| Summary: | These are newspaper clippings relating to Bessie Foster. Florence historian Lee Freeman notes: "A granddaughter of free mulatto barber of Florence John H. Rapier, Sr. (1808-1869) and his second, common-law slave wife, Lucretia McAlister (ca. 1825-aft. 1860) through Bessie's mother, their daughter Susan (1859-1927), Bessie McAlister Rapier Foster (1882-1963) is believed to be Florence’s first African-American businesswoman. She was known locally as a hairdresser and chiropodist, and in 1916 opened the Pastime Theater for Negroes on Sweetwater Street, near Court. In 1925 her chiropodist business was located on the 2nd floor at 109 S Court St. By 1960 she was the owner of the Improved Pool Room. Married four times, Bessie had four daughters, two of which were adopted. A convert from the AME Church to Roman Catholicism, Bessie was instrumental in the founding of Blessed Martin De Porres Catholic Mission on West College Street in Florence in the late 1940s. She was known to locals for her industry, thrift, entrepreneurial spirit, and generosity. She died in 1963 and was buried in the black section of the Florence City Cemetery next to her second husband Thomas Spencer Foster (1877-1918)."
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