Tut Underwood The S.C. State Museum was formed by the Legislature in 1973 during the administration of Governor John West. The initial funding was enough to hire five people to get the organization started, but it was nowhere near enough to acquire land and put up a building.

Among some early location ideas was a site on Senate Street between the Columbia Museum of Art and the first location choice for the Koger Center. The far side of the Saluda River was a later favorite, where today the botanical gardens face the zoo.

In 1987, Tut Underwood came on board as the director of public information and marketing. He is still holding the title for a much- expanded program in his 21st year at the museum.

Underwood was born in Birmingham, Ala., because his parents' town of Cullman didn't have the best medical facilities. Birmingham had the state's medical school.

Underwood's father was a banker at what was then called the State National Bank. His mother was a registered nurse, but for most of Underwood's childhood, she mostly managed the house. Including Underwood's younger sister and his older sister, there were three children.

Both sisters still live in Alabama, and his mother stays with the younger sister in Anniston.

Underwood stayed in the Cullman public schools through high school graduation. By the time he finished, he was an accomplished musician. His rock 'n' roll band scored paying gigs while he sang for the group. He also played organ and rhythm guitar.

He enrolled in Auburn University in the fall of 1972.

His part- time work in high school included attending the sales counter at a local drug store, which influenced Underwood's choice of college major, pharmacy. But his sophomore challenge in organic chemistry changed his course of study.

With his singing voice and disc jockey duties at Auburn's radio station, Underwood was a natural in his second choice for a major, speech and communication.

After graduation, Underwood worked for a year at his hometown radio station in Cullman, where he interviewed former governor and presidential candidate

George Wallace.

Underwood left Cullman for Columbia and USC. He took two years in the USC School of Journalism to earn his master's degree in the era of Dean Al Scroggans.

After jobs with WIS- Radio and also WIS- TV, by then separate operations, Underwood went to work in the Office of Information Services at USC, where he stayed for seven years before he moved to the S.C. State Museum. In another year, in the fall of 1988, the museum opened.

Underwood and his wife Nancy married about a year after the State Museum opened. She has her MFA from U.Mass. (Amherst), and her master's in education from USC. She teaches art at Richland Northeast High School, where their son John is a rising senior.

The State Museum is the state's largest and most comprehensive museum. Some major additions are in the works over the next couple of years.

Both an observatory and a planetarium are planned. Also, a 4- D theater, a combination of 3- D visual effects with an accompanying seat motion, is expected to be ready about the same time. There is nothing like it in the state, but there is something similar in a 4- D theater already in operation at Stone Mountain, Ga.

The State Museum's 20th anniversary is in the coming fall and its four- millionth visitor is also expected, all since Underwood came on board.