Instructor: Dr. Andy Dyer has been a biology professor at USCA since 2000. He has published two general science books: one on pesticide resistance and agriculture (Chasing the Red Queen, 2014) and the second on the microbiome (Eaters Digest, 2022). His interest in life-history patterns led him to study cemeteries, death certificates and old documents to better understand the people, places and things in Aiken County over the past 180 years. Description: Aiken has a well-known reputation for being a playground for wealthy northerners from the late 1800s on. However, prior to the Civil War, the Aiken Town Council minutes paint an interesting picture of what it takes to run a small southern town with very little infrastructure, very little money, but large aspirations. This course will present a look at the interesting, quirky, and sometimes odd business of the early days of Aiken.