New (and New to Us) Materials December 2019 to February 2020

As we adjust to all the changes that the current pandemic has caused, it's probably a good thing that I tend to write my social media posts at least 2 to 4 weeks ahead. I have to have the items in hand to summarize their contents. What follows is a list of the "New (and New to Us) Materials" added to the Research Room during the winter months. Ordinarily, I would hope that this would encourage you to check the books out either in the Research Room or borrow a copy from one of the Local History sections at the branch libraries. However as you are aware, at the present time and into the future, the Library buildings are closed. Unlike previous posts of this type, I have added the link to the Library's streaming service Hoopla if it happens to carry the item.

While we navigate the new realities and the lack of income entering the County and State's coffers, this is probably the last installment of this series for a time. All buying of materials has ceased and until we get back into the building, I cannot accept physical donations.

The Breakers Literary Club was a publication of poems and short stories written by Beaufort Junior High School students in 1963. You can read more about this school publication in December 2019 post to this blog.

The Civil War in the South Carolina Lowcountry: How a Confederate Artillery Battery and a Black Union Regiment Defined War by Ron Roth (2019) compares and contrasts two unis raised in Beaufort District, the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery that rallied to the Confederate cause and the 1st South Carolina who fought against their former masters. The BVA spent much of the war fighting in and around Beaufort District protecting the railroad.The 1st South Carolina Volunteers would participate in a number of the Union's operations along the South Atlantic coast. 

Confederate General Stephen Elliott: Beaufort Legend, Charleston Hero by D. Michael Thomas (2020) is the first full length biography of one of this area's ablest fighting men. I updated the WordPress blog post of materials that we have about Ste Elliott recently. Hoopla has a copy of this title that you can borrow as well.

Cookbooks: Fripp Island Favorites and Dataw Cooks are both compilations of favorite recipes submitted by residents of these particular islands.


Dead Low Water: A Novel by Beaufort native and Daufuskie Island resident Roger Pinckney is "a work of fiction based on real events" as many of Pinckney's novels and stories are. The owners of the fabricated-to-sell-real-estate-Harbour-Town-lighthouse are missing. It is a rather sordid tale unraveled by two rogue cops who understand the local characters and seedy side of life in a resort town.

Gullah Days: Hilton Head Islanders Before the Bridge, 1861 - 1956 was compiled and written by three well-known and respected members of the Hilton Head community, Tom Barnwell, Emory Campbell, and Carolyn Grant (2020). The authors share their memories and research about what daily life was like on the Island for the Gullah islanders from Civil War times until the James F. Byrnes Bridge opened it up for large scale real estate development.

The Grim Years: Settling South Carolina, 1670-1720 by John J. Navin (2020) is a splendid and well researched, but depressing, account of the myriad of hardships in the day-to-day existence of the  elite and poor whites, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans in the earliest days of the colony. Hoopla, the Library's streaming service, has a copy of this title you can borrow while the Libraries are closed. When we re-open and the SCLENDS distribution system gets back into operation, there are multiple printed copies to borrow.

Military Leadership Lessons of the Charleston Campaign, 1861 - 1865 by Kevin Dougherty (2014) includes "Leadership Vignettes" based on an analysis of actions of some key figures in Beaufort District's Civil War history: "Robert E. Lee and Prioritization"; "Robert Smalls and Seizing the Moment"; "David Hunter and the Need for Cooperation"; "Samuel DuPont and Synchronization with Superiors"; "John Dahlgren and Command Presence"; "Robert Shaw and Moral Leadership;" "William Carney and Personal Bravery;" and "Clara Barton and Servant Leadership." Each vignette has two to seven "Take-aways." Because as I'm writing this in Women's History Month, here is one he gives for Clara Barton: "Servant leaders meet their subordinates' needs so the subordinates can concentrate on the organization's mission." (p. 163) 

Rice to Ruin: The Jonathan Lucas Family in South Carolina, 1783-1929 by Roy Williams III and Alexander Lucas Lofton (2018) Lucas invented the rice mill that made inland rice production more efficient in Prince William's Parish. The authors include references to planters in Beaufort District but the focus of the book is on the rice-growing belt from Colleton to Georgetown districts.


River of Words 2018: Musings on Port Royal Sound Through Poetry & Art produced by Students of Beaufort County School District is well titled and sufficiently descriptive.  We also have a copy of the one produced in 2013.

She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar (2019) is sure to be a very popular nonfiction title because it can be read by anyone aged 10 years or older. Chapter 3 covers Tubman's time in Beaufort District.


State of the Heart, volume 3: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love edited by Aida Rogers; Foreword by Nikky Finney; Afterword by Cassandra King (2018) includes selections by locals Sallie Ann Robinson, David Lauderdale and Cassandra King. The Library's streaming service, Hoopla, has a copy for you to borrow.

Yamassee Indians Culture Heritage and Practices: A Study Guide for the Yamassee Indian Tribe by Mico Se'Khu Gentle-Hadjo, Revised edition, [2016] was compiled and self-published by one of the "Few Last Yamassee Pure bloods" and chief to share an historical and cultural account of his people. (You can read about "South Carolina's Recognized Native American Indian Entities" on the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs website.)   

We added 7 posters.

Additions to our map collection included: South Beach Master Plan for Sea Pines Plantation and  one for Hardeeville, South Carolina.

Additions to the School Annuals: McCracken Middle School, 2007; Hilton Head Middle School, 2004; and Beaufort Junior High, 2004

We continue going through vertical files transferred from Beaufort Branch and Hilton Head Branch to the Beaufort District Collection several years ago. (Yes, it is a slow process.) We discovered two quite interesting items in one of the St. Helena Episcopal Church related vertical file. One was Our Amazing History 1712 - 2012 Coloring Book that has now been cataloged for the stacks. The other took me some thought and research to decide what exactly it was. We have a plan of the St. Helena's Parish Cemetery with tombstones discovered during a renovation project in 1947.  


Processing of government documents transferred from the Beaufort Branch Library continues at a slow pace too. The items selected for permanent retention in the Research Room include: Fripp Island Public Service District Financial statements selective years, random; Southern Beaufort County Plan 1985, preliminary Staff Draft 17 May 1985; Joint Planning Commission Approved draft Sept. 16, 1985; Report on General Election of November 5, 1996; Draft Environmental Assessment, Proposed Widening [of US 17 between Garden's Corner and Jacksonboro], 1990; Hilton Head Airport Master Plan Study prepared by Wilbur Smith and Associates, 1977; Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Airport Improvements at Beaufort County Airport prepared by Wilbur Smith and Associates, 1978; and Neighborhood Analysis, Beaufort, South Carolina, 1970.

One document in particular, Residential Development Guidelines for the Lowcountry, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, [and] Jasper, 1990, reminded me of the phrase coined by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose" that is usually translated into English as "The more things change, the more they remain the same." Here are the goals outlined on p. 6 of the document:

• "To provide an adequate number of affordable, safe, sanitary, uncrowded and attractive homes for all [their italics] present and potential Lowcountry residents regardless of their age, race, sex or religion.

• To maximize each household's choice of housing type and whether they will own or rent their unit.

• To provide well-designed residential neighborhoods with (1) ample local parks and playgrounds; (2) adequate, appropriate and efficiently delivered community services; and (3) easy access to public facilities, and commercial, educational and employment activity areas.

• To protect and enhance areas of architectural, historical or cultural importance.

We are grateful to the Friends of the Beaufort Library, Beaufort Branch Library, Mary Lou Brewton, Caroline Hatcher, Ramona Grimsley, Bill Engeman, and Mark S. Fuller for their donations of library and archival materials.

Please note: Please monitor the Library's homepage for any schedule or access changes during the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. Please stay safe.