---
title: "Betsy Teter Launches 1890s History Book Tonight in Spartanburg"
url: https://www.herespartanburg.com/2026/10/27/betsy-teter-carnival-of-crime-launch-spartanburg-library/
date: 2026-10-27T07:34:36-04:00
modified: 2026-10-27T07:34:36-04:00
author: "Hollis V. Blackwell"
categories: ["Events"]
site: "HERESpartanburg"
attribution: "HERESpartanburg"
---

# Betsy Teter Launches 1890s History Book Tonight in Spartanburg

> SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Betsy Wakefield Teter, who helped found the Hub City Writers Project in 1995, launches her new book on Spartanburg’s rough 1890s with a free event Tuesday evening, Oct. 27. Her book, A Carnival of Crime, weaves together 10 linked true stories from a decade when cotton mills were spreading across the county

*Source: [HERESpartanburg](https://www.herespartanburg.com/2026/10/27/betsy-teter-carnival-of-crime-launch-spartanburg-library/) — October 27, 2026 by Hollis V. Blackwell*

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Betsy Wakefield Teter, who helped found the Hub City Writers Project in 1995, launches her new book on Spartanburg’s rough 1890s with a free event Tuesday evening, Oct. 27.

Her book, A Carnival of Crime, weaves together 10 linked true stories from a decade when cotton mills were spreading across the county and people poured in from around the Southeast.

Teter leaned on coroner’s reports, trial transcripts and pardon letters, and many photos come from the Kennedy Room at the county library.

The launch runs 6 to 7 p.m. in the Barrett Room at the library’s headquarters. Teter will talk with Erin Templeton, dean of liberal arts and sciences at Converse University, then take questions and sign books. The library will hand out free copies to the first 30 people.