"Public Domain Day" in the BDC by Cassandra Knoppel

We've said it before, but Happy New Year everyone! 2025 is a big year for us at the BDC; our calendar is packed with programs and events, like the bicentennial of Lafayette’s visit to Beaufort in March, and we are one year closer to the Semiquincentennial of the American Revolution in 2026.  

The new year also welcomes the release of copyrighted materials from 1929 into the public domain. This means that certain books, films, art, and music published in 1929 can now be shared and transformed without need for a licensing fee or permission from the copyright holder. US Copyright law states that materials published before 1978 are subject to a 95-year copyright term which expires on January 1st of the year following that term’s end, prompting January 1st to be considered "Public Domain Day." There are additional rules and stipulations, which you can read more about in the Public Domain Day 2025 article from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain. This article also goes in-depth on some of the media now in the public domain, including sound recordings from 1924. 

Some archives are celebrating the release of materials into the public domain in creative ways. The Internet Archive announced their “2025 Public Domain Day Remix Contest” (ending Jan. 17th) for short films made out of public domain material. John Mark Ockerbloom built excitement with daily blog posts on soon-to-be released titles in his Countdown to Public Domain Day. HathiTrust, a repository for digitized public domain books and materials, is working on a new collection of publications from 1929. 

Here at the BDC, we’ve joined in on the fun by identifying a handful of materials in our collection published in 1929 that may have entered into the public domain this year. Check them out below: 

• SC 975.799 WIL 1929 Beaufort County, South Carolina: The Shrines, Early History, and Topography by N. L. Willet. Augusta, GA: Phoenix Printing Company, 1929. This short booklet promotes the culture and history of Beaufort and its sea islands to would-be tourists. 
• SC 973.782 CHE 1929 A Diary from Dixie: As written by Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of James Chesnut, Jr., United States Senator from South Carolina, 1859-1861, and afterward an aide to Jefferson Davis and a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army by Mary Boykin Chesnut. New York: Peter Smith, 1929. A reprint of the published diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut (original copyright date was 1905), this book details her life and musings on society during the Civil War as a Confederate politician’s wife. A digital version is available via HathiTrust. 
• SC FIC HEY 1929 The Half Pint Flask by Dubose Heyward. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1929. Written by the author of Porgy (1925), The Half Pint Flask is a short novel that criticizes racial anthropology of the time with a supernatural story of the disturbance of a Sea Island burial ground. A digital version of this book available through GoogleBooks. 

• SC 929.10416 EAS 1929 History of the St. Andrew's Society of Charleston, South Carolina, 1729-1929 by J.H. Easterby. Charleston, S.C.: The Society/Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1929. This book outlines the history of the St. Andrews Society of Charleston, formed by Scottish immigrants in 1729. While this volume is not Beaufort-related, it was part of the collection before Grace arrived, so we’ve kept it in our catalog. A copy is available digitally via HathiTrust. 
• SC FIC OEM 1929 Johnny Reb: A Story of South Carolina by Marie Conway Oemler. New York: Century Co., 1929. A novel set in 1890s Maryville, SC, Johnny Reb tells the story of Confederate veteran Johnny Crutchfield and the rekindling romance of his childhood love, along with the dramas of other townsfolk. 
• SC FIC CUR 1929 Little Maid of South Carolina by Alice Turner Curtis. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Publishing Co., 1929. Part of Curtis’ The Little Maid's Historical Series, this fictional novel set in 1781 tells the story of 12-year-old June Lambert and her escapades as a young patriot in Charleston. 
• SC 940.4 OFF V. 1, V. 2 The Official Roster of South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the World War, 1917-18. [Columbia, S.C.]: General Assembly, 1929. These two volumes, published as part of an Act of the General Assembly of South Carolina, list the names of World War I veterans and brief information from their service record. This resource is available online in the South Carolina State Library’s Digital Collections. 

The BDC cannot definitively state that these materials are in the public domain, as there are other qualifications that may impact their copyright and release, or the release of photos/art within the volumes. Determination of copyright and restrictions are the responsibility of the researcher. 

If you are interested in reading any of these works, come visit us at the BDC. For assured service, please make an appointment to visit our Research Room by calling us at 843-255-6468 or emailing bdc@bcgov.net.

Just a heads up: the Library will be closed Monday, January 20th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

"Cheer Days" Recap from December 2024

Happy New Year! The holiday season is officially over, but we wanted to share some of the fun we had celebrating the holidays in the BDC.

Each year during the last few weeks of December, the Beaufort County Library system celebrates the holiday season in our own special way: Cheer Days! During Cheer Days, library staff are encouraged to dress up for a theme that changes each day to bring some holiday cheer to the Library. 

The BDC Staff joined in on the fun too! You might have seen some of our outfits on the BDC Facebook, but you can see our "highlight reel" of Cheer Days pictures below.

Plaid Day

Monday, Dec. 16th was "Plaid Day," wherein staff could wear anything plaid. Everyone in the BDC participated, and we were finally able to get an official BDC group picture with Sydney!

Ugly Sweater Day

Dec. 17th was the day when staff was asked to "don [our] ugliest holiday sweater." You can see us here with BCL Marketing Department's Traci and Theresa.

"Smells Like Team Spirit" Day

On Wednesday, Dec. 18th, staff could wear something with their favorite team, whatever that team may be. Grace showed her support for Team BCL by sporting our official "Library" t-shirt, while others from Marketing and Library Administration showed support for sports teams and "Team Holiday Spirit."

Pajama Day

Next up was "Pajama Day" on Dec. 19th, a highly regarded Cheer Day tradition. Pajama Day is inarguably the coziest, most comfortable workday of the year! You can see Sydney and Grace in their work-appropriate holiday pjs in front of Library Administration's faux-roaring fire. 

Tropical Day

Dec. 20th was a day to pretend that the Winter Solstice was not nigh, and that instead the warmth we experienced that week was from a Library tropical vacation! BDC staff came dressed in tropical-print shirts and dresses to pose beside the Christmas tree.

Disney Day

For the day-after-Christmas, BCL staff were asked to "show off [their] love of Disney." Sydney and Marketing's Theresa came dressed in Mickey ears and Disney t-shirts.

Fandom Day

Dec. 27th was a day for staff to celebrate their inner geekiness and show-off what they were fans of. Sydney is a big Harry Potter fan, so she chose to wear Team Slytherin attire.

Alumni Day

Monday, Dec. 30th was a day for library staff to honor their alma mater. Cassandra came in her College of Charleston t-shirt with a University of South Carolina mug (not pictured).

Eras/Decades Day

The last day of 2024 was a day to reflect on days of yore. Staff could dress in attire from their favorite era or decade for the last Cheer Day of the year. Sydney, a big Taylor Swift fan, wore her "Eras" t-shirt, while Cassandra dressed in something her parent's might have worn in the 1970s and Marketing's Theresa came in an outfit straight from the '90s.

The BDC staff participated in every week-day Cheer Day this year and had so much fun dressing for each theme. We hope you enjoyed seeing our pictures and we look forward to seeing our patrons (but dressed in our normal work-wear) in 2025!

"All Things New" Display by Sydney Whiteside

Happy New Year! The January Edition of the BDC display case encapsulates everything new. We have a section of New Years related materials, a section of items with “new” in the title, a section that is new to me, and a section dedicated to NEWspaper. So, I am creatively titling it “All Things New”. 

The first shelf is dedicated to materials centered around New Years. I decided to include one of my favorite pieces from my previous display: New Year Be Coming!: A Gullah Year by Katharine Boling (2002). This book possesses a collection of poems written in Gullah language that coordinate with each month of the year, as well as a New Years poem. Reading Boling’s poems is a wonderful way to start off the new year.  

In a clear stand, you will see a poem titled “New Year’s Bells” written by Samuel Henry Rodgers. The poem was written on December 28, 1882, and then published by his grandson in 1985. I will go into further detail about Rodgers and his history in the newspaper section. While gathering information for that section, I came across this New Years poem and decided it would fit perfectly here. Rodgers reflects on the previous year with both joy and pain and then proceeds to welcome the new year with an open heart. I truly believe this is a feeling that we can all resonate with, which is why it felt so important to include. 

The final New Years piece I have to share with you is attached to the back of the board. During my deep dive, I came across an "Answer Man" column written by BCL's own Dennis Adams. Titled “Happy New Year to all, no matter how you count” and published by the Beaufort Gazette on December 31, 2000, Adams explains how throughout the years, different cultures have utilized many different ways to represent time. He mentions how some cultures have used astronomy to guide their year, some have used clocks or calendars, and others, notably the Mayas, used their fingers and toes to track time.  

Moving on to the second shelf, we have materials with “new” in the title. When it comes to selecting materials to display, I attempt to include different types of subject matter in order to show how diverse our collection can be. In this section, I have included three books, one print, one poster, and one tape set. I am constantly amazed by what I find within the BDC, and I hope this section makes you feel that same way. 

To start, we will address the elephant in the display case: The New World: The First Pictures of America by Stefan Lorant (1946). This large edition contains (you guessed it) some of the earliest portrayals of America. Lorant dissects the discovery of America by describing the narratives of explorers known to visit the Huguenot Settlement in Florida (1562-1565) and the Virginia Colony (1585-1590). These narratives are paired with maps, portraits, and drawings of what life was like in America during the 16th century. In this day and age, it can be difficult to imagine what America was like in its earliest days. The contemporary narratives combined with the detailed depictions of early America leave the reader with an idea of what it was like.  

In front of The New World, we have New Raiments of Self: African American Clothing in the Antebellum South by Helen Bradley Foster. This book focuses on the clothing that African Americans wore prior to the Civil War. The majority of the sources used within the book are oral narratives from the 1930’s along with photographs, portraits, drawings, and newspaper clippings. The journey of creating this composition began when Foster was sorting through her fathers' old photographs and found a scrapbook snapshot that her grandmother Mimi had created in the early 1940’s. With so many unanswered questions about her Mimi, and only photos of her to work with, Foster took to studying the appearance and clothing worn by African Americans during her Mimi’s lifetime to attempt to better understand her as a person.  

On the other side of the case with a plain blue cover is New Writing in South Carolina by William Peden (1971). This is a compilation of short stories written by beginner authors based in South Carolina during the late 1960’s. The book is divided into numerous sections. Each section begins with a small introduction about the author, followed by their stories. The majority of the stories are only a few pages long, if that. Nonetheless, it was still interesting to see how authors wrote back then. We all know the English language has become far less formal over time, but it is still fascinating to see how formal such works were only 50 years ago.  

Behind New Writing in South Carolina, we have a new format to me: cassette tapes! Luke Gullah: De Good Nyews Bout Jedus Christ Wa Luke Write prepared by Sea Island Translation and Literacy Project (1995) consists of four different cassette tapes. This is a narration of the Bible book of Luke spoken in Gullah language. Unfortunately, there is not much I can share visually in the case or even here on the blog regarding the tapes. Here in the BDC, we have an old cassette player, so if you would like to have a listen for yourself, come on in! But please remember that it's always a good idea to make an appointment for assured service: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468.

Attached to the back of the display, you will see a copy of a print that I have found in our collection. This is a sketch by A. R. Waud titled “News from Home- arrival of the post- a scene near Hall’s Hill” published by Sherman Pub Co. in 1865. In the sketch, you can see a plethora of people gathering outside of the post office at Hall’s Hill to collect their mail. Some are pictured with varying editions of newspapers, while others are opening enveloped mail, presumably letters from loved ones back home. In the front, you can see a young boy with a drum on his back reading his own mail. [This is on the verso of PRINT 40 which we have for the local history content relating to Fort Beauregard at Bay Point. I have no idea where said "Hall's Hill" is located. - gmc] 

The majority of folks come to the BDC in search of older resources. However, I wanted to include a piece that shows how we are collecting material from the current day. Beside the previous sketch is a copy of a poster from our collection. This poster was made by The Beaufort Symphony Orchestra to advertise their concert titled that took place on March 5, 2023. At said concert, the symphony preformed Americana Symphony No. 9 in G major, Opus 95, also known as “New World,” arranged by Antonin Dvorak. The performance was held at The University of South Carolina Beaufort's Center for the Arts. Even though this piece is just from last year, it will one day be considered “old” by future generations. 

Of course, every book in our collection is new to me, as I am quite new myself. So, the third shelf will include pieces that have stood out to me within my first few weeks here. There is not much shelf space, so I had to be strict with my selections. 

One of the first tasks assigned to me when I began working at the BDC was to read Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated HIstory by Michael C. Taylor (2005), so I had to include it in the new to me section. I have only been living in Beaufort for three years, so I am not a local that grew up learning about its rich history. This book was an amazing introduction to Beaufort and offered a thorough overview of its history. It was quite a lot to take in at once, but now I feel like I have a really good base knowledge of Beaufort (which is very important for me to have!).  

Throughout my many readings of Beaufort’s history, there was one name that was continuously brought up, but never dwelled upon. That name was Clara Barton. Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on December 25, 1821 and was an American nurse. She served through the Civil War and fell in love with medically treating and teaching others. All of her life experiences and medical findings led her to establish the American Red Cross on May 21, 1881. The American Red Cross is a nonprofit that provides emergency preparation and aid to those struck my disasters. Which brings us to how Barton is connected to Beaufort.  

Clara Barton visited Beaufort more than once. The first time was in 1861 when the Union was in control of the Sea Islands. As Barton was serving in the Union, she was asked to aid Union soldiers and formally enslaved people who were involved in the Port Royal Experiment. The second visit was due to the hurricane of 1893, also known as the “Sea Island Hurricane”. A Story of the Red Cross: Glimpses of Field Work, written by Clara Barton (1928), includes first-hand accounts of her numerous relief efforts. It is a tiny, green book that is extremely fragile. Barton dedicates an entire section of the book to her second visit to Beaufort which she meticulously titles: “The Sea Island Relief”. I wanted to include this piece because I really enjoyed reading about Barton’s experience from her point of view. I also wanted to share a snippet from the “The Sea Island Relief” section that really stood out to me but, because the book is so fragile, I could not open it to this section in the display. Barton recalls an interaction she had with four men whom she had previously treated. They visited Barton to thank her personally for everything she had done for them. They showed her their scars and their fully healed bones and told her they would never forget how she saved them. Barton shares this tender moment from her perspective: 

One by one they showed their scars. There was very little clothing to hide them- bullet wound and sabre stroke. The memory, dark and sad, stood out before us all. It was a moment not to be forgotten.

To further expand my knowledge of Clara Barton, I decided to search to see if we possessed any other materials about Barton. For an expansive list of online resources, SCLENDS materials, and BDC materials on Clara Barton, visit our WordPress Blog. Within our own collection, we have a piece titled A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War by Stephen B. Oates (1995). Oates recounts all of Barton's efforts throughout the Civil War and how her service as a nurse as well as her experiences on the killing fields directly influenced her decision to create the Red Cross.  

When it comes to historic newspapers, the BDC has all you need. In fact, I have included a list of the BDC’s newspaper holdings along with the available years. The majority of our newspaper collection is available to view on microfilm unless otherwise noted. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to look through old newspapers and read old articles (and look at funny advertisements, of course). On the fourth shelf, there is a clipping that dates all the way back to 1863. Speaking of, pinned to the back of the case, you will see the front page of the first issue of the Free South, published on December 5, 1863. The paper was edited by James G. Thompson and was published and distributed on a weekly basis to the people of Beaufort, for a year that is. The paper only ran from 1863-1864. [The BDC has the Free South on microfilm but you can also read it online via the Chronicling America website.] 

The next oldest newspaper I have to share is pretty in pink (boarder). This edition of The New South was published on August 25, 1866, and edited by L. Thompson. It is quite difficult to decipher anything written on the page, but I am able to make out the price of the paper. One copy cost a whole five cents and a year's subscription cost a whopping two dollars. You could also pay ten cents a line for advertisements. That is just fascinating to me personally.

Moving on, we have a clipping from The Gullah Sentinel published on June 5, 2013. The front page of this issue was dedicated to Candice Glover, a Beaufort native, who won season twelve of American Idol. Glover’s album, Music Speaks, was released in 2014 following her win. She hasn’t been very active in the music industry since, but she has spoken recently about returning to making music as well as coordinating music at SCAD while also attending as a student.  [The BDC has a vertical file of clippings about her and a poster advertising a concert she headlined for a local charity in 2015.]

To wrap up the newspaper section, we have a photo of Samuel H. Rodgers, also known as the Palmetto Poet. Rodgers founded the Palmetto Post, which he edited and published his poems in. Behind his photo is The Palmetto Poet: Samuel Henry Rodgers by Walter Ioor Rodgers, Sr. (1985). This is a collection of Samuel H. Rodgers’ poems that were located in two different diaries. These were discovered by his grandson (the editor). Rodgers’ poems that were published in the Palmetto Post are also included as well as some of his newspaper editorials from when he was part owner of the Beaufort Gazette Publishing Company.  

I hope you enjoyed my new display case (Haha). Two cases down, and many more to go! This continuous project is an amazing way for me to expand my knowledge of our collection and gives me the opportunity to share all of my findings with all of you.  

If you are interested in any of the materials I have shared today, you can explore the local history section at your favorite Beaufort County Library branch and/or make an appointment to come visit us in the BDC. Send an email to bdc@bcgov.net or give me a call at 843-255-6468 to set up a BDC appointment date and time. I hope to hear from you soon! 

[The content in brackets and italicized are mine. - Grace Morris Cordial]