New (and New to Us) Materials, Mid-November through New Year's Eve 2018

The Beaufort District Collection is always growing by purchase or gift. New and new to us materials arriving to our shelves between mid-November and the end of 2018 were:


Through My Eyes by Carolyne Taylor Wynne (2017) provides a  personal account of her transformation from a rural farm girl born near Ridgeland to corporate accountant based in Atlanta into world traveler. (Purchase)

Gullah Woodburning Folk Art by Rev. Johnnie F. Simmons [2018], a delightfully colorful little book (literally little, the book measures 5 inches by 4 inches) of his woodburned depictions of Gullah culture and life on St. Helena Island was donated by the artist. (Gift)

A History of South Carolina Lighthouses by John Hairr (2014) includes three sections relevant to lighthouses in Beaufort District on Hunting, Hilton Head, and Daufuskie Islands. He also puts "paid" to some folk history regarding the Charleston lighthouse. Come read the corrected history yourself in our Research Room - or borrow a copy from one of the SCLENDS libraries.  (He spells his surname with a double "r" so that's not a typographical error.) (Purchase)

You Were Born One Time by Quitman Marshall (2014) won the South Carolina Poetry Archives book prize when it was published. Marshall moved to Beaufort more than 15 years ago. The Island Packet wrote an article about his career and his award winning book of poetry.
His poem "Mud" begins:

The blue pluff mud of low tide
ought to tell those who have the view
of and damn well paid for it
that their grip on anything is weak...

Masterful use of a small number of words to convey philosophical concept, don't you think?  (Gift)

The Mermaid of Hilton Head Written and illustrated by Nina Leipold (2016) helps children understand how cutting off lights helps saves sea turtles and protects the natural environment.(Purchase)

Yamasee Indians from Florida to South Carolina edited and with an introduction by Denise I. Bossy (2018) "brings together archaeologists of South Carolina and Florida with historians of the Native South, Spanish Florida, and British Carolina for the the first time to answer elusive questions about the Yamasees' identity, history, and fate." (Quote is from the book's dust cover) Additional copies to check out are available in Beaufort and Bluffton Branch local history sections. (Purchase)

Cultural Resources Survey of the Bull Hill Tract, Beaufort County, South Carolina by Brockington and Associates for the Del Webb Corporation (1994) was conducted in order for the developer to comply with existing state and Federal regulations before construction of Sun City Hilton Head could begin. The conclusion of the study was "Proposed development activities will result in no adverse effects to any significant cultural resources. Any ground disturbing activities at these sites or in the Bull Hill Tract should be allowed to proceed without further management considerations."(p. ii)  (Gift)

The Structural Integrity of the Habersham House prepared by Joel P. Porcher, Jr., and William E. Rettew for Colin Brooker (1985) is an engineering assessment of the condition of one of Beaufort's most historic structures. The building was reinforced and remains in use as Saltus River Grill in 2018. (Gift)

Rice: Global Networks and New Histories  edited by Francesca Bray, Peter A. Coclanis, Edda L. Fields-Black and Dagmar Schafer (2015). Although rice feeds about half of the people on earth, heretofore little attention has been paid to the history of the product and how it helped capitalism and colonialism flourish across the globe and centuries. 15 articles discuss rice culture and history in Africa, Asia, South Carolina, and Arkansas. (Purchase)

Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War's Slave Refugee Camps by Amy Murrell Taylor,  (2018)  In addition to the local enslaved people who suddenly found themselves within Union lines in late 1861, many thousands of enslaved people made their way to Federal camps in search of freedom throughout the Civil War. Though Taylor thoroughly examines life in the Hampton, Virginia, Helena, Arkansas, and Camp Nelson, Kentucky camps, she refers to Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island only a few times. Nevertheless, a researcher should understand the general outlines of how the slave refugee camps worked in other locations as s/he undertakes learning more about Mitchelville, the first freedmen's village. Reviews of this book are found on the websites of Publisher's Weekly and the Civil War Books and Authors Booknotes pages.


The Beaufort Sail and Power Squadron  and the Clover Club made additional deposits to their archives and we got a host of posters from Beaufort Branch to process for our ever growing collection of posters to community events.