He served as the defense attorney for Edward T. Avery, one of nearly five hundred white men indicted for affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan.

[2][3][4] After the fraudulent and violent election of governor Wade Hampton III ended Reconstruction, McMaster served as a judge, state representative, and state senator in the Democrat-led government that established Jim Crow.

[1][5] His advocacy strengthened and expanded the state’s segregated public education system begun during Reconstruction.

He was also mayor of Columbia and an active member of Camp Hampton, a Civil War veterans organization that promoted the Lost Cause.

The building has been part of the University of South Carolina's campus since 1960 and how houses the School of Visual Art and Design.