A look back at 100 years at Charleston's oldest black-owned business: Fielding Home for Funerals

Video courtesy of The Post and Courier

Fielding Home for Funerals is approaching its 100th year in business, making it Charleston's oldest black-owned business, and The Post and Courier caught up with owner Herbert Fielding for a chat about a century of tradition and the changes he's seen in local black funeral industry.

Herbert Fielding explains how, in 1912 when Fielding's grandfather, Julius P. L. Fielding got started as an undertaker, to assure the black population had proper burials. As you can imagine, the racial lines between Charleston blacks and whites in 1912 was pretty extreme.

He goes on to explain the shifting trends in funeral service and burial traditions over the years - from the end of assembling caskets by hand to the recent lack of personal belongings being placed inside of coffins.

The feature makes for a very interesting read, and is a great look into Charleston's oldest black-owned businesses. Hop over to The Post and take a read

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