Meeting Agendas & Minutes
See InfoIn Memoriam: Charles Baxley
Visit the MemoriumChairman, General William Grimsley (Ret.)
Chairman Will Grimsley, a 33-year U.S. Army veteran, held command and leadership positions at every level from platoon through corps while serving stateside and overseas. During that time, he earned numerous awards and medals, including the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat. Upon retiring from active duty, Grimsley consulted in the private sector for several major multinational corporations. He served as the President and CEO of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation, and most recently served as the first South Carolina Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs. He is an Eagle Scout, a certified S.C. Lowcountry Master Naturalist and a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian service award.
Vice Chairman Bill Davies
Mr. Davies’ background stretches across all walks of South Carolina history as Chairman of the Board of Managers for the South Carolina Historical Society and as President of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History Foundation. Along with his numerous other accomplishments, his experience as President of the Palmetto State Military History Foundation will provide invaluable historical perspectives and talents to the Commission.
The Late Chairman Charles B. Baxley
The late former chairman Charles B. Baxley was a veteran attorney at Baxley, Wells and Benson, which operates out of Lugoff, South Carolina. While also having served as a magistrate judge for the City of Camden, South Carolina and Adjunct Professor of Law, Chairman Baxley was the editor and publisher of a respected online historical journal, Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. Among many other awards and recognitions, Chairman Baxley was a recipient of South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto.
Secretary Duane Parrish
Mr. Parrish, the current Director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SC-PRT) is a highly valued member of the commission. With an extensive background in tourism and hospitality, Mr. Parrish has a fresh perspective and provides unrivaled skills and tactics that propels the Commission towards its goal of shedding light on South Carolina’s role American Revolution through tourism.
Chaplain Dianne T. Culbertson
Mrs. Culbertson’s background as both a former primary school educator and Vice President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution makes her an ideal choice to serve on the Commission. Her dedication to historic preservation and natural resources in South Carolina will provide an important perspective to the Commission’s efforts to commemorate the American Revolution through physical history and education.
Laurie Slade Funderburk
Ms. Funderburk has a decorated background having served as the Chairwoman of the General Assembly’s Women’s Caucus and on the House Judiciary Committee. Ms. Funderburk will provide important talents and unique perspectives to the Commission to help it along its way to highlighting South Carolina’s importance in the American Revolution.
State Representative Neal Collins
State Representative Neal Collins is an attorney in Easley and a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. His background serving on the House Education Committee and in the South Carolina government will provide worthwhile knowledge and talents to the Commission’s efforts towards shining a light on South Carolina’s rich history during the American Revolution.
Treasurer J. Brett Bennett
Mr. Bennett’s professional background as the Chief Operating Officer for HealthScape Data, LLC, and his intense knowledge in the areas of general management, strategic planning, operations, and economic development will provide important and necessary skills and talents to the Commission. He is also an amateur Revolutionary Era historian and first-person interpreter.
Dr. A. V. Huff, Jr.
Dr. Huff is the former President of the South Carolina Historical Association and the current chair of the South Carolina Commission on Archives and History. His role as a Professor of History and Dean at Furman University will also provide irreplaceable skills and talents to the Commission in all facets.
Pam Melton Cazel
Mrs. Cazel’s extensive background in marketing and sales for major Fortune 500 companies, coupled with her service to Cherokee County as the Executive Director of their History and Art Museum will provide irreplaceable skills and talents to the Commission. With strong roots in upstate, Mrs. Cazel is poised to be a necessary fixture for the Commission.
Senator Darrell Jackson
In addition to 30 years in public office, Senator Darrell Jackson is the Senior Pastor at Bible Way Church of Atlas Road. He has served on many boards around the state, including for Benedict College, Big Brothers Big Sisters and United Way of the Midlands.
Luther Lyle
Luther Lyle, a former U.S. Army Combat Engineer, spent 35 years as a teacher before joining the Museum of the Cherokee in South Carolina as its director and curator. Lyle also serves on the boards of directors for Oconee Forever and the Walhalla Diversity and Inclusion Committee. A past chairman of the Oconee Arts and Historical Commission, Lyle previously served on the boards of directors for the Oconee Scenic Highway Committee, Oconee Heritage Center, SAVE STUMPHOUSE Committee and the Gen. John A. Wagener Interchange Committee.
Ken Scarlett
Kenneth Scarlett is the author of Victory Day — Winning American Independence, The Defeat of the British Southern Strategy, which received the 2023 Fraunces Tavern Museum Honorable Mention Award, along with the Pulitzer Prize book “The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams” by Stacy Schiff. Victory Day is an in-depth account of the last 31 months of the Revolutionary War centered in Charleston; and the forced British Army evacuation which liberated Charleston, and resulted in American Independence.
Ken is the President of Revolutionary Charleston 250 (www.revolutionarycharleston.org). He is the former president of Scarlett Surveys International and the Nathanael Greene Freedom Monument Foundation that produced the life-size statue of General Greene in Greenville, SC located at the Upcountry Museum. He has a Master’s Degree in Intelligence and Security from The Citadel, and a Business Management degree from USC’s Darla School of Business.
Ben Zeigler
Ben Zeigler, a native of Florence and a shareholder in the law firm of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., focuses his practice on public finance, economic incentives and nonprofit and government law. A graduate of The University of the South, Oxford University and Harvard Law School, Zeigler also serves as a member of the McLeod Health Board of Trustees, The South Carolina Golf Association Board of Directors, the Florence County Museum Board, and he is Chairman of the Board of the Wright Foundation for Southern Art and President of the Florence County Historical Society. He has previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Pee Dee Land Trust and the Francis Marion Trail Commission, and has served as a member of the South Carolina Supreme Court Commission on Lawyer Conduct, the South Carolina Eminent Domain Study Committee and the Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, as well as the boards of the Francis Marion University Foundation and Florence County Progress.
Committees
Executive Committee
- General William Grimsley (Ret.) – Chairman
- Bill Davies – Vice Chairman
- Dianne Culbertson – Chaplain
- Duane Parrish – (SCPRT) statutory Executive Secretary
- Brett Bennett – Treasurer
Education Committee – Neal Collins, Chairperson
Partnerships Committee – Dianne Culbertson, Chairperson
Budget and Finance Committee – Brett Bennett, Chairperson
Marketing, Branding, & Public Relations Committee – Pam Melton Cazel,
Chairperson
Publications Committee – TBD
Performance Evaluation (Metrics) – Laurie Slade Funderburk, Chairperson
updated April 29, 2024