Barbers Alley
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Named for Joseph Hayne Rainey (1832-1887), an African-American, who fled the U.S. during the Civil War. While in Bermuda he owned a barbershop and his wife worked as a seamstress for Mrs. Walker, wife of a confederate solider. The irony is when he returned to Charleston after the war he became politically active and was the first African American Congressman elected in 1870 (and subsequently re-elected four times). Barber’s Alley was named in his honor and was the first project of The St. George’s Foundation. |