Rivers, John Minott, 1945-

John Minott Rivers, Jr., son of John Minott Rivers (1903-1988) and Martha Robinson Rivers (1909-1994). The Rivers family owned WCSC, Inc., which operated a Charleston, S.C., radio and television stations until 1987. WCSC-AM went on the air in 1930, the second oldest radio station in South Carolina; WXTC-FM went on the air in 1947, the first FM station in Charleston. WCSC-TV, the first television station in Charleston, went live in 1953 and is the oldest in South Carolina in terms of continuous operation.

WCSC, Inc., was also active in real estate and property development in and around Charleston. It also was involved in background music, long-distance telephones, paging, two-way radio, voice mail, cellular telephones, billboards, custom video production, security systems, hospital nursing stations, and the WCSC Broadcast Museum, now the John M. Rivers, Sr., Communications Museum housed at the College of Charleston.

John Minott Rivers, Sr., filled leadership roles in broadcasting and in Charleston civic and social affairs. Martha Robinson Rivers was also a civic and social leader, who worked extensively with the Junior League, the Garden Club of Charleston, and other groups. Rivers's sister Martha Craig Rivers Ingram was important in fundraising for the arts in Nashville, Tenn.; his sister Elizabeth R. Lewine lived in New York City.

From the description of John Minott Rivers papers, 1900-1997 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 33427704

John Minott Rivers, Sr., was born in 1903 in Charleston, S.C., son of lawyer and civic leader Moultrie Rutledge Rivers (1868-1940) and Eliza Ingraham Buist Rivers. He was educated in Charleston public and private schools and at the College of Charleston and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received his B.A. degree in 1924.

Rivers began his business career in 1924 with the Greenville branch of the Bank of Charleston (later the South Carolina National Bank). He was assistant vice-president of the bank when he left in 1936 to join the Charleston office of McAlister, Smith & Pate, a Greenville securities firm.

In 1937, Rivers joined WCSC-AM radio as president of the South Carolina Broadcasting Company, the licenser of WCSC. In 1938, he became president and manager of WCSC Radio, Charleston's first broadcasting station. He purchased the station in 1944. In 1948, WCSC-FM went on the air; in 1953, WCSC-TV, the first VHF television station in South Carolina, became operational. Rivers became chairman of the board of WCSC, Inc., in 1973. In 1987, WCSC, Inc. was sold to Crump Communications, Inc., of Houston, Tex.

Rivers was president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce in 1936 and of the South Carolina Broadcasters' Association in 1952. He was also president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, which named him Businessman of the Year in 1961. In 1974, he became the second person elected to the South Carolina Broadcasters' Association Hall of Fame, and, in 1977, he received the Silver Medal from the Advertising Federation of Charleston.

Rivers served as a board member or trustee for many organizations and institutions, among them the South Carolina Educational Television Commission; Coker College; Winthrop University; Ashley Hall School, where the library bears his name; the Charleston Development Board; the CBS Radio Affiliates' Board; and the Historic Charleston Foundation. The Communications Museum at the College of Charleston is named after Rivers, and the Rivers, Ingram, and Lewine Family Fund of the Historic Charleston Foundation was established in his honor.

Martha Robinson Rivers was born Martha Elizabeth Robinson in 1909 in Gastonia, N.C., daughter of John Craig Robinson (d. 1934) and Ola Stowe Craig Robinson (d. 1970). In 1925, she entered Converse College, Spartanburg, S.C. She made her debut at the 1928 Debutante Ball in Raleigh, N.C., and met and married John Minott Rivers, Sr., in 1929.

Settling in Charleston, Martha Rivers immediately became active in the city's civic and social life. She served on numerous boards and commissions and as president of the Charleston County Association for the Blind and the Garden Club of Charleston. She was active in community improvement projects sponsored by, among others, the Junior League of Charleston, Inc., and the Historic Charleston Foundation, and was a member of the Charleston Parks Commission for twelve years. In addition, she was vice-president and secretary of WCSC, Inc.

Martha Rivers was a frequent contributor of articles and opinion pieces to local newsPapers, magazines, and journals. In 1979, she published her recollections as Ole Timey Time . She also wrote many descriptive pieces during the frequent travels she and John Rivers, Sr., undertook, especially in their later years.

John Minott Rivers, Jr., was born in 1945. He attended Charleston Day School, Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After college, he served as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy, stationed chiefly in Charleston.

After his discharge, John Rivers, Jr., entered into the family business, taking charge in 1973 after his father's heart attack, and into the family's spirit of community service. Among other activities, he served as director of the Charleston Trident Chamber of Commerce and of the Charleston Industrial Association. He was also active in the Charleston Travel Industry Development Council, the United Way, the Boy Scouts, and numerous broadcasting associations.

Martha Rivers Ingram was born in 1935 and attended Ashley Hall School and Vassar College. After entering briefly in radio (she hosted a classical music program on WCSC-FM for a year), she moved in 1958 to Nashville, Tenn., when she married E. Bronson Ingram, head of Ingram Industries, which at the time was one of the largest privately owned businesses in the United States. Martha Ingram became active in Nashville civic and social affairs, concentrating especially on cultural and art programs. In 1972, she was appointed to the advisory board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Elizabeth Craig Rivers Lewine was born in 1937 and also attended Ashley Hall School and Vassar College. After college, she taught history at Ashley Hall for a year before moving to New York City, where she taught and attended Columbia University. She worked for the Authors' League for twelve years and married one of its directors.

(Adapted from articles in the News and Courier/Charleston Evening Post, 29 May 1977 and 25 January 1987; the Charleston Evening Post, 25 January 1988; Cobblestones, a Junior League of Charleston, Inc., publication, September 1991; and other publications, and from Ole Timey Time by Martha Robinson Rivers.)

From the guide to the John Minott Rivers Papers, ., 1900-1997, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)