A Life of Service and Leadership
Belinda Friedman Gergel, a Rock Hill native, arrived in Columbia as an eighteen year old freshman at Columbia College and, with the exception of her doctoral studies at Duke University, has spent her entire adult life living in and loving Columbia. She is widely respected for her passionate love of the history of South Carolina and her commitment to women's education.
Following her graduation from Columbia College, she entered Duke's graduate School of Education and completed her Ph.D. in 1980, with a special emphasis on the history of women's higher education. She has been a public school teacher in the Richland District One schools and taught at C.A. Johnson High School. Belinda returned to Columbia College and held a variety of faculty and administrative positions, including Chair of the Department of History and Political Science. She was twice named "Outstanding Faculty Member", served as the College's commencement speaker and was awarded the Columbia College Medallion in 2006, the highest award given by Columbia College.
Belinda has been active in civic organizations and is a recent president of the Historic Columbia Foundation. She currently serves on the board of Columbia Green. Belinda has served in recent years on several city commissions and committees, including those focusing on issues of homelessness and on government restructuring, and has served on the Executive Committee of the University Hill Neighborhood Association and the board of the Congaree Council of the Girl Scouts.
Belinda Focuses on What Makes Columbia Interesting and Unique
Now retired from Columbia College, Belinda has focused her attention on scholarship and public service. She is the author of several works on Columbia's history that have explored the experiences of women, African American, and Jewish residents in our community. Most recently she co-edited the landmark work on the life of legendary United States District Judge Matthew J. Perry published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2004.
Belinda's pioneering research on Associate Justice Jonathan Jasper Wright, a member of the South Carolina Supreme Court during Reconstruction and America's first African American judge, led to the rediscovery of Wright, the hanging of his portrait in the Supreme Court lobby and a day long conference on his legacy at the University of South Carolina Law School in 1998.
Belinda is currently co-chairing a dynamic initiative by the Historic Columbia Foundation to create a 22 acre Garden District in downtown Columbia in the area surrounding the Foundation’s four historic house museums. This project builds on the rich garden legacy of residents in our city throughout our history and will showcase over a century and a half of garden history. It is designed to attract tourists interested in heritage and cultural tourism, the fastest growing segment in tourism today. The first garden project, at the historic Seibels House, opened in April 2007.
Belinda Sees Historic Preservation as a Smart Growth Strategy
A passionate advocate for historic preservation and the protection of our intown neighborhoods, Belinda is the immediate past president of the Historic Columbia Foundation. Under her leadership the Foundation Board adopted and implemented its first strategic plan. This plan called for renewed attention to preservation issues in the city, issues that had led to the Foundation’s establishment in 1961 when the Robert Mills House (now a National Historic Landmark) confronted demolition from short- sighted developers.
She was at the front lines in the battle to protect the historic Black House and Kirkland Apartments from demolition to construct the Inn at USC. She played a key role in marshalling the forces of Historic Columbia, the University Hill Neighborhood Association and historic preservation advocates from across the city to preserve the National Register Eligible buildings. Belinda participated in negotiations with the University, neighborhood representatives, City Council member Anne Sinclair, and the developer that incorporated the historic structures into the beautiful and award winning Inn at USC that now sits on the corner of Pickens and Pendleton Streets. Belinda understands that in cities across this country and here in Columbia as well historic preservation is a “Smart Growth” strategy that sustains neighborhoods, enhances quality of life, and stimulates economic development.