Museum gallery named for Reaves McCall
By JIM FAILE
Retired Hartsville architect Reaves McCall notes that on the day he was born, Oct. 27, 1930, the building that currently houses the Hartsville Museum got its final inspection by federal officials before opening that year as Hartsville’s U.S. Post Office.
On Wednesday, McCall got a unique gift for his 80th birthday.
The Hartsville Museum Commission dedicated the showcase gallery in the museum in his honor. It is now the W. Reaves McCall Gallery.
“Reaves has done more for this city probably than any person who wasn’t paid to do it,” said longtime friend and former Hartsville Mayor Glenn Lawhon during a brief dedication and unveiling ceremony for the newly named gallery.
Lawhon said McCall’s involvement with the establishment and growth of the museum over the years – he has played a major role in the development of the museum - has been nothing short of a labor of love. And the naming of the gallery in McCall’s honor, he said, is entirely appropriate.
The gallery is where the museum’s traveling shows and changing exhibits are featured.
Currently, the gallery is featuring a traveling exhibit from the S.C. State Museum of limited edition prints and originals by artist Jim Harrison, “Jim Harrison’s America,” from the Reaves McCall Collection. McCall donated about 100 Harrison prints to the State Museum, from which the works in the traveling exhibit were selected.
The exhibit also features some of Harrison’s work still owned by McCall. The exhibit ends this month.
McCall, whose ties to the Hartsville Museum go back to its earliest days, became emotional when the new gallery name was unveiled.
“I appreciate you all being here,” he said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
McCall said he has often reflected on the intertwining of his life with that of the historic building.
“I’ve often wondered why I’ve been so involved with this building, about whether it was happenstance or providence,” he said.
“To me, this is one of the better designed buildings of the federal government of any building in this area,” he said.
McCall was the architect for the renovation of the museum’s first home, the old railroad depot on South Fourth Street, which now houses the Old Darlington District Chapter of the S.C. Genealogical Society, Lawhon said.
The museum building at 222 N. Fifth St., on the corner of North Fifth Street and East Home Avenue, served as Hartsville’s post office until into the 1960s.
When a new post office was later built, McCall was involved in the renovation of the old building from the post office to the Hartsville Township Memorial Library, which was housed in the building for a number of years before the current library was built.
McCall was also the architect when the building was renovated again from library to museum, according to Lawhon. The museum moved into the building in 1996.
McCall said he sometimes refers to the historic building as his “stepchild.”
The museum staff also organized a birthday luncheon for McCall following the dedication, complete with a birthday cake with three candles – one for the past, one for the present and one for the future.
The museum recently completed phase one of a major expansion project that involves the renovation of two buildings across North Fifth Street from the main building. Phase two is expected to begin soon.