Travel Writings in the Research Room by Grace Cordial

The Library chose to highlight 'Travel' as its featured theme for April. Staff and the readers of the Library system's monthly newsletter, The Current, were asked to recommend books about travel. We decided to interpret that theme as "Travel Writings" in ways that comply with the BDC's geographical imperative to make this post about materials we have on the topic in the Research Room. As it turns out, the Research Room has more accounts of traveler's writings from the 17th through 21st centuries than I had expected to find. Some of the travel writings were written by Americans. Some of the travel writings about this area were written by Europeans. Most of the ones we have are in published book form, though the original source materials were letters, diaries, journals or newspaper articles. 

If you prefer an overview of travel writings across several time periods at once, then I would recommend: 

• South Carolina : The Grand Tour, 1780 - 1865 edited by Thomas Clark (University of South Carolina Press, 1973) 
• The Travelers' Charleston : Accounts of Charleston and Lowcountry South Carolina, 1666 - 1861 edited by Jennie Holton Fant (University of South Carolina Press, 2016)

The BDC also has several vertical file folders of clippings that may contain shorter travel writings from a variety of authors: 

• BEAUFORT - DESCRIPTION - PRE-19TH CENTURY
• BEAUFORT - DESCRIPTION - 19TH CENTURY
• BEAUFORT - DESCRIPTION - 20TH CENTURY
• BEAUFORT - DESCRIPTION - 21ST CENTURY

Among the most notable travel writings in the BDC Research Room are: 

Period of Exploration - Here are a few examples of travel writings used to encourage investment in settling this area during the 16th and early 17th centuries. 

• Three Voyages by Rene Laudonniere (1587)
• A Relation of a Discovery Lately Made on the Coast of Florida by William Hilton (1664) 
• A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina on the Coasts of Floreda [sic] by Robert Horne (166?) 

Federal Period, 1776 - 1800

• We have two books about Washington's Southern Tour in 1791. 

Indeed, a number of US Presidents have visited Beaufort District through the years though George Washington was the first. He stopped by in mid-May 1791.  He intended for the tour to give him an understanding of the state of the country and its people. He visited Pocotaligo: 

Wednesday [May] 11th. After an early breakfast at Mr. Smiths we road 20 Miles to a place called Pokitellico, where a dinner was provided by the Parishioners of Prince William for my reception; and an Address from them was presented and answered.

Washington also visited Thomas Heyward's White House Plantation and Purysburg while he was in Beaufort District.

James Monroe would visit in 1819. U.S. Grant would briefly visit Beaufort in 1880.

• Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America during 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802 by John Davis (New York: Henry Holt, 1909) was first published in 1803. Davis, a keen-eyed young sea-faring Englishman, was writing for the American market. Davis does a lot of walking on his tour. He walked from Charleston to Coosawhatchie. He ends up spending a lot of time as a guest of Mr. Drayton of Ocean Plantation near Coosawhatchie. Davis comments upon slavery indicate the conflict he felt between his abolitionist views and the use of enslaved servants to care for his needs whenever he was a house guest or staying at area taverns.  

Antebellum Period, 1801 - 1861

• The Homes of the New World: Impressions of America is a travelogue in two volumes written by Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish author and feminist reformer. Often termed the "Swedish Jane Austen," Fredrika completed 18 novels and travelogues before her death. Financially independent, she traveled throughout much of the United States between October 1849 through September 1851. Her long letters to her sister document the journey and give her reflections and judgments about the people, places, and the institutions she encountered, including slavery. Like many people who visit Charleston and/or Savannah today, Fredrika bypassed visiting Beaufort District. The book is a hold-over from the "Beaufort Township Library" collection. There are many digital versions of this book on the Hathitrust Digital Library. 
• The Aristocratic Journey; Being the Outspoken Letters of Mrs. Basil Hall written during a Fourteen Months' Sojourn in America, 1827-1828 by Margaret Hunter Hall. In April 1827, Margaret Hunter Hall, her husband Basil and young daughter, Eliza, set sail from Liverpool, England for America. She wrote intimate detailed letters her sister Jane about her experiences and travels in the United States. Mrs. Hall had high standards of lifestyle, convenience, and behavior based upon her own upbringing in a noble household in Edinburgh and Madrid, Spain where her father, Sir John Hunter, served as British consul for a short time. In March 1828 the group journeyed from Charleston to Savannah, stopping off at the plantations owned by Nathaniel Heyward and William Heyward (though she spelled their surname "Hayward.") The letters are full of Mrs. Hall's unstinting observations of slavery and of plantation owners. Her critiques of America were not always kind. For example, she did not think much of the conversational skills of the Nathaniel Heyward family in spite of the fact that "His plantation is considered one of the best regulated in this State:"

... At dinner we were joined by one of his sons who had been out hunting. We were not much the better of his conversation, nor that of his brother who came in in the evening, neither of them spoke a word. I have heard of sisters being no greater use at a party than to fill two chairs, but I never saw the case so completely identified as in the case of those two brothers. The old gentleman himself is much more willing to talk, but neither is he a man of much information, and when we had got all out of him that we could relative to the cultivation of rice and the treatment of slaves, the conversation flagged so much that we were glad to make our escape to our own room.

Other notable travel writing before the Civil War in our Research Room are:  

• Travels in the Southland, 1822 - 1823 : The Journal of Lucius Verus Bierce, edited by George W. Knepper (Ohio State University Press, 1966)  
• Letters from the United States, Cuba and Canada by Amelia M. Murray (G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1856) Letter 17 discusses her trip to Charleston, SC and her perceptions of slavery. 
• A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States : With Remarks of Their Economy by Frederick Law Olmsted (Dix & Edwards, 1856) covers his research visits as a journalist to South Carolina via train to Charleston from North Carolina and via boat to Savannah. The critic Charles Eliot Norton described the three books that came from Olmsted's "Yeoman" articles for the New York Daily Times as "the most important contribution to an exact acquaintance with the conditions and result of slavery in this country that have ever been published." Olmsted makes remarks about slavery and socio-economic conditions in Chapters 6 - 8. He does not appear to have visited Beaufort District. This is another holdover volume from the Beaufort Township Library. 

Civil War and Reconstruction

During and in the aftermath of the Civil War, writers published their perceptions of the South in great numbers. Historian E. Merton Coulter compiled an annotated bibliography of almost 500 such books as Travels in the Confederate States in 1948. I recommend that you start with it even though it is old as bibliographies go. There are entries in the index for Beaufort, SC, Coosawhatchie, Hilton Head Island and Port Royal Island as well as a much more extensive reference for South Carolina, Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. All references to Black folks, freed or enslaved, are listed under the heading “Negroes” and “Negro troops, Federal.” The references under the headings go to location of the book in the list rather than to the page upon which the annotations are placed. 

Among the travel writings we have in the Research Room for this period are: 

• The South Since the War: As Shown by Fourteen Weeks of Travel and Observation in Georgia and the Carolinas by Sidney Andrews (1866) toured South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia in September, October and November 1865 as a newspaper reporter for the Boston Advertiser and the Chicago Tribune. The first 100 pages are about his time in South Carolina.
• My Diary, North and South by William Howard Russell (1863) has been called "the most important travel account by a foreigner in American during the Civil War." We have 3 copies inside the Research Room, though you can also find the two volumes on the Hathitrust Digital Library and Internet Archive as well. 
• White and Black ; The Outcome of a Visit to the United States by George Campbell (1879). We recommend the sections about the time he spent in South Carolina (pp. 312-346) and his descriptions of life in Beaufort County (pp. 334 -346) at the phosphate works and in conversation with local residents on topics of political, economic and social matters. Because our copy is old and tightly bound, we encourage you to access a digital copy on the Hathitrust Digital Library. 
• The Great South : A Record of Journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland by Edward King (1874) was written for an assignment by Scribner's Monthly magazine in 1873 and 1874. Chapter 47 is "South Carolina - Port Royal - The Sea Islands - The Revolution" begins on page 422. I recommend that you use the digital copy as our physical one may be one of the so-called "Poisoned Books" in our holdings.
• My American Tour : Being Notes Taken During a Tour Through the United States Shortly after the Close of the Late American War by David Thomas (1868) is a legacy title from the Beaufort Township Library. Thomas concentrates his travel in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington, DC.
• The South : A Tour of Its Battle-fields and Ruined Cities, A Journey Through the Desolated States, and Talks with the People ... by J. T. Trowbridge (1866) was written by a New England journalist who provides insight into the early days of Reconstruction. Chapters 71 - 79 discuss conditions in various parts of South Carolina. Chapter 74 "The Sea Islands" is devoted to the author's prejudicial views of Black people and the tax confiscations and sales. I recommend that you use the digital copy as our physical one may be one of the so-called "Poisoned Books" in our holdings.
• Though the Wales Journal does not include travel related descriptions of our area, it is a charming collection of illustrated letters from Susan Wales to her sister Annie Flagg Wales Stratton of Boston from 1887 to 1895. Wales wrote of her three trips to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to hone her artistic skills and to experience other cultures. The entire collection is online through our long partnership with the Lowcountry Digital Library.

20th Century, 1901 - 2000

The BDC has fewer 20th and 21st century travel writings about our area to share:

• My Trip to St. Helena Island: Discovering Gullah Geechee Culture by C.M. White (2019) is a rare-for-us children's book. The BDC does not collect many children's books but we do have this one from the Travel Adventure series. The illustrations are photographs of some of the local sites related to Gullah culture including a two page spread about the artistic interpretation of a sweetgrass basket that is in the middle of the St. Helena Branch Library. Most of the narration is a sentence or three relevant to the photographic image written at an elementary school grade level.
• Jeanne Harman and her husband Harry E. Harman were travel writers based in the Virgin Islands. They wrote travel and relocation guides for the Caribbean and the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The materials in this archival collection relate to their publication, the Hilton Head Island Report.
• One Man's Travels Through a Changing America in the 1930s by Jennifer Lynn Ritterhouse (2017) is an account of Jonathan Daniels' driving tour of the South in the summer of 1937. He was the young, white, liberal-minded editor of the Raleigh News and Observer at the time. Ritterhouse uses his unpublished notes, published writings, and archival evidence to place Daniels' journey in context of the time. BTW: Daniels founded the Island Packet newspaper on Hilton Head Island in 1971.
• Islands at the Edge of Time : A Journey to America's Barrier Islands by Gunnar Hansen (1993). The publisher's blurb says that the author "perceives barrier islands... as expressions in time of the processes that make them.... [and] examines how the culture and history of the history of these [the resident] people are shaped by the physical character of their surroundings."
• 100 Things to Do in the South Carolina Lowcountry Before You Die by W. Lynn and Cele Seldon (2025) is the most recent travel related guidebook added to the BDC.

As always, there are other related materials in the Research Room. We would love to share them in our Research Room with you. Reach out to set up an appointment: 843-255-6468 or bdc@bcgov.net.

Re-Cap of March 2026 Facebook Posts

As per usual, we omit references to past programs or events. - gmc

March 1 - Overview of all that was on our schedule at the start of the month. 

March 2 AM - Independence (Mon)Day: Today is the anniversary of the "Battle of the Rice Boats" in 1776. The Battle of the Rice Boats, also known as the Battle of Yamacraw Bluff, occurred during the Revolutionary War on March 2–3, 1776. British ships had been sent down to buy rice to supply the Redcoats who were occupying Boston. The Georgia Committee of Safety in support of independence refused to allow anyone to trade with the British, in compliance with the rules of the Continental Association. Thus the Georgia militia led by Colonel Lachlan McIntosh fired on the British ships and sent to South Carolina for help. Men from the Beaufort District were among those who responded to Georgia's call for aid. Matters took a turn and the Americans boarding the British ships were captured. Negotiations for their release broke down. Patriots sent a fire ship into the rice boats burning several. Eventually, the British ships were allowed to leave, taking the Royal Governor of Georgia, James Wright with them back to Boston.

American History Central says that "The Battle of the Rice Boats is important to United States history because of the role it played in keeping Georgia in American hands during a crucial period of the American Revolutionary War. Eventually, American control of Georgia led the British to devise the Southern Campaign, which started with the Capture of Savannah in 1778. Although the Americans lost Savannah in that battle, it ultimately led to British forces being trapped at Yorktown in 1781 and having to surrender."

March 2 PM - It's Read an E-Book Week on Hoopla. We suggest that you check out Wicked Beaufort by Alexia Helsely.

March 3 - Perhaps you're wondering why the British wanted to buy rice grown in Georgia. 1) The Patriots had the British bottled up in Boston by land but the Royal Navy controlled the waves. 2) Georgia was the youngest, and some thought the most loyal, of the American colonies. It grew rice that could be purchased and transported back to Boston to feed the Redcoats. Things didn't quite work out as the British had planned.

Carolina planters cultivated rice in the coastal tidewater rivers of the lowcountry–mainly the Waccamaw, Santee, Cooper, Ashley, Combahee, and Savannah Rivers. We have an essay and bibliography about rice culture on our BDCBCL: Lists, Links & Finding Aids blog in case you'd like to learn a bit of agricultural history today.

March 4 @ midnight - Happy National Marching Band Day! This date (March 4) was chosen specifically as a pun on "march forth" and is celebrated annually to honor marching and music arts in schools, communities, and drum corps.

In honor of this jubilant day, we have a photograph of the Robert Smalls High School Marching Band of 1964 from their school annual. The band, consisting of woodwind instruments, brass instruments, and a drumline is pictured with the schools majorettes who would often perform alongside the marching band. We have the 1964 annual from Robert Smalls High School and annuals from the Robert Smalls Middle School for 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1992. Our collection of school yearbooks in the Beaufort District Collection has come from donations through time. This means that our coverage of schools is completely dependent on donations.

A request: If you happen to have a yearbook from schools within Beaufort, Jasper or Hampton counties, South Carolina, please contact the BDC at (843) 255-6468, we would love to have first dibs on "those old yearbooks."

March 4 AM - Black History Note: Memoirs can tell us a lot about a person's life. Susie King Taylor's memories about her time as a nurse and teacher during the Union occupation will be featured in our program on Friday. We have a bit about SKT on Connections.

March 4 PM - Another good choice for "Read an E-book Week" on Hoopla is the Grim Years: Settling South Carolina, 1670 - 1720 by John J. Navin.

March 5 - Elizabeth Hyde Botume was one of the earliest teachers taking part in what was called “The Port Royal Experience” and her account will be featured at our local history program at 11 AM today. She taught at the "Old Fort" school shown in this photograph from our Civil War and Reconstruction Era Stereoscope Photographs of the Port Royal Region - the Finding Aid for which is on the BDCBCL: Links, Lists, and Finding Aids blog.

March 6 - Our final suggestion for "Read an E-Book Week" is volume 3 of State of the Heart edited by Aida Rogers. The anthology includes selections by locals Sallie Ann Robinson, David Lauderdale and Cassandra King.

March 7 - The Library is highlighting "Books set in South Carolina" this month. We've narrowed our list down to some set in Beaufort District: The Battle of Fort Scarlet; Beaufort 1849; Fragments of the Ark; Katrina; The Sea Island's Secret; Storm Center; Trouble the Water; and Tubman Command.

March 9 AM -- Independence (Mon)Day: Some terms merit discussion, particularly when what is one person's battle may only be a skirmish in another person's assessment. What is not in doubt is that there were at least 200 hundred, battles, skirmishes and other military actions inside the current borders of South Carolina during the American Revolution. Terry Lipscomb compiled a list that includes the Battle of Port Royal Island (1779); Fort Balfour and Hilton Head Island (1781); Galleys Scourge and Adder in March and Galley Balfour on September 2 in 1782 within the borders of Beaufort District. The Battle of the Rice Boats is not listed - most probably because the British fleet was fired upon from the Georgia side of the Savannah River.

The SCDAH has posted a pdf of this booklet online for all to review. We also have a copy in the BDC and one in the general collection at Bluffton Branch.

March 9 PM - The most famous of the books set in Beaufort (at least until Pat Conroy's time) was A Sea Island Lady by Francis Griswold. Some opine that indeed it is the best book ever written about Beaufort's past. It's been my experience though that a reader either loves it or hates it. Many local residents and visitors fall into the "Love" category; personally, I have never liked it.

The protagonist's mealy-mouthed support of her deadbeat husband annoyed me so much that I quit reading the book about page 500. I also think - as did many of its contemporary reviewers in 1939 when the book was first published - that it was way too long for its own good. I lost interest and patience about half-way through the almost 1000 pages of text.

This is not to say that I don't recommend that others read it. Indeed the parts about the effect of the Great Sea Island Hurricane and phosphate mining bear obvious signs of diligent historical research. I would recommend that one reads A Sea Island Lady in conjunction with Dr. Rowland's and Dr. Wise's volumes 2 and 3 of the History of Beaufort County South Carolina to help separate the fiction from the facts.

March 11 - "Black History Note:" In honor of the 2026 Women's History Month theme "Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future," we recommend the works of Queen Quet (born Marquetta Goodwine in Beaufort County) to you. [A flyer with some of her titles is to the reader's left.]

March 12 - Perhaps my favorite book partially set in Beaufort District is Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. Hill's multiple award-winning book is rooted on a 1783 naval ledger kept by the British to account for the 3000 enslaved and free Black Loyalists who were transported into Canada at the end of the American Revolution. The original "Book of Negroes Ledger" is 150 pages long and full of data and genealogical information about the Black Loyalists transported to Canada. Hill's novel was published under two titles: In Canada as The Book of Negroes after the ledger and in the United States as Someone Knows My Name. It has become one of the all-time best-selling books in Canada.

Hill's novel is told from the perspective of an African child, Aminata, who was stolen at age 11 from her village. She is first enslaved on a St. Helena Island indigo plantation. But her yearning to be free places her in conflict with her owners. She learns to read and write in secret in expectation that doing so will help her to get back to Africa. She becomes skilled as a midwife. Her literacy and personal knowledge of the transported Black Loyalists allow her to work on compiling the Book of Negroes in the novel. Her tale covers six decades, 1745 to 1805, three continents, Africa, North American and Europe, and topics related to enslavement, abolitionism, and what it means to be a human being. I agree with Publishers Weekly that "Hill's book is a harrowing, breathtaking tour de force."

March 13 - In honor of National Quilting Month: The Sea Island Quilters, founded in 1987, donated their records to the BDC in March 2021. Cassi finished the finding aid to their minutes, financial documents, newsletters, photographs, scrapbooks, and even quilt block patterns, all of value to researchers interested in local quilting history and women’s social organizations from the late 20th and early 21st century in 2025. (Note: A different group, The Maye River Quilters, has some of their quilts on display in Bluffton Branch this month: (843) 255-6490).

March 14 - Sometimes I am a little hard-pressed to identify a BDC material that relates to modern days of significance. As it turns out, the BDC does have a little something mathematical to share in honor of Pi Day.

We have two years' worth of the "Southern Review," a quarterly literary journal founded by Hugh Swinton Legare and Beaufort's own Stephen Elliott (1771-1830) in 1828. Our volume from 1829 includes "II. CAMBRIDGE COURSE OF MATHEMATICS" which is broken into three articles about algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.

The book was donated to the Beaufort Township Library by Margaret Scheper before 1964. Because of the manufacturing processes used when the volume was bound, we suspect that this volume might be one of the "poisoned books" that Cassandra wrote about on Connections in July 2025. Therefore I was very careful when handling the book and snapping the photos that accompany this post.

March 16 - Independence (Mon)Day: As the Battle of the Rice Boats indicated, the Council of Safety in South Carolina and Georgia were in contact with each other. Unfortunately, we do not have a copy of that correspondence but we do have a copy of South Carolina Provincial Troops named in Papers of the First Council of Safety of the Revolutionary Party in South Carolina, June-November, 1775, compiled by Alexander S. Salley. In June 1775, those in opposition to continued British rule decided to raise three regiments of regular troops and selected 13 members to serve as a Council of Safety to oversee the affairs of the colony. Beaufort District's own Thomas Heyward, Jr. was a member. Henry Laurens was its first president.

Details about some of the district's patriots appear in the reports and correspondence are included: Daniel DeSaussure; John Barnwell; Charles C. Pinckney; Clement Lempriere; Col. Stephen Bull; and Andrew Postell among others. Where, how much, and who had the gunpowder at Beaufort comes up several times as does correspondence regarding the refitting of Fort Lyttelton. For the genealogists among you, there are a number of troop registers and some interesting declarations of neutrality. BTW: This information was originally published in issues of the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine from 1900 to 1902.

March 17 - In honor of St. Patrick's Day, our book recommendation for today is Driftwood unmasked: The legend and the man by Gibbes McDowell (2018).

Beaufort-native Gibbes McDowell brings local legend (but a native Northern Irishman) Driftwood Cory back to life in this book. McDowell weaved together fact and fiction in his novel; fact being the scraps of stories and memories offered by those who knew the real Driftwood Cory during his time in Beaufort, and fiction – nearly everything else! Driftwood Cory was a ramblin’ man, an Irishman who immigrated to the US in some unknown year for unknown reasons, who eventually landed on a small plot of sand on Harbor Island for who-knows why. He made quite a reputation for himself as an artist and storyteller before rambling on again, but he left quite the legacy (and a million unanswered questions) in his wake.

McDowell’s novel portrays Cory as a veteran suffering from PTSD, a drifter in search of somewhere to settle, a lover, a threat to established order, and the lucky discoverer of pirate gold. Later, when McDowell endeavored to find real answers to his questions about the mysterious Cory, he found that his fictional portrayal was not too far-off from the truth in some instances. Discover for yourself what is fact and what is fiction about Cory in Driftwood unmasked: The legend and the man. For more information on the real Driftwood Cory, the BDC also has photographs of him in our Lucille Hasell Culp Collection (and another recently found within a soon-to-be-processed collection!).

March 18 - "Black History Note" in National Women's History Month: Harriet Tubman most definitely embodied this year's slogan "Leading the Change." She did, after all, help free more enslaved people here in Beaufort District than during all the other years she served as the "Moses of her people." Learn more about the Tubman's role in the Combahee Raid through the BDC's WordPress blog.

PSST: If you prefer historical novels to history, then I recommend The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs (2019) available in print or on Hoopla with your BCL library card. If you want to know the state of latest research on the topic, then borrow the award-winning Combee by Edda Fields-Black (2024) in print at our libraries or as an audio-book on Hoopla (22 hours).

March 19 AM - Today's local fiction book recommendation is Hurricane Sisters: Tales of Low Country Ladies by J. C. Fewell (2012).

Hurricane Sisters is a collection of short stories that center on the experiences of women during hurricanes. The stories follow a sisterhood of women, along with their families and other acquaintances, as they deal with life’s storms (metaphorical and physical) in Beaufort from 1959 to 2017. Interspersing the stories are short poems following the established themes and characters. All of her stories feel like memories of Lowcountry days-gone-by, with just enough drama to keep readers engaged. Nearly all of the “Big Ones” (i.e. hurricanes) that the old-timers love to talk about make an appearance in this anthology, either explicitly or as the background for other events. Fewell bills herself as a “proud survivor of Hurricane Gracie,” and her understanding of that storm along with the social climate of Beaufort at the time especially shines through in the story, “The Eye of the Storm.”

March 19 PM - Savings and Trust : The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank by Justine Hill Edwards won Yale's 2025 Frederick Douglass Book Prize.

The blurb for the audio-book on the Library's Hoopla service says: "Fully informed by new archival findings, historian Justene Hill Edwards unearths a major turning point in American history in this comprehensive account of the Freedman's Bank and its depositors. She illuminates the hope with which the bank was first envisioned and demonstrates the significant setback that the sabotage of the bank caused in the fight for economic autonomy. Hill Edwards argues for a new interpretation of its tragic failure: the bank's white financiers drove the bank into the ground, not Fredrick Douglass, its final president, or its Black depositors and cashiers. ... Savings and Trust is a must-listen for those seeking to understand the roots of racial economic inequality in America." Very relevant to the theme of this year's ISRE Symposium this weekend. Give it a listen.

March 20 - "Finding Aid Friday:" This street scene from our L.A. Hall Collection hosted online by the Lowcountry Digital Library shows plenty of economic activity in Beaufort in 1879 - a most appropriate choice in light of the theme for the BDC's participation in the ISRE Symposium being held this evening and tomorrow at USCB. The QR code takes you to the Finding Aid for this collection of stereoscope photographs from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.

March 23 - Independence (Mon)Day: Back in 1987, Robert S. Lambert put into perspective the choices people faced in the lead up to and course of the American Revolution. Because of the changing fortunes of the Patriots and Loyalists, a civil war raged in the backcountry and in parts of the lowcountry as well. The war affected all South Carolinians who lived through it in some way. At the war's conclusion, Loyalists were left with a tough choice: flee to other British colonies or try to make peace with the state government and remain in South Carolina. The bibliographical essay is particularly useful. We have the original edition from 1987. The South Carolina State Library has copies of the second edition of South Carolina Loyalists in the American Revolution (2010) that you can borrow. Please note: This is a narrative of the period 1760s-1780s, not a genealogical reference book.

March 24 - If you wish to be transported into nineteenth century Beaufort, we recommended Katrina: Woman of Beaufort by Rita Van Pelt (1994) for your reading.

Completely enamored and enchanted by the beauty and history of Beaufort, Rita Van Pelt moved to Beaufort and lived here for five years in order to study its history for her debut novel. With a particular interest in both Beaufort’s early history and the Civil War era, she felt inspired to create Katrina: Woman of Beaufort.

Taking place in Antebellum Beaufort, this novel depicts the struggles women faced in the time before, during, and after the Civil War. A young woman named Katrina is brought to Beaufort aboard a ship named the Sea Belle by her father; her mother sadly passed during the voyage. Though she is a fictional character, many of the mentioned people and places she meets and visits are historically accurate. The racist and sexist prejudices she faces in this new town are also historically accurate. Without having a say in what she can do or where she may go, Katrina is forced to navigate this brand new life and find the strength to transcend.

March 25 - "Black History Note:" Rosalie Pazant self-published her autobiography Never Too Late: The Life and Times of a Gullah Woman in 1992. She along with her daughters founded the Original Gullah Festival celebrating Gullah culture in the mid-1980s. Lady P. created a change that's been sustained for 40 years, first by herself until 2000 and then by various of her family members. The Festival is traditionally held in the few days leading up to Memorial Day as a nod back to the significance of Decoration Day in Beaufort District's post-Civil War history. The 2026 Festival is scheduled to be held in the Waterfront Park, Friday, May 22 - Sunday, May 24.

March 26 - If you are looking for a nail-biting, drama/mystery/romance concoction set on Hilton Head Island that will take hold of you for thirteen whole books... look no further. In for a Penny by Kathryn R. Wall (2000) is the first book in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series by Kathryn R. Wall.

This novel will transport you straight into the Lowcountry with vivid imagery of the salt air, dunes, and palmetto trees. But more importantly, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Taking place a year after Bay Tanner’s husband was murdered, she has been successful in isolating herself in their hideaway home on Hilton Head. Except, are you ever really alone when you have anger and fear weighing on you? When the news of another murder comes knocking on her door, Tanner realizes some seemly separate puzzles may actually piece together...

March 27 - Finding Aid Friday: Nancy Ann Ciehanski (1930 – 2007), a Hilton Head Island resident from 1979 to 1999, served her community during the critical transition of the area from an unincorporated portion of Beaufort County into an incorporated municipality in 1983. Her papers document the political landscape of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County leading up to the first municipal elections of the Town government, 1980-1984. Among her interests was environmental protection and limiting development in a sustainable manner. The Finding Aid is on our "Links, Lists and Finding Aids" blog.

March 30 - Independence Mon(day): Renowned British genealogist Peter Wilson Coldham spent 40 years of his life extracting information from American Loyalists Claims submitted to the British government between 1765 and 1799. The Loyalists were seeking compensation for loss of land and property as a result of action taken against them as supporters of the Crown before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. The South Carolina section is almost 100 pages long and covers more than 500 people who submitted claims involving lost property and military service undertaken on behalf of His Majesty George III. The photo of the entries for the father and son team who were in the words of Dr. Rowland "Beaufort's most famous Tories" gives you an idea of the genealogical and biographical information that can be found in Coldham's extracts.

The volume covers claimants in all the original 13 colonies as well as East Florida, West Florida, Canada, the West Indies and a section of "Unidentified and Strays" who submitted claims. We'll be happy to have you come look for your ancestors in our Research Room: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468.

March 31 - Today's recommendation for books set in Beaufort District is one of the first novels about African American life on the sea islands.

Shuttered Windows (1938) is the story of a 16-year-old African American girl from Minneapolis who relocates to the sea islands off "Bosquet" (Beaufort, SC) where she experiences culture shock. She learns to adjust to the Gullah way of life and dedicates herself to return to Bosquet as a teacher after additional schooling. This volume is dedicated to Mather School, a private school founded by Rachel Mather in 1867 and supported for almost 100 years by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. As some of you are aware, the northern campus of the Technical College of the Lowcountry is located on the site of the former Mather School.

Florence Crannell Means was one of the first writers of multicultural books for children and teens. Her goal was to promote racial equality among those whose opinions were in the process of formation by writing empathetically about the conditions faced by American minorities: African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Japanese Americans.

 

While some may take issue with the dialect in her Shuttered Windows and Great Day in the Morning (1946) novels, her characterizations of strong-willed and powerful female protagonists withstand the passage of time. Her novel The Moved-Outers about a California based Japanese American family forced into an internment camp during World War II was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1946. Means is credited with "bringing an early social conscience to children's literature." [Anita Silvey, ed. (1995). Children's books and their creators]. Means died in Boulder, Colorado in 1980.

The postcard is from our digital Arnsberger. Can there be any doubt about the inspiration for the book cover art?

April BDC Display: Preservation Week 2026 by Cassandra Knoppel

It’s tiiiiimeee... for Preservation Week (almost)! And finally, it is once again my turn to design a BDC Monthly Display. For this year’s display, I decided to do something a little bit different. In 2024, I did a broad overview of preservation and many of its cultural heritage applications. In 2025, I discussed the “process of [archival] processing,” the core of my work here in the BDC. This time, I’m diving into emergency planning and response in archives and other cultural heritage institutions.  

Why this topic? Well, if you’ve been in Beaufort for more than a few months, you’d know that the majority of our calendar year is “Hurricane Season.” Hurricanes bring wind, rain, tornadoes, lightning (sometimes even fires in the aftermath), which is all “no bueno” for priceless artifacts. We also live along a suspiciously dormant faultline, and Grace swears the next big one is not too far away! All sorts of other emergency scenarios could happen at any moment, so it is always good to expect the worst and to plan on how to come out of any disaster with your collections as unscathed as possible. 

I’ve long been interested in emergency preparation for historical sites and collections. I’ve read up on the subject, looked at emergency plans from other institutions, and attended webinars hosted by experts in the field for quite a few years now. Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to attend NNLM Region 2 and NEDCC’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Workshop at the MUSC Libraries in Charleston. So, in this display and accompanying post, I’ll be sharing some helpful resources as well as the key elements that I’ve learned.

 

Shelf 1: Preparing & Planning 

Creating an emergency preparedness plan is often the first step for preparing for an emergency. In the Lowcountry, having a plan for evacuating during a hurricane is critical; every year I’m asked by my supervisor where I plan to go, who I will be going with, and how to contact me if an evacuation is ordered. Having a plan like this, but for a wider range of disaster scenarios is just as important for the safety of historical resources. If you don’t know where you’re going, what you will potentially be encountering, or who to contact in an emergency, how do you know what supplies you will need, how to communicate an issue, or how to otherwise keep everyone and everything safe? I've said it before and I’ll say it again: Prevention and preservation are much easier (and cheaper) than remediation and restoration! 

On this first shelf of my display, I chose two resources that help to explain emergency planning for archives, museums, and other cultural heritage keepers. One such resource is Museum Handbook: Part 1 – Museum Collections Chapters by the National Park Service [2007], available in physical form in the BDC as well as for free online. The handbook is designed to guide NPS workers in managing collections, but really any cultural heritage keeper could benefit from reading it by adapting the material to fit their institutions policies. The goals of Chapter 10: Emergency Planning, and emergency plans in general, are to:  

“1. Identify, anticipate, and avoid preventable emergencies. 2: Mitigate damage when an emergency occurs so that disaster is avoided or minimized. 3. Recover from disasters as quickly and professionally as possible so that no human life is lost and minimal collection damage and loss occurs.” (p.10:1) 

This chapter helps to answer questions like “How are my collections vulnerable to disasters?” and “Where do I start to prepare my institution for an emergency?” The appendix at the end of the chapter features multiple planning worksheets that institutions can fill out to assess their risks and begin making an emergency plan. 

Studio protector: the artist's guide to emergencies by Cert+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund) [2009] is a similar planning resource for artists. It outlines how to prepare your studio space for disasters, create back-ups of important documents or artworks, and review your insurance to ensure you’re covered. 

Preservation of Library & Archival Materials: A Manual by NEDCC [1999] also has information on developing emergency plans but for all sorts of cultural heritage keepers. This manual is a consolidated version of their Preservation Leaflets, which are also available for free online. While this book is from 1999, many of the digital versions have been updated recently, and many more leaflets have been published on their site as well. Twelve of their leaflets are on the topic of emergency management. I would recommend reviewing Preservation Leaflet 03-03 Emergency Planning for a run-down on what to include in an emergency plan. Preservation Leaflet 03-04 Worksheet for Outlining an Emergency Response Plan provides similar information, but in a fillable format so you can begin creating your own emergency plan for your institution. NEDCC also has great leaflets on wet and mold salvage procedures, which leads me to the next section of my display! 

Shelves 2 & 3: Responding 

The real test of an emergency plan, and of your mettle, comes when you are in the thick of a disaster. Hopefully, if you have a good plan, you will know how best to respond to an emergency. But there are also great resources if you don’t have a plan, or that can help guide you as you follow your plan. Field Guide to Emergency Response by Heritage Preservation [2006] does what it says on the tin – it guides readers through responding to different emergency scenarios, whether or not a plan is already in place for your institution. Field Guide walks you through the most important things to address in an emergency, what to expect in regard to the condition of the area or collections, and how to communicate with responders and the community. It also briefly describes some salvage procedures for different types of damage on collection materials.  

Now is a good time to pause and explain salvage. Merriam Webster defines salvage as “the act of saving or rescuing property in danger (as from fire).” I understand it as first aid for objects instead of people. Salvaging materials in a disaster is not usually as simple as picking something up from a puddle of water and letting it dry for a day or so, just like first aid in an emergency is not usually as easy as just putting a band-aid on a scrape. If you’ve read Susan Orlean’s The Library Book, you know that salvage is a concerted effort that takes hard work and requires a lot of time, resources, and space (which can be scarce when a large-scale disaster, like a hurricane, has occurred). Because of that, most institutions have “salvage priorities,” a list of a dozen-or-so items or collections that emergency responders, staff, and volunteers will try to save first. While everything in our collections is of upmost importance and value, some things are so rare that they cannot be replaced if they are damaged, so having salvage priorities helps to clearly direct efforts to those materials in situations when not everything can be saved. 

So, what happens when a collection of photographs and papers are saved from a fire, but the material is covered in soot? What about when the roof comes off a museum in a hurricane, and the paintings and objects on display are soaking wet? Or what about when a burst pipe in the archives during a summer holiday weekend caused materials to get wet and grow mold? I’m so glad y’all asked! 

Each scenario mentioned above requires a different response and salvage procedure. They way we treat soot-laden photographs is different than the way we treat wet paintings, which is different from the way we handle and treat moldy papers. Even the way we treat wet books, photographs, and papers is different! To help salvagers in their efforts, many organizations have put together salvage guides, like the NEDCC leaflets I mentioned earlier. The BDC also has a copy of Emergency response and salvage wheel by Heritage Preservation [2005] that concisely describes salvage procedures for wet heritage materials in different formats. Studio protector: the artist's guide to emergencies by Cert+, which I mentioned earlier, also has pull-out pamphlets titles “Clean-up,” “Salvage,” and “e-Salvage” which walk your through how to approach a clean-up effort in your space and how best to salvage both physical and digital media. 

Some organizations also offer free services to institutions in need. NEDCC hosts a free emergency hotline “for advice about rescuing cultural heritage materials....” On Shelf 2, you can see the NEDCC hotline magnet that I normally have stuck to my desk. 

On Shelf 3, I arranged a variety of tools and supplies that we keep on hand in the BDC for potential salvage efforts. These include: 

• Goggles, gloves, and a mask – Human safety is most important! These supplies keep salvage workers safe from contaminates and biohazards. 
• Document cleaning pads – These sponges are less abrasive than normal sponges and can help clear soot and dirt from soiled documents. 
• Microspatulas and Mylar sheets – These tools can help us pick up delicate paper and photos from puddles of water with minimal damage. 
• Unprinted newspaper – This paper is safe to use to absorb water from materials. We can lay documents on it to dry or interleave sheets of unprinted newspaper in damp books to wick-up moisture. 

Shelf 4: Emergency Preparedness & Response for Non-Professionals

That’s a lot of information, and much of it is jargony and not relevant to the caretakers of personal, family collections. So, what’s the best way for non-professional, family heritage collectors to prepare for emergencies? 

First, create a general emergency preparedness plan and an emergency kit. In the BDC, we have a (admittedly outdated) “Pocket Guide to Emergency Preparedness” created by SC Prepares. It outlines in a single, double-sided sheet how to plan and respond to all sorts of disasters. Nowadays, we can get this same information quickly online – you just need to follow official, informed sources for the most accurate and timely information. I would recommend that SC residents take a look at SCEMD’s website. They have a “Prepare” section full of facts on potential natural and man-made disasters, resources and organizations to follow for more in-depth reading, as well as toolkits for making your own plans as a family. They also have free publications on hurricane, earthquake, and winter weather preparation. FEMA’s Ready.gov is a similar site with resources relevant to people across the nation.  

Once you’ve got a plan set in place, take a look at The Georgia Archives "Essential Records for Families" brochure. This lists the types of records of greatest value and of most importance during an emergency, then provides tips for protecting them. Most of these are legal documents, but they do discuss “Irreplaceable records” like historical documents and photos. I’d also recommend reading Gaylord Archival’s article, “Keeping Items Safe When Disaster Strikes,” which outlines how to store your heirlooms.  

When it comes to responding to emergencies as a non-professional, you’re a bit more limited, as it’s best to leave conservation work to trained professionals. However, there are a few guides on how to respond and care for damaged items in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Caring for Your Family Treasures: Heritage Preservation (2000) by Jane S. and Richard W. Long, is a handy primer for long-term care for your personal artifacts that I’ve recommended on this blog before. Its section on “Security and Insurance” also offers advice on salvaging water-damaged heirlooms. If you can’t get your hands on a copy of Caring for Your Family Treasures in time to respond to a crisis, the National Archives and Records Administration has a free guide online on Emergency Salvage of Flood Damaged Family Papers. The Gaylord Archival article I linked to above also has resources on how to respond to water and fire damage within personal collections.