Before I retire I want to state categorically and without any reservations that I have enjoyed crafting many seasons of local history programs over the years - perhaps too much at times. Because program planning and coordination is hard and very time consuming, doing so much of it did indeed come at a cost to other necessary BDC tasks. I hope that from your vantage point, it has looked easy. But trust me on this: A lot of behind-the-scenes coordination has to take place to create and deliver meaningful local history library-based programs to you.
FY 2026 : July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026
First here are some statistics related to our most recent program and outreach efforts. For the past several years, I've said that the BDC has outdone itself with programs and outreach efforts. And I'll say it again for FY 2026: The BDC staff outdid ourselves for the July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 period:
The BDC sponsored 34 programs inside a library facility. We are thankful for the time and talents of Ted Panayotoff, Mike Reynolds, Dr. George B. "Barney" Forsythe, Dr. Raul Galvan, Leah Roche, Dr. Jon Leader, Peggy Pickett, Tom Vaselopulos, Neil Baxley, Rich Thomas, Dr. Brenda Litchfield, Dr. Mollie Barnes, John Fisher, Katie Epps, Eric Ellis and Dr. Randy James. We could not have done these programs without the assistance of our partners, viz. Beaufort County Historical Society, Beaufort History Museum, Beaufort County 250th Committee, Friends of Fort Fremont, and the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina as co-sponsors.
BDC staff also got into a pretty vigorous program presenting mode last year: Cassi presented programs about archival related matters three times; Sydney did her first BDC program about "Poems and Postcards," and I did some reprises about the Hurricane of 1893 and introduced three new presentations, one about why Lafayette came to Beaufort in 1825, one a discussion about materials and collections relating to the dead in the BDC and one about the colonial history of Beaufort District. All BDC programs are designed to deliver the message that the BDC has some "really cool stuff" that you just might want to come review in our Research Room.
I also prepared a "Liberty & Legacy Trivia" three rounds of thirteen questions contest for Bluffton Branch and later in July (and therefore a new fiscal year) for Beaufort Branch as part of the Library's America250 project - mostly because I have to demonstrate that I can be a good team player from time to time. Indeed, it would be fair to say there were some pretty specific questions asked about Beaufort District's role during the American Revolution that arose from our own past Revolutionary War programs and posts to the BDC's social media platforms.
We prepared three orientations and behind-the-scenes tours for college students -- Dr. James Shinn's class at USCB, the Campbell-Wright interns from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and for the Military Academy cadre from West Point - which unfortunately experienced travel delays so the cadets were unable to attend. We held two orientation and behind-the-scenes tours for Library employees. Each orientation and tour was at least partially specific to the interests of the group members in attendance though some of the basic information about BDC materials and services was the same.
In addition BDC staff in various configurations were active participations at 19 community events that resulted in interactions with 2762 of our community members.
- We bookended our fiscal year at artistic performances. We began in July 2025 by tabling at both performances of "Da Gullah American Revolutionary Experience" and ended it at USCB Chamber Music's "South Carolina and the Road to Independence," a combined lecture and concert commemorating the state's revolutionary war history on June 6, 2026 where Leah Roche (Beaufort County Historical Society) and I promoted the "Revealing the Revolution" scavenger hunt challenge.
- We met a group for a BDC coordinated guided tour of the Beaufort National Cemetery with Bonnie Mucia.
- We tabled at two military re-enactments, one about the American Revolution and the other about the Civil War at the Beaufort History Museum.
- I spoke at Palmetto Bluff, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute North and May River Landing Senior Living Facility, each time using BDC materials as the base for the presentations. Unfortunately illness prevented me from presenting a genealogy session at the Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era this year - which made me sad but hacking deeply through a presentation would not have benefited anyone.
- We tabled at our first ever "Fort Fremont Fall Festival" and Sun City's "Discovering the South Carolina Lowcountry Day" events.
- With our partners we also participated in lectures held off-site at Coastal Discovery Museum (Thank you Dr. David Moore) and at St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Thank you West Point cadets) with our friends of the Beaufort County Historical Society and Friends of Fort Fremont.
- We attended meetings of the Beaufort Female Benevolent Society and Clover Club to share BDC news and notes.
- We promoted the BDC materials and services relating to the local seafood industry at the Friends of the Beaufort Library's Books Sandwiched In series.
FY 2027 : July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Active planning for this year's local history programs has long been underway. We've kept a running list of suggestions from folks attending our programs, brainstormed topics and potential speakers, held meetings with our series and one-off partners to discuss what we can do jointly, decided what we should do separately, and what more may be needed to maintain the quality of what we sponsor so that you will keep coming back to learn about the depth and scope of Beaufort District's long and storied history.
As Connections readers may recall, I assigned Cassandra the logistics of one program start to finish in Fall 2025 to wet her feet in the realm of library programming. She honed her teeth doing the logistics for all the Spring sessions in 2026 - where she definitely learned the complexity of planning local history programs around the various tax volunteer sessions at the branch libraries, the challenges and benefits of partners, the issues that can arise with presenting local history programs for the public, etc.
At least three months out, the BDC finishes all the Library meeting room reservations, creates and distributes marketing pieces, and gets the program posted to the Library system calendar. This includes the nitty-gritty logistics of program titles, blurbs, and speaker biographies and photos - the securing of which can prove a bit problematic from time to time. Then there are the reminders we send to you via the Local History Newsletter and The Current monthly newsletter and other parties strategically involved for a particular program, a final check of the A-V equipment a few days ahead of the scheduled event, and then comes a whole lot of finger-crossing that all goes as planned without any surprises.
Cassi crafted the BDC's FY 2027 roster - since the "show must go on" regardless who becomes my successor. Since July 1 is the start of Fiscal Year 2027 for the Library and for the BDC, we started our FY 2027 local history program offerings earlier this month:
- "Liberty & Legacy Trivia" session 2 at Beaufort Branch on July 1
- "Travel Narratives about the Gullah-Geechee" with Dr. Malik Raymond on July 7 (Thank you, Dr. Raymond).
As has been our practice, we try for a mix of time periods, topics, and locations to address the different segments of the BDC's history nerds base. With the 500th anniversary of Spain's presence in the New World (and in Beaufort) drawing nigh, two programs highlight 16th century history. If by chance we were to neglect the Civil War and Reconstruction eras we'd likely be pilloried so there are two programs for those time periods on the upcoming roster. The BDC's archival resources are the focus in October for Archives Month. We revisit the American Revolution in November focusing on the military career of one Continental Officer. We offer a little architectural history about a beloved site in December. Topics-wise: We'll cover cartographic, economic, military, genealogical, and architectural history as well as folklore and archival resources in the first half. Locations-wise: The BDC will hold programs at four of the six branch libraries during this segment of the roster with three of the programs being offered south of the Broad River.
Cassandra has posted the programs for August through December on the Library system calendar and clicked the "Program type" for "Local History" check box so that you will know that the following are local history programs sponsored by the BDC are being offered.
Thursday, August 20, 2026 - "Beaufort Before Britain : How Beaufort was placed on European World Maps" with Chris Allen | BDC@ Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | 2 PM | No registration required. Seating begins at 1:30 PM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort County Historical Society
Monday, August 24, 2026 - "Historic Black Businesses of Beaufort" with Dr. Chanda Powell, National Park Service | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | 2 PM | No registration required. Seating begins at 1:30 PM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 - "The Gonzalez-Elliott Family of Beaufort District" with Dr. Raul Galvan | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | 2 PM | No registration required. Seating begins at 1:30 PM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort History Museum.
Thursday, October 8, 2026 - "16th Century Explorations and Settlements in Port Royal Sound" with Peggy Pickett | BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way | 11 AM | No registration required. Seating begins at 10:30 AM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort County Historical Society.
Monday, October 19, 2026 - "Tales from the Crypt : Ghosts of Beaufort's Past" with Cassandra Knoppel | BDC@ Port Royal Branch Library, 1408 Paris Avenue | 5:30 PM | Registration required. Seating begins at 5 PM.
Friday, October 23, 2026 - "Tales from the Crypt : Death in the Archives" with Cassandra Knoppel | BDC@ Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | 11 AM | No registration required. Seating begins at 10:30 AM.
Thursday, November 5, 2026 - "Revolutionary Colonel William Harden" with Dik Daso | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | 11 AM | No registration required. Seating begins at 10:30 AM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort County Historical Society.
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 - "History of the Arsenal" with Amelie Cromer and Brenda Litchfield | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | 2 PM | No registration required. Seating begins at 1:30 PM | Co-sponsored by the BDC and Beaufort History Museum.
The January - June 2027 roster has yet to be finalized as of this writing. For a full schedule of library events, please visit the Library calendar. If you filter the program type to "Local History" you'll get to see the full schedule for BDC programs and events as 2027 programs are made available.
Please note well: Sometimes, though thankfully not often, there are unexpected circumstances that can cause a postponement or cancellation of a local history program close to or even on program day. The Library calendar is your go-to for such circumstances. This is more likely to happen in September and October as we enter the statistically highest and traditional period for hurricanes in this area. Be sure to check it close to the date of a scheduled program for any updates.
Words to the wise: BDC staff will do what we can within room and equipment limitations to make the experience enlightening and comfortable for you but equipment fails. Please bring a sweater to one of our local history programs just in case the room is too cool for you and/or wear your hearing aids (should you have them) in case all goes cattywampus on program day.
There's a lot of hard work, logistical challenges, and relationship building involved with each and every BDC local history program. We have to do the same amount of preparation and logistical steps whether we get one attendee or 100 attendees. Please know that BDC staff are very grateful when you take your valuable time to attend any BDC program to learn more about any facet of Beaufort District's long and storied history. Thank you for your support across all the years.
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