New (and New to Us) Materials in the BDC, March - April 2021

 The BDC continues to grow with the addition of the following materials over the past two months: 

101 African Americans Who Shaped South Carolina is drawn from entries in the South Carolina Encyclopedia. Among the Beaufort-connected folks included in this volume edited by Bernard E. Powers are: Martin Delany, William Whipper, Robert Smalls, J.J. Wright, the Rollin Sisters, Susie King Taylor, and Joe Frazier. 

The companion volume 101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina edited by Valinda W. Littlefield includes entries the following women with Beaufort District connections: Eliza Lucas Pinckney, the Grimke sisters, the Rollin sisters, Valerie Sayers, Esther Hill Hawks, Susie King Taylor, Abbie Christensen, and Harriet Keyserling. 

South Carolina Chronology, 3rd ed., edited by Walter Edgar, J. Brent Morris and C. James Taylor "contains the principal events, developments, and dates in the history of South Carolina. It is our intention to have incorporated events that would reflect the total history of the province and the state such that one reading the full volume would be aware of the fundamental developments in Carolina society and the major changes that have occurred." (Preface) In other words, here's your "Cheat Sheet" of basic state history to share and sound reasonably on the mark during the next cocktail party you attend! We also have the first (1497 - 1970) and second (1497 - 1992) editions compiled and edited by a dean of South Carolina History, Dr. George C. Rogers.

Patriots in Exile: Charleston Rebels in St. Augustine during the American Revolution by James Waring McCrady and C.L. Bragg began as a family history project but soon became a "chronicle ... of sixty-
three-patriots-in-exile", including Beaufort's owner signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Heyward, Jr., "the British authorities who transported them, and when evidence permits, the effect of the exile on their wives, their children, and their slaves -- those silent exiles who were selected to accompany their masters." (p. xiii)

A Guidebook to South Carolina Historical Markers compiled by Edwin Breeden, includes the text of each. Beaufort County markers are on pages 52-66. There were 63 markers extant in 2019. A number of local and state societies and foundations have contributed to these markers. The Beaufort County Historical Society has contributed to the largest number of markers. Other markers have been sponsored by Hilton Head Island Historical Society, Beaufort County Council, Penn Club, South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Mather School Alumnae Association, Preservation Trust for Historic St. Helena's Episcopal Church, Town of Hilton Head Island, Chicora Foundation, Michigan Support Group of Penn Center, St. Luke's Congregation (Bluffton), Beaufort College Board of Trustees, Committee for the Preservation of African-American Landmarks, Historic Beaufort Foundation, Michael C. Riley High School Alumni Association, General Richard Anderson Camp #47, Sons of Confederate Veterans, St. James Baptist Church (Hilton Head), Hilton Head Island Land Trust, Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island, First Presbyterian Congregation (Beaufort), First African Baptist Congregation (Hilton Head), Lowcountry Civil War Round Table, South Carolina Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, Friends of Gardens Corner, Old Commons Neighborhood Association, Bluffton Historical Preservation Society, Donald S. Russell Foundation, University of South Carolina, Queen Chapel A.M.E. Church (Hilton Head), Town of Bluffton, Eugene and Melanie Marks, Leamington Property Owners Association (Hilton Head), and Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation.    

Stories of Struggle: The Clash over Civil Rights in South Carolina by Claudia Smith Brinson is a "pioneering study" bolstered by extensive research and interviews of more than 150 activists, some of whom who shared their stories for the first time with the veteran award-winning journalist. She covers two decades of non-violent protests that ultimately "altered the landscape of civil rights in South Carolina and reverberated throughout the South." (Front cover) Her goal was to introduce "Black South Carolinians determined to attain full citizenship rights and white supremacists determined to stop them" from the 1930s into the 1960s.  (p. vii) The stories included here expose as propaganda that South Carolina was a "civil society that nobly preserved a way of life satisfactory to all." (p. viii)

Monumental Harm: Reckoning with Jim Crow Era Confederate Monuments by Roger C. Hartley is promoted as "a road map for addressing and resolving" the contentious debate about what the monuments meant to the people who erected them, what the monuments expressed about Southern history, politics, culture, and race relations of the time, and what criteria should be considered as the issue is discussed and debated. Hartley argues that "we evaluate the issue through the lens of the U.S. Constitution while employing the overarching democratic principle that no right is absolute." (Back cover)  

The Employment of African Americans in Law Enforcement, 1803-1865 by independent researcher Lievin Kambamba Mboma includes references in his narrative to law enforcement duties held by the freedmen of Mitchelville and by United States Colored Troops stationed in coastal South Carolina during and after the Civil War. 

Average Expectations: Lessons in Lowering the Bar by Shep Rose was a somewhat reluctant purchase because I am not a fan of "reality TV". However the collection development policy says that I should buy items penned by Beaufort County residents who spent their "growing up years" within the County. Thus, Shep Rose qualifies  with "this witty and engaging collection of essays from the charismatic star of Southern Charm [who] offers rip-roaring stories and tongue-in-cheek advice on everything from relationships to travel to 'woke' culture and beyond." Plus I sincerely think that a few years from now, the BDC might be one of the few libraries still holding this title.

Transactions of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina Index to Volumes 1 - 96 was a gift from the Heritage Library. They had two copies - and now the BDC has one. On a personal note, I am glad that Part I covers A- J entries and I am a descendant of the Jaudon family. However, the BDC only has a few issues of Transaction in our holdings.

We received the Beaufort Academy Aquila yearbook of 2002 from the Friends of the Beaufort Library. It joins annuals for 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998.

The Origin and Development of Christianity on St. Helena Island, South Carolina Amongst the Gullah People by Frank E. Glover was a gift from the author. It is his 2020 dissertation written for Dallas Theological Seminary in which he discusses the African roots of the dispersal of Christianity in the Ancient World dating from the time of Pentecost up through the enslavement of people on St. Helena Island in the 17th and 18th centuries. He argues that Christianity was not a "foreign religion that was thrust upon enslaved Africans by their White slave masters" but that "the major doctrines of the Christian faith were hammered out in Africa" even before Rome accepted Christianity. 

The Sea Island Quilters organization donated their archives to the BDC on March 1, 2021. The archive consists of approximately 4 cubic feet of scrapbooks, Minutes and financial records documenting the mission, history, and work of the group since 1992. 

Heads up: The Library system, including the BDC, will be closed on Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day. Appointments for June 1 must be confirmed with me no later than 3 pm on May 28, 2021. Please contact gracec@bcgov.net OR call 843-255-6446 to make the required arrangements.