[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             MARTHA RIVERS

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my 
State's leading citizens and a pioneer in the South Carolina 
broadcasting industry, Mrs. Martha Rivers, who recently passed away.
  The 1950's was a decade of great changes for our Nation. In those 
years, the suburbs replaced cities as America's home address and radio 
was quickly overtaken by television as the favorite form of family 
entertainment. In South Carolina, Mrs. Rivers' late husband, John, 
introduced television to Charleston when he started WCSC-TV. For more 
than 30 years, Mrs. Rivers worked at the station, helping to create and 
expand what has turned into a very lucrative and important media 
market. Mrs. Rivers, along with her son, John Rivers, Jr., one of 
Charleston's most prominent businessmen, carried on the fine work of 
John Rivers, Sr., until WCSC was sold in 1987.
  While working at WCSC was a full-time job, Mrs. Rivers always had 
time to devote to the community. Her activities included serving as 
president of the Charleston County Association for the Blind and the 
Garden Club of Charleston. She was also a member of the Junior League 
and was very active in St. Phillip's Episcopal Church.
  Mr. President, Martha Rivers and her family have been friends of mine 
for a long time, and we are all saddened by her passing. She was a warm 
and outgoing woman, who was admired and respected by all. While she 
will be missed by those who knew her, her memory will live on through a 
park named in her honor in her hometown of Gastonia, NC and the Martha 
Robinson Rivers scholarship at Converse College, her alma matter. Mrs. 
Rivers is survived by her son, John M. Rivers, Jr.; daughters, Martha 
R. Ingram and Elizabeth R. Lewine; four grandchildren; two 
stepgrandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of Mrs. Rivers' obituary from the 
Charleston Post and Courier be inserted into the Record following my 
remarks.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          [From the Charleston Post and Courier, Feb. 6, 1994]

           Local Television Pioneer Martha Rivers Dies at 83

                            By Robert Behre

       Martha Robinson Rivers, who helped her late husband run 
     Charleston's first radio and television stations and who 
     supported many charitable and civic groups, died Thursday at 
     her residence. She was 83.
       Mrs. Rivers was born in Gastonia, N.C., to John Craig 
     Robinson and Ola Stowe Craig Robinson, and graduated from 
     Converse College in Spartanburg. She married the late John 
     Rivers, who then was working in Greenville.
       When the couple moved to Charleston, Rivers became head of 
     corporate financing for the investment firm of McAlster, 
     Smith and Pate. In 1937, he acquired control of WCSC radio, 
     and he started WCSC-TV--the city's first television station--
     in 1953.
       Mrs. Rivers served as WCSC Inc.'s secretary for more than 
     three decades. She retired in 1987 when her son, John M. 
     Rivers Jr., sold the station to Crump Communications Inc.
       Mrs. Rivers, who resided at 41 Meeting St., also was past 
     president of the Charleston County Association for the Blind, 
     past president of the Garden Club of Charleston and was a 
     member of the Junior League of Charleston.
       She and her husband were avid travelers and twice made 
     trips around the world. Former College of Charleston 
     president Theodore S. Stern said he first got to know Mrs. 
     Rivers during a trip to South America in the early 1970s.
       ``She was just the most stunning and warm individual,'' he 
     said.
       He noted she was instrumental in giving WCSC's early radio 
     and television memorabilia to the college. ``She had a great 
     interest in community activities and was a great asset to the 
     community.''
       Former Charleston mayor J. Palmer Gaillard Jr. said he knew 
     Mrs. Rivers well from all her work with St. Philip's 
     Episcopal Church and charitable groups.
       ``Charleston has really lost a great citizen. She was 
     indeed a lady. In fact, the description of her is the 
     definition of a lady,'' he said.
       The city of Gastonia honored Mrs. Rivers by naming a park 
     after her. She also established the Martha Robinson Rivers 
     scholarship at Converse.
       The family, through WCSC Inc., contributed to several 
     causes in the Charleston area, including Ashley Hall school, 
     the Gibbes Museum of Art, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, 
     the College of Charleston and the Charleston County School 
     District.
       She is survived by a son, John M. Rivers Jr. of Charleston; 
     two daughters, Martha R. Ingram of Nashville, Tenn. and 
     Elizabeth R. Lewine of New York; four grandchildren; two 
     stepgrandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
       The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today in St. Philip's 
     Episcopal Church. Burial, directed by Stuhr's Downtown 
     Chapel, will be in the church cemetery.

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