S ara holds her award from Palmetto Book Alliance. Sara Jane Goldstein, of the South Carolina Humanities Council, made the presentation.

Honors for Sara and Solly

Sara has made a bit of history and Solly has been honored for his contributions to the study of history.

It all came within the span of a couple of weeks.

On February 22, 2002 Sara became the first recipient of the Palmetto Book Alliance Award for "promoting the literary arts and fostering a creative atmosphere in South Carolina." On March 8, Solly was honored with a special night by Beth Elohim synagogue.

Sara, a worker at the Charleston County Public Library, received her award -- a Palmetto tree statue -- and $250 at an opening night reception for the South Carolina Book Festival at the Adams Mark Hotel in Columbia.

In nominating Sara for the award, Randy Akers, director of the South Carolina Humanities Council, said: "Sara has worked tirelessly for years to develop and deliver quality public programming at the library. She has received numerous grants from the Humanities Council for her innovative and hugely successful programs. Not only has she promoted literary arts in South Carolina, but she has brought people in the Charleston Country Public Library, who might otherwise never have come through their doors."

The major theme of Solly's night at Beth Elohim was his role as teacher, historian and humanitarian.

Rabbi Anthony Holz highlighted his talk by reading from some letters he had received.

Robert Rosen, a student of Solly's at Rivers High School and now a historian, wrote: "He (Solly) is known far and wide as an accomplished and generous historian and teacher. When I began writing "The Jewish Confederates," I asked Eli Evans to give me a list of local historians like Sol Breibart throughout the South. 'There is only one Sol Breibart,' Eli replied. And it was true."

Rosen also wrote that Solly "has made a major contribution to the study of American Jewish history, local Jewish history, the history of the temple, and to the betterment of the world as a dedicated teacher."

After praising Solly for being "committed to the discovery of the past and handing it on to us and and our children," Harlan Greene, archivist at the Charleston City Library, noted:

"...Sol has done what every historian hates. Historians look for every trace that a person has left behind. Sol is a modest person and he has erased his tracks -- he has deliberated turned attention away from himself...But what we are doing tonight is trying to uncover a little bit of his good works -- trying to put him in the limelight...Virtue may be its own reward, but we need to reward, or at least acknowlege it, too."

Solly's family -- the Breibarts and Breibart-Whites (Mark, Sheryl, Becka and Emma) from Boston and Carol from Denver -- came to Charleston for the ceremony.