His widow, Ann Timothy, stepped forward to continue the family legacy, publishing the newspaper through the war years and into the early republic.

Together, Elizabeth and Ann Timothy represent two generations of remarkable women who were a significant influence in news and public opinion during some of the most turbulent years in American history.

 Elizabeth Chew became CEO of the South Carolina Historical Society in January 2024. A historian, curator, and educator, she has worked at museums and historic sites since 1985.

Prior to arriving in Charleston, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Curator at James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia. During her 8 1/2 years at Mont

 Elizabeth Chew became CEO of the South Carolina Historical Society in January 2024. A historian, curator, and educator, she has worked at museums and historic sites since 1985.

Prior to arriving in Charleston, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Curator at James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia. During her 8 1/2 years at Montpelier, Dr. Chew led teams of curators, historians, educators, interpreters, public program creators, archaeologists, and historic preservation experts in researching and interpreting James Madison and his family, his essential roles in framing the U.S. Constitution and leading the nation, and the community of enslaved people on the plantation.

Prior to joining Montpelier, Dr. Chew led the curatorial and education division at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC.  Earlier in her career, she served as Curator at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.  During her thirteen-year tenure there, she was responsible for ongoing research and interpretation initiatives that wove together the Monticello house, its collections, the Jefferson family, and the enslaved community.  Dr. Chew also worked in curatorial positions in art museums in Washington, D.C., at The Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Raised in Augusta, Georgia, Elizabeth received a BA in art history from Yale University, an MA from the University of London, and PhD from UNC- Chapel Hill.