Update #3: SCLENDS and the BDC

Alas, we have as yet been unable to resolve on-going problems with SCLENDS records for Beaufort District Collection materials. We are still measuring the depth and scope of the problems, searching for patterns behind what has gone awry, reporting any errors we find to the SCLENDS consortium, and devising a plan to mount the attack to fix the issues as efficiently as possible.

Therefore, 2 months after the "Go Live" date (May 28th), we must continue with Plan "B":

If you can't find what you are looking for on topics of local history, culture, and environment within the SCLENDS catalog (i.e., those topics that fall within the responsibilities of this department), just give us a call at 470-6525 or e-mail me at gracec@bcgov.net with your specific questions regarding BDC and local history holdings.

We'll do our best to try to help you in spite of our continuing database problems.

Mather School

Mather School was a private boarding school for African American girls founded by Rachel Mather in 1867. About a 100 years later, Mather School was sold to the State of South Carolina for educational purposes. The Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) now occupies the site.

Recently, TCL razed the Wildy Gymnasium, built on the Mather School Campus in 1961. As a highlight of the 32nd Annual Mather School reunion, the Wildy Memorial Garden is being dedicated Saturday, July 25th at 2pm.

Read about the educational goals of the Women's American Baptist Home Mission Society in a New York Times,newspaper article dated April 11, 1897.

A list of links and library materials about Rachel Mather are found in "Local Notables: Important People in the History of Beaufort County."

Connecting to Collections Webcasts

Connecting to Collections: Stewardship of America's Legacy, Answering the Call, Buffalo, NY has now posted webcasts of the individual conference sessions. I was lucky enough to be one of the 73 attendees (out of a total of 266 -- and the only person from SC) attending the conference on an Heritage Preservation travel stipend.

Most of the sessions concentrated more on objects and artifacts conservation than on paper conservation. Given that materials inside the BDC tend to be paper-based, I learned "stuff" I didn't know about objects and artifacts conservation. The session I found most helpful was Panel IV: No one is interested in what I do. There is a general lack of understanding about, or indeed, interest in, the nuts-and-bolts -- and cost -- of historic material, archival, objects, and artifactual preservation and conservation.

What was my take-away from the conference? The BDC is better off than some sister organizations but -- even being better off isn't a good situation.

USCT soldier wins Congressional Medal of Honor

Q: What was the name of the USCT who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the engagement of Fort Wagner?

A: He was Sergeant William Carney, 54th Massachusetts.

Carney received this honor due to "most distinguished gallantry in action" at Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863. He was shot in the thigh, but managed to crawl uphill on his knees, "bearing the Union flag and urging his troops to follow."

To learn more about this man, his service, and the battle of Fort Wagner, we recommend these materials:

Blue-eyed child of fortune : the Civil War letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (BDC, HHI)

Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863 by (our own) Dr. Stephen R. Wise (BDC, BEA, BLU, HHI)

Hold the Flag High by Catherine Clinton (Children's at BLU)

Swamp angels : a biographical study of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment : true facts about the black defenders of the Civil War
by Robert Ewell Greene (BDC, HH Lowcountry Room)

The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry by Jacqueline Shearer (VHS at BEA; DVD at HHI)

The assault on Fort Wagner : Black soldiers make a stand in South Carolina battle by Wendy Vierow (Children's at BEA, LOB)

The true story of Glory continues [VHS] by Ray Herbeck, Jr. (BEA)

The National Archives has more information about Black Soldiers in the Civil War.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Auldbrass (revised 2026)

Latest revision: 8 May 2026 - gmc

We seldom think of 20th century structures as "historic," but of course, they can be. Take for example, Auldbrass, a southern plantation complex designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) near Yemassee. Its design and erection had its trials and tribulations. 

The design process began in 1938. The Auldbrass Plantation complex was formally commissioned to FLW in 1939 by C. Leigh Stevens, an internationally known industrial consultant. According to David G. De Long, Stevens "would prove to be one of Wright's more demanding clients." Although spade work started in the fall of 1940, material and labor shortages caused by World War II and its aftermath slowed progress. Design and construction were complicated by fire, divorces, and ownership changes. Stevens who lived mostly near Boston MA became a part-year resident in 1946. Wright worked on Auldbrass alterations until his death in 1959. Stevens died in 1962. By the time of his death in 1962, the original cost estimate of $50,000 had turned into expenditures in excess of $250,000. 

In the mid-1970s, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism considered buying it to turn the 3000 acres of the 4000 acre property into a state park. That plan did not come to fruition. Auldbrass was formally added to the National Register of Historic Places with a ceremony at the site on November 14, 1976. Stevens's daughter, Jessica Stevens Loring, sold the complex in 1979 and serious neglect took its toll. The buildings remained unfinished until Joel Silver, a successful Hollywood producer who had already rescued another Wright house, purchased the property in 1986 for approximately $148,000. He spent 15 years on Auldbrass's long delayed completion. Auldbrass is featured in Beaufort County Open Land Trust tours from time to time.

The Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet has a short slideshow about Auldbrass  Plantation posted on its website.

To read more about Auldbrass Plantation, we recommend these library resources:

• The BDC has a vertical file about AULDBRASS. 
• Charles N. Bayless Photographs archival collection. The Bayless photographs in our Research Room include images taken on Auldbrass Plantation some of which have been digitized in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Collection by the Library of Congress. (Please note: The home is in Beaufort County, not Hampton County as indicated incorrectly in the documentation.) HABS documents achievements in architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscapes, including examples as diverse as the Pueblo of Acoma, houses, windmills, one-room schools, the Golden Gate Bridge, and buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. You can also view photographs of Auldbrass' outlying buildings online through the Library of Congress.
• Auldbrass: Frank Lloyd Wright's Southern Plantation by David G. De Long, 2003. 
• Auldbrass: the Plantation Complex Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: A Documented History of its South Carolina Lands by Jessica Stevens Loring, 1992. 
• Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks by David Larkin and Bruce Brooks, 1993.
• If This House could Talk...: Historic Homes, Extraordinary Americans by Elizabeth Smith Brownstein, 1999.

FLW built over 1100 houses, commercial buildings and other structures during his long career. We recommend that you review these websites: 

•     List of Frank Lloyd Wright Works 
•     Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
•     Frank Lloyd Wright's Work  by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
•     Public Wright Sites by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

If you want to read more about the architect and his work, Beaufort County Library has these materials to share with you:

• Frank Lloyd Wright: The Romantic Spirit by Carol Bishop, 2005.
• Frank Lloyd Wright by Ken Burns [DVD], 2004.
• 20th Century America, 100 Influential People by Robert C. Baron, 1995. 
• About Wright: An Album of Recollections by Those Who Knew Frank Lloyd Wright by Edgar Tafel, 1993. 
• History Makers: 100 Most Influential People of the Twentieth Century by Ian Whitelaw, 2010. 
• Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright by Paul Hendrickson, 2019.
• The Gardens of Frank Lloyd Wright by Derek Fell, 2014. 
• The Story of Architecture by Jonathan Glancy, 2000. 

In addition, Hoopla Digital has more than 15 e-books about FLW you can borrow.

Further, if you have a valid Beaufort County Library card and passwords for the subscription databases we provide through the "Research & Learn" tab on our library's homepage, you can learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright and Joel Silver in the Biography in Context database.

TV segment on the Topper Site

The University of South Carolina’s Topper archaeological dig site – home to some of the most significant research on earliest man in America – will be the subject of an hour-long episode of “Time Team America,” a new PBS television series airing at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 15 on SCETV stations, including Beaufort's WJWJ. The Topper site, along the Savannah River, in nearby Allendale County (just outside the former boundaries of Beaufort District) has altered our understanding of the orginal residents of North America, the Clovis people.

The accompanying website, Topper, has loads of information about the site, the people who inhabited it, and the archaelogical dig. After the episode is broadcast, you can access replays online via the Time Team website.

"Documents R Us" for Teachers

Among the responsibilities of a working librarian/archivist is one to help insure that the profession continues into the next generation. One way to encourage and foster appreciation of the work we do as well as help students learn about their own history and the history of others, is to introduce them to the wonder of documents. A very good source for primary documents manipulated into digital formats is the Teaching with Primary Sources Direct.

From the History.com e-newsletter:

The Library of Congress has launched a new online resource for educators entitled Teaching with Primary Sources Direct. TPS Direct enables educators to integrate primary sources into their classrooms by creating customized lesson plans based on documents and artifacts from the Library’s extensive collections. Applicable across grade levels and content areas, this project allows educators to search the TPS database for content-rich activities.

Through TPS Direct, educators can download lessons in PDF format with goals such as Analyzing Photographs, Analyzing Maps, and Connecting with Primary Sources. The professional development and teaching tools help educators identify excellent sources within the Library’s collection to build students’ critical thinking skills in an engaging way. Given the wealth of information available online, TPS Direct helps make the process of locating ideal classroom materials easier for busy teachers and administrators. Visit http://www.loc.gov/teachers/professionaldevelopment/tpsdirect/ today and get started on TPS Direct!

The Library of Congress has also just announced a new teacher’s page, with links to classroom materials and professional development resources offered by the LOC. Educators will want to visit this site frequently to find out what’s new from the LOC and find a wealth of resources for the classroom: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

"River of Everlasting Memories"

Beaufort Water Festival makes its 54th appearance today and concludes on Sunday, July 19th. In between, there will be concerts, a parade, dance, races and competitions, crafts, talent and antique shows, watercraft tours, and plenty of libations, both of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties.
Details can be found in a variety of media including the Beaufort Gazette, (yes, I know that this goes to the Island Packet website but that's just the lay of the land now), the [print only] Island News, the [online only] Beaufort Tribune, and on the Water Festival's website.

I posted local poetess, Edith Bannister Dowling's poem about the Water Festival on July 15, 2008.

For the more research minded, the Beaufort District Collection has a few relatively fragile scrapbooks about the Water Festival during the 1960s in our archival holdings. We'll be happy to show you the scrapbooks if you come in to the Research Room during our regular hours of operation.

Please note: Charmaine, our Beloved BDC docents, and I will show an in-house customer any in-house material we have (that is, if we can find it within a reasonable amount of time in this incredibly overcrowded workspace and public research room). Just don't come expecting to take home copies of any of the images or pages of the scrapbooks! For details why this is, read the "Eternal Conundrum" entry that immediately precedes this one.

The Eternal Conundrum for Special Collections Stewards

One of my many conundrums, and a conundrum inherent within the cultural heritage field, is how to provide appropriate access to materials while simultaneously providing appropriate stewardship for ensuring that those materials will still exist and be useable 100 years from now.

There are no hard and fast rules for how the competing issues should balance over time. Indeed, there are no hard and fast rules for how the competing issues should balance over the course of an hour.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm making things up as I go. Sometimes, I have no doubt, BDC customers think that I'm favoring one person or request over another person's request more or less on how I feel that day. [Please note: They are wrong because the goal of my professional life is to treat everyone equally badly regardless of race, color, national origin, socio-economic status, gender, height, breadth, religious affilition, political party, etc.!]

Take for example the question of digital photography of rare materials. Approximately 50% of the special collections in SC allow it; about 50% don't. Digital manipulation is just so easy these days that I don't want to imply encouragement of others to commit copyright infringement. Therefore, I tend to lean more to the "don't" side of the issue, particularly when images of photographs or artwork created after 1923 are involved. I tend to be a cautious person about other folks's property (which probably has a good bit to do with why I am a special collections field worker in the first place).

Being a reader in rare book libraries is a thought-provoking blog entry from Sarah Werner about the relative responsibilities of special collections librarians, special collections customers, and the eternal conundrum of access vs. preservation. I caution you that the blog entry is fairly long and comments are pretty intense.

Rick Ring's comment that "Access policies are often the result of two things in an archive/special collections: the institution's traditions and the personalities of the staff" rings (bad pun intended) true. Perhaps more than in any other part of library land, the personality of the Special Collections head holds more sway in daily operations and tenor of access than any other factor. And while I don't think access strictly depends upon the personality of the steward in charge of special collections, his/her personality does most definitely influence the terms under which materials can be manipulated. Please note: No one has ever accused me of having a blase personality!

Let me hear what you think.

Thomas Heyward, Jr., Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Latest update: 14 July 2023 - Grace Cordial, BDC Manager

Beaufort has been blessed with a bevy of local notables throughout its history. In honor of the 4th of July, let's highlight the contribution of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of South Carolina's four signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Heyward, Jr., son of Daniel Heyward and his wife Mary Miles Heyward, was born at Old House Plantation, St. Luke's Parish, on July 28, 1746. Old House Plantation, near where Hwy 336 heads toward Ridgeland in what is now Jasper County, was his father's plantation. Trained in the law in Charleston and in England, he was an attorney, planter, a Patriot, a judge, a soldier, and signer of the Declaration. In 1773, he married Elizabeth Matthews in Charleston.

During the American Revolution, he was captured when Charleston fell to the British in 1779. While Heyward was imprisoned at St. Augustine, his wife Elizabeth died in Philadelphia. They had one son who survived until adulthood. In 1783, Heyward returned to his rice-growing White Hall Plantation. From 1785 to 1809, he split his time between his White Hall Plantation in St. Luke's Parish and his Charleston residence at 87 Church Street.

On May 4, 1786 he took as his second wife, Elizabeth Savage. They had three children who reached adulthood, married, and procreated children who survived into adulthood, who thence married and procreated Thomas Heyward, Jr.'s grandchildren. Thus, there are numerous living Thomas Heyward, Jr. descendants. Thomas Heyward, Jr. died on April 17, 1809 and is buried in the family cemetery at Old House.

The Sons of the American Revolution began holding a ceremony at Old House Cemetery commemorating Heyward's service to our country about 1986.  To reach Old House Cemetery: 

Traveling north on S.C. 170, turn left onto S.C. 462. After about eight miles, there is a historical marker on the right. At the marker, turn right onto a dirt road. Old House Cemetery is about 100 yards from the highway.

The Beaufort Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named the Thomas Heyward, Jr. Chapter in his honor. We are privileged to share their scrapbooks with researchers in our Research Room by appointment. 

Beaufort County Library has many resources to share with you about our native son, Thomas Heyward, Jr.