South Carolina's earliest successes during colonial times are largely focused on the rice industry, with opportunities to tour plantations where rice was once harvested or to see the ruins of an old rice mill. It's a rich and fascinating history, but a part of the state's history that has been largely overlooked until recently involves the indigo industry, which also was a vital contributor in making the colony one of the most prosperous of the Thirteen Colonies.

In fact, Lady's Island was comprised mainly of indigo plantations, and from those and other plantations, indigo went on to make up one-third of the state's exports by the time of the American Revolution. The history of indigo in South Carolina even led to Indigo Blue being designated as the official state color in 2008, and indigo has since been making a comeback in perhaps some surprising and unexpected ways!

For a little more on indigo history in South Carolina though, a woman by the name of Eliza Lucas Pinckney was instrumental in the development of the successful indigo industry in the state. She came here at 16 years old from the Caribbean Island of Antigua, of which her father was the lieutenant governor. She was skilled in botany, having been raised on a plantation.

She utilized her expertise on the family's plantation in Charleston, Wappoo Plantation, to master by trial and error the successful cultivation of indigo plants. This eventually led to substantial exports to England and Eliza L. Pinckney becoming the first woman inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame. The Indigo Girl is a historical fiction work based on historical documents if you'd like to learn more about the life of Eliza L. Pinckney.

Indigo's deep, intense blue has intrigued people for centuries, with Sir Isaac Newton noticing it in the rainbow between blue and violet, calling it “visible yet immaterial.” Its mysterious dark beauty and the challenging processes required to make it usable even led to the color being referred to as “blue gold.”

When indigo is harvested, its leaves are soaked in water for several days until the water becomes a green-blue color and a metallic sheen covers the surface. Then the leaves are removed and the water is stirred vigorously with calcium hydroxide added in. Blue foam and bubbles will appear, and the mixture rests while sediment settles. The water is poured off gently, and once dried, the indigo is molded into 'cakes' or 'bricks'.

There are a variety of methods for making an indigo dye vat, and the dye must be hand-dipped multiple times, a technique known as 'layering', to achieve a dark and even color.

One of the fascinating things about working with indigo is that when fabric comes out of the vat, it is actually a yellow-green! As the air hits the fabric, the color changes to the beautiful indigo blue color due to oxidation. Any part of the fabric not exposed to air stays white.

Indigo is now grown again in South Carolina at various places, including Middleton Plantation, where you can watch a demonstration on dyeing with an explanation of the brutal slave labor that was used to dig reservoirs for water, plant, harvest, and process indigo all those years ago.

You can also attend indigo dyeing workshops at various spots in the Charleston area, such as the Charleston Museum, Drayton Hall, and Brookgreen Gardens. Check their websites and Facebook pages for upcoming event information.

You can shop indigo styles at Daufuskie Blues, a studio located in the historical 1930s Maryfield School on Daufuskie Island, the site of another prior indigo plantation.

One of the ways indigo is being used since its comeback may surprise you – in soap! And as you can see, its purpose here is not for color.

Indigo has been found to have some important health benefits, including reducing inflammation, improving circulation, and boosting the immune system. The root of wild indigo is used for medicinal purposes to fight infections such as diphtheria, influenza (flu), swine flu, the common cold, and other upper respiratory tract infections, lymph node infections, scarlet fever, malaria, and typhoid. It's also used for tonsillitis, sore throat, swelling of the mouth and throat, fever, boils, and Crohn's disease. Researchers believe it's possible it could help people with COPD breathe easier and keep blood oxygen levels from falling as well.

The company behind the Indigo Soap Bar product is called Genotype Inc. and was founded by a modern-day Eliza Lucas Pinckney type, Sheena Myers, who researched the hemp/cannabis industry in search of a solution for her son's challenges as a micro preemie. Hemp oil is another ingredient in the Indigo Soap Bar.

Sheena became the first African American female hemp/cannabis farmer in the tri-county area. Her skill and expertise in this industry has resulted in the development of products that are drastically impacting people's lives for the better. It's become a prosperous endeavor for her and one that has empowered her to bring together the present and a difficult part of our state's history in a deeply healing way, both physically and emotionally.The grand opening of her shop, where she plans to offer workshops, is expected sometime in 2024. It's located at 7662 Savannah Highway near Charleston.

Did you know about the history of indigo in South Carolina and that it has been found to have such incredible health benefits?