SRO Crowd Braves Unseasonably Cold Weather for Local History Program

Turnout on Tuesday for the final BDC Local History program of 2010 Coffin Point: The Strange Cases of Sheriff Ed McTeer presented by author Baynard Woods was great! 94 folks, aged 3 to 83 (perhaps beyond), spent a very enjoyable evening learning more Beaufort County's most famous lawman and "White Witchdoctor."

The County Channel recorded the session for broadcast. Once I get notification of the broadcast schedule, I'll be sure to share it with you.

Baynard was very appreciative of the role that libraries and county government records played in his research process. Newspaper backfiles at the Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort Branch Library were critical to his book. He spent time at the County Records warehouse reading through court records. He interviewed folks who had known Sheriff McTeer.

The book is a good read. I started it about 9 pm and finished before midnight. Baynard wove politics, race relations, hoodoo, and personal reminiscences of Sheriff McTeer into a delightful mosaic. He wrote stories I hadn't heard or seen in print before about the Sheriff, not all of which were flattering to the memory of the Sheriff. But, that's what happens during research sometimes. Some of what you learn isn't particularly flattering to your subject. Even those parts of the McTeer story were handled well.

I must brag a bit. Librarians don't get much time in the spotlight. And, frankly, most of us like to work in the background. But I am always pleased when a researcher gives libraries, librarians, and archivists a public nod about the value of our collections and services in their working process. In his "Acknowledgments" he wrote "Grace Cordial, of the Beaufort Room at the County Library, was brilliant and lived up to both her names." (p. 219) He called me 'brilliant' (written to be read as if I were Sally Field accepting her Oscar for Norma Rae.)

I shared my pleasure about how well everything went last night with my supervisor, Jan O'Rourke, and my treasured co-worker, Kathy Mitchell and showed them the acknowledgment. I said, "There will be no living with me now!" (I'm paraphrasing their retort:) "Now, Grace? Who could live with you before?" It's wonderful to be appreciated.

The Friends of the Beaufort County Library sold books both before and after the presentation, earning almost $300 as their percentage. As anyone who has read this blog in the past knows, we are very grateful for all that the FOL groups do to support and supplement the programs and mission of the Beaufort County Library.

Last, but not least: Thank you, Baynard Woods, for delivering such a wonderful program last night.

Copies of the book were hand delivered by the author to our Technical Services department about 30 minutes ago. Processing these is a RUSH. We'll get them on the shelves in the Local History sections asap.