Robert Smalls: American Hero

Robert Smalls is recognized as the most significant native Beaufortonian in our long history. His birth was inauspicious; yet his influence has been far reaching and enduring through time.

Robert Smalls began life as a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina on 5 April 1839. He was taken to Charleston by his owner, Henry McKee in 1851. McKee agreed to hire Robert Smalls out as a tradesman for a set commission of $15 a month. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Smalls was able to pay $800 for the freedom of his wife and daughter.

Smalls' keen navigational skills earned him a job as the pilot of the Confederate gunboat The Planter in March 1861. On May 12, 1862, he confiscated The Planter and delivered it and its cargo of artillery to the Union blockade fleet in Charleston Harbor sailing it out under the Confederate sentries. A day later, May 13, Smalls to spoke with Union Admiral DuPont, who afterwards wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that "this man, Robert Smalls, is superior to any who has yet come into our lines, intelligent as many of them have been. His information has been most interesting, and portions of it of utmost importance. … I shall continue to employ Robert as a pilot on board The Planter for inland waters. "

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in Company B, 33rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, Robert Smalls fought in 17 battles in the Civil War, including the Pocotaligo, Coosawhatchie and Combahee raids and the burning of Bluffton. The Planter would often stay just out of range of Confederate artillery guns to taunt the enemy.

Using some of the money he got as a bonus for delivering the Planter to the Union, Robert Smalls bought the house that had once belonged to his owners. As he continued to buy property, Smalls owned most of the block he lived on. The 1870 Census set the value of his real estate at $6,000 (about $83,000 in current value).

After the Civil War, he was elected to the State House of Representatives (1868-1870) and the State Senate (1870-1875), finally serving for five terms (1875-1879 and 1882-1887) in the United States House of Representatives. Smalls backed progressive causes. Smalls's last public office was that of customs collector (1889-1912), when Beaufort was still an active port. Plagued for the last two years of his life by malaria, rheumatism and diabetes, Smalls died in his sleep at home on February 23, 1915.

The Library provides many resources about Robert Smalls.

A curriculum unit on Robert Smalls designed for Gifted and Talented students is available through the Civil War Preservation Trust website.

Don't forget that Penn Center is hosting the "Life and Legacy of Robert Smalls" celebration, concluding with a lecture by Dennis Cannady, ship model builder of the SS Planter, on Saturday, beginning at 10:00am in the York W. Bailey Museum. Contact Penn Center 843-838-2474 or info@penncenter.com for more details about the exhibit and lecture.

Road Trip! Through SC Civil Rights History

Road Trip! a SCETV Know-It-All interactive website allows virtual tours of historical places in South Carolina marking important events from the civil rights movement. The modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1940s and many changes had taken place by the early 1970s, with the major events happening between 1954 and 1968. The movement involved Blacks, Whites, Native Americans, young and old, as well as churches and non-religious groups.

Because Road Trip! Through SC Civil Rights History was designed with young students in mind, a user gets to make lots of choices. Explore the many features of Road Trip! including: virtual tours of historic locations, ability to download pictures and video clips, using downloaded items to create a civil rights report for class, lesson plans created to standards, a searchable database, a timeline of all civil rights events, a photo gallery, email and contact information for site consultants, information to archival institutions, a reading list and more and you're sure to find something of interest whether or not you are currently enrolled in an educational institution at an elementary or secondary level.

Of particular note are significant sites in Beaufort County. The website highlights the role that local sites such as Penn School, Mather School, Michael C. Riley schools, the Green on St. Helena Island, and Daufuskie Island played in the story of the national Civil Rights Movement.

A very special treat on Road Trip! is an oral history provided by Joseph McDomick, Jr., former Penn Center project supervisor for over thirty years, talk about Dr. Martin Luther King's many visits to Penn Center and how the visits had to be kept quiet because of the threats on King's life.

Susie King Taylor, Nurse, Teacher, and Author

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Susie King Taylor, teacher, nurse, and laundress attached to the 1st South Carolina Volunteers (also known as the 33rd United States Colored Troops) wrote the first autobiographical account of the Civil War from her perspective as a former female slave. To learn more, review these Connections blog entries about her from 2009: January 3rd and January 5th.

The Civil War Preservation Trust has posted a packet on the life and impact of Susie King Taylor within its Gifted and Talented curriculum. The CWPT tries to engage young minds in the study of the people, places, and events during the Civil War. You will find a number of other curriculum packets available on their site as well.

African-American Artists on Video

Verve!: Messengers in the Spirit is a salute to South Carolina's rich tradition of African-American arts.

This video showcases seven contemporary South Carolina artists who draw upon the past and who celebrate the African-American culture in their works. Featured are batik artist Leo Twiggs; watercolorist Floyd Gordon; storyteller Jemetrice Glisson; jewelry artist Karen Roache; collage artist Sheri Moore; blacksmith artist Sam Davis; and St. Helena Island's own indigo processor and batik artist, Arian King Comer.

Check out the video in VHS or DVD format [call number 704.03965 VER].

NARA is on Flickr Commons

The National Archives and Records Administration is now a member of the Flickr Commons, a website for cultural institutions to share their photograph collections with the public. To see one historic document relating to the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina, click on Complaint against Segregated South Carolina Schools, 1950. There are loads of other interesting images. Enjoy.

Brooker on "Tormenting, Dissatisfied People"

Join us Tuesday, March 2nd for "The Most Tormenting, Dissatisfied People on Earth" with Colin Brooker at the Hilton Head Branch Library from 3:00 pm – 4 pm.

About the Presenter:
Colin H. Brooker, of Brooker Architectural Design Consultants, Beaufort, South Carolina, heads a small consortium of specialists engaged in the excavation, recording, conservation, and publication of historic architectural and archaeological resources. Today, his practice is largely oriented towards historic structures of the southeastern United States and The Bahamas. He has helped preserve tabby-built plantation structures on Dataw, Spring, Daufuskie, Callawassie, and Hilton Head islands and at the c. 1780 Barnwell Gough House in Beaufort.

BDC programs are free and open to anyone over age 12 with an interest in our local history, culture, or environment. Contact Grace Cordial, 470-6525 or gracec@bcgov.net for more details.

The image was taken on Sea View Plantation, Crooked Island, The Bahamas.

Video about St. Helena Island

Want to celebrate Black History Month with a fine video? Among our holdings is Palmetto Places: St. Helena Island, an SCETV production about the history and culture of St. Helena Island. Viewers see the historic sites of Penn Center and the Chapel of Ease. Viewers hear the cadence of the Gullah in the music of the Hallelujah Singers. Viewers can watch a master net-maker at work.

Check out the video from any of our branch libraries. Palmetto Places: St. Helena Island (Call number): 917.5799 PAL.

For the more research minded person willing to do a bit of work, the BDC has a bibliography of resources we have about St. Helena Island in the Research Room. All you have to do is ask. Call us at 470-6525 or e-mail me at gracec@bcgov.net.

Upcoming BDC Sponsored Local History Programs

Just a reminder for educational opportunities at your Library:

22 February

Mike Coker on "The Battle of Port Royal," [1861]

1 pm - 2 pm Hilton Head Branch Library

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm 2nd Floor, Paul Siegmund Room, Beaufort Branch Library building

2 March

Colin Brooker on "The Most Tormenting, Dissatisfied People on Earth"

3:00 - 4:00 pm Hilton Head Branch Library

All BDC programs are free and open to the general public. Anyone over age 12 is welcome to attend. Hope you can join us.

Mitchelville in Book, Dance, Song, and Drama

We humans tend to think that the way places appear today are the way places have always been. How very untrue that perception can be. Take for example, the Mitchelville site on Hilton Head Island. Archaeological studies began in 1986 of the first freedmen's village in the United States. Yet, if you visit the site today, there is little evidence of the the thriving and historically important village.

A group of native islanders and Hilton Head town staff are developing a plan to turn a tiny sliver of town-owned land on the northern end of the island into a living history museum to commemorate Mitchelville with replicas of the freed slaves' 12-by-12-foot wooden tract houses and general stores.

You can read more about the archaeological site from Chicora Foundation in Research Series 7, Indian and Freedmen Occupation at the Fish Haul Site (38BU805), Beaufort County, South Carolina, edited by Michael Trinkley. We have a copy in the BDC and one at our Hilton Head Branch Library but you can read it online, too. (Read down to #7 and then pick the section you'd like tor read online.)

Another archaeological report, Archaeological Manifestations of the "Port Royal Experiment" at Mitchelville, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina is also available online as well as in the BDC Research Room at call number SC 975.799 TRI.

For a more complete list of resources about the historic African-American Mitchelville site, check out the "Recommended Reading" section of the Library's website under the "Local Treasures Brought to You by the Beaufort District Collection."

In case you are south of the Broad, you may want to consider attending the performance of “Mitchelville,” a play depicting the lifestyle of the Gullah people around the turn of the 20th century. Youngsters from the Native Island Community will express this story through music, singing, dialogue, dancing and acting. 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the Visual & Performing Arts Center, Hilton Head Island High School, 70 Wilborn Road. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 (with student ID), Free 4 & Under.

Reminder: Coker on the Battle of Port Royal" is Monday!

Join us Monday, February 22nd for a presentation about "The Battle of Port Royal,” by author Michael D. Coker. To accommodate our customers, we are holding two sessions, one South of the Broad River and another North of the Broad River:

Hilton Head Branch Library --
1 pm – 2 pm

Paul Siegmund Room, 2nd floor, 311 Scott Street -- 5:30pm – 6:30pm

For more information, contact Grace Cordial, 470-6525, gracec@bcgov.net.

"The Most Tormenting and Dissatisfied People on Earth" Lecture - March 2nd

Many folks who reside in our area have little idea of just how far reaching an impact our forebears have had on the national, and even international, stage. Colin Brooker, Architectural Historian and Archaeologist, intends to change that on March 2nd at Hilton Head Branch Library.

Brooker's upcoming lecture, "The Most Tormenting and Dissatisfied People on Earth: Lowcountry Planters in the Bahamas and the Development of Sea Island Cotton, 1780 - 1800," will examine Beaufort's direct influence on the development of The Bahamas. He will illustrate his presentation with images taken during his field work surveying architectural and archaeological sites for the National Museum of The Bahamas. Emphasis will be drawn to those coastal South Carolina planters who relocated to The Bahamas in the aftermath of the American Revolution.

As you will discover, life was never the same for the relocated planters, the slaves, or the native Bahamians.

BDC Programs are free and open to anyone over age 12 who is interested in Beaufort’s local history, culture, or our environment. We hope that you can join us for what is sure to be an illuminating presentation.

“The Most Tormenting, Dissatisfied People on Earth:” Lowcountry Planters in the Bahamas and the Development of Sea Island Cotton, 1780-1800, Colin Brooker, Tues., March 2nd, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Hilton Head Branch.

The image is from Sea View Plantation, Crooked Island, The Bahamas.

We Need You!

As you probably know by now, we are beginning a Strategic Planning Initiative. (It's been in the newspapers. It's been running on the Library's homepage. I've mentioned it several times in Connections.) The Strategic Plan is designed to spell out the Library's plans on how to best meet expressed community needs over the next three years.

And guess what?
We would love it if you would tell us what you would like to see regarding library programs and services.

Option A: You can tell us what you need from your library by completing the online survey.

Option B: You can tell us what you need from your library by offering to serve on one of our Focus Group panels.

Jan O'Rourke, the Library's Assistant Director, is in charge of the Strategic Planning process. She's trying to give community members ample opportunities to participate by holding sessions at 5 different locations, on different days of the week -- including a Saturday and a Sunday -- and at different times of the day: mornings, mid-afternoon, and evening.

You can sign up for any of the Focus Groups. You do not have to be a customer at the branch where the session is being held. Because your Beaufort County Library card "works" at all branch locations, your opinion about the "Beaufort County Library" works at all branch locations. Thus, you are not tied to participating only in the Focus Group of your usual and customary branch library.

For example, Let's say: You live in Garden's Corner, but work on Hilton Head Island. If you want to participate in an evening focus group at a southern Beaufort County Library location, please offer to participate in the Monday evening session at Hilton Head Branch Library which runs 6 - 8pm.

If you would like to participate in one of our Focus Groups listed below, please sign up with our Assistant Library Director! One session will be held at each of the "regular" Branch Libraries:

March 6th @ St. Helena Branch Library, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
March 7th @ Bluffton Branch Library, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
March 8th @ Hilton Head Branch Library , 6: 00 PM - 8:00 PM
March 10th @ Beaufort Branch Library, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
March 13th @ Lobeco Branch Library, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Please call Jan O’Rourke, Assistant Director of Libraries @ 470-6509 or email her at jorourke@bcgov.net to secure your place in a Focus Group.

Of course, I would appreciate it if you can speak up for enduring value of the programs and services provided by the BDC. However, you might not see things the way I do. And, if you don't, as painful as that might be, the Library needs to know. Please let your opinion be heard!

Holme on a Home: Feb. 18th

Penelope W Holme will be presenting her recent research on Beaufort’s Elizabeth Barnwell Gough House on Thursday, Feb 18th at 12:00 pm during the Beaufort County Historical Society Meeting. The meeting will be held at the Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club located at 30 Yacht Club Drive. An optional light lunch will be served at 11:30 for $10. RSVP, please.

For further information or to RSVP about lunch, contact: Pamela Ovens-President at sail@singlestar.us or call 843-785-2767.

Join Us for BCL's Open House February 27th

Make plans now to visit one or more of the Beaufort County Library branches on Saturday, February 27th for the 4th Annual "BCL Open House." This year's theme is: "Connecting you to the World." We'll have demonstrations and performances. Charmaine and I will be at Hilton Head Branch Library for the day and will demonstrate features of the "Virtual BDC" (of which, this Connections blog is a key component.)

The program is available online so you can decide where you'd most like to attend.

Please participate in our Customer Survey. We'll be compiling the data in order to prepare our Library's Strategic Plan.

Robert Smalls at Penn Center

Penn Center is hosting a celebration of the life and legacy of Robert Smalls, February 8 - March 6th in honor of Black History Month.

On display at Penn Center are family photographs, a Civil War uniform from the 54th Massachusetts (USCT), a model of the SS Planter, and daily film screenings of the documentary Congressman Robert Smalls. The month long celebration concludes with a lecture "Robert Smalls and the SS Planter" by Dennis Cannady on March 6th at 10:00 AM in the York W. Bailey Museum.

Contact Penn Center at 843-838-2474 or email info@penncenter.com for ticket prices and schedule.

African Americans and Facts from the Census Bureau

Anyone see those Census Bureau advertizements during the Super Bowl on Sunday? [According to the Census Bureau, they ran 3.]

Besides just counting the US population once every 10 years in order to determine the distribution of the Federal House of Representatives seats, the Census Bureau collects statistics on all sorts of things, places, and groups of people. Some of these statistics are put into the "Fact for Features" series about specific demographic groups. Among the many postings are statistics regarding African-Americans and Black History Month.

Visit the series to learn more about our country's diverse population.

Penn School: Experiment in Freedom Video

Mary Long's Yesteryear: Penn School: Experiment In Freedom traces the history of the Port Royal Experiment and the establishment of Penn School, one of the first schools in the South for freed slaves. For more than 100 years, the school has played a historic and vital role in the lives of the South Carolina sea Island people. The program follows the history of the center, from its founding to its role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Copies of the video are available through the Local History sections at our branch libraries. Some branches have VHS and DVD versions; some branches have only VHS; some branches have only DVD. Call numbers: 975.799 PEN or 370.9757 MAR

For the more research minded person willing to do a bit of work, the BDC has a bibliography of resources we have about Penn Center in the Research Room. All you have to do is ask. Call us at 470-6525 or e-mail me at gracec@bcgov.net.

"The Battle of Port Royal" -- Mike Coker

Our 2010 Beaufort District Collection program schedule relating to the history, culture, and environment of Beaufort District continues on Monday, February 22nd.

Michael D. Coker, author of The Battle of Port Royal, will talk about his research into the “pivotal turning point” of the Civil War that occurred in our area. The naval engagement involved two forts in Beaufort District (Fort Beauregard on Bay Point and Fort Walker on Hilton Head) and the “largest fleet ever assembled by the United States” up to 1861.

We are hosting two sessions: 1) one at the Hilton Head Branch Library: Monday, February 22, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, and 2) in the Paul Siegmund Room, 311 Scott Street, Monday, February 22nd, 5:30 – 6:30pm.

The program is free and open for anyone aged 12 years and over interested in the history, culture, or environment of our community.

Black History Month Online Resources Featured on Library's Website

Beaufort County Library's webmaster, Halle Eisenman, has created an online gateway to recommended resources about African American history, writers, and culture from her considerable knowledge of the web, our staff, and the fine reference librarians behind the Librarian's Internet Index.

Click your way through some Local History and Nature articles we post. You'll find solid information to get you started exploring Gullah culture and important people in the story of our local past.

Click your way through websites recommended by the LII about Langston Hughes.

Read sheet music from the "Let It Resound" website representing a broad scope of African American musical genres of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

For the more aural among us, the Library of Congress has highlighted podcasts and videos on their African-American History Month Audio/Video web pages.

View an online exhibit about the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial commemorating the role of the 54th Massachusetts United States Colored Troops during the Civil War.

These are just good starting points from which to start your exploration of the wealth of topics within the broad rubric of African-American history. And as always, the Beaufort County Library -- physical and virtual -- is a great place to start your Black History Month celebration.

Southern Lens Documentaries in February

During February, SCETV's Southern Lens highlight aspects of the African American experience in South Carolina.

Although none of them specifically focus on the history, culture, and environment of Beaufort County, insights garnered by watching the documentaries could help our understanding of race relations, critical contemporary issues, and traditions within the black community.

February 4th 10:00pm -- Scarred Justice

On February 8, 1968, police fired upon students protesting on a U.S. college campus. Within eight seconds Delano Middleton, Henry Smith, and Samuel Hammond, Jr. lay dying and at least 27 students lay wounded on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, S.C. All of the police were white, all of the students African-American. More information about making the documentary is available online.

Related BDC materials: The Orangeburg Massacre, 2nd edition, by Jack Bass and Jack Nelson (call number SC 975.77 NEL)

February 11th 10:00pm -- My Name Ain't Eve explores the historical paths, traditions and contemporary methods used to name African American children, as well as the evolution of names for the Black race.

Related BDC materials: Gullah Cultural Legacies by Emory S. Campbell (call number SC 305.8961 CAM) defines "basket name," a separate appellation among the local native black islanders than the baby's legal name filed with the government; and The Gullah People and their African Heritage by William S. Pollitzer (call number SC 975 POL) devotes several pages to naming patterns.

February 18th 10:00pm -- The Telling Takes Me Home follows the political path taken by Guy and Candie Carawan.

Related BDC materials: Ain't you got a right to the tree of life? the people of Johns Island, South Carolina--their faces, their words, and their songs by Guy Carawan is available in the BDC, BEA, BLU, and HHI.

February 25th 10:00pm -- Bin Yah explores the stresses of development upon African American culture in the Mt. Pleasant area.

Related BDC materials: Ask for the "Development Issues" vertical file during your next visit to our Research Room. Read the Resources section on the the Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor website to learn more.

Black History Month at the Library

Black History Month begins today. In keeping with the national Black History Month celebration, Beaufort County Library is honoring the contributions of African-Americans to American history and culture in all our locations in a variety of ways, including displays, programs, and creating lists of books, movies, websites, and reference materials about black history. During February, many of the Connections entries will highlight the people, places, and organizations that have contributed to the richness of the contributions of black people to our local history. Stay tuned for more.