Coming up on the BDC's Facebook page April 10 - April 19, 2022:
Deceit, Disappearance & Death on Hilton Head Island by Charlie Ryan with Pamela Martin Ovens (2018) covers the mysterious disappearance a decade earlier of Elizabeth and John Calvert, an island power couple who owned a number of businesses, They were first reported missing on March 4, 2008. Authorities interviewed their accountant, Dennis Gerwing, and soon he was a person of interest in the case. His lifeless body was discovered on March 11, 2008, legally deemed a suicide the following day.
Using Freedom of Information Act documents, newspaper accounts, and personal interviews the authors provide "the most complete public accounting of the mysterious disappearance of John and Elizabeth Calvert and the controversial death of Dennis Gerwing." (p. xiv)
The book features both an index to people key to the cases and a helpful timeline.
Some folks think that Gerwing killed the couple and then committed suicide while others believe that Gerwing had help killing the Calverts and then he too had to die as part of a larger criminal enterprise. Read this book and decide for yourself.
As of this writing, the case remains open.
Copies of this local true crime tale are available in the Research Room (by appointment) or check out a circulating copy from a BCL Local History section.
Looking ahead: The Library will be closed on Good Friday, April 15, 2022 and Wednesday, April 20, 2022 for Staff Development Day.
April 11 9:20 AM "50 Shades of Beige": A significant portion of BDC vertical file drawer #2 is dedicated to the Beaufort County Library and its various components, its Friends groups, its significant projects and services, and the Public Library Foundation of Beaufort County. In fact there are 24 folders of clippings and ephemera collected since the early 20th century housed in these vertical files.
You've already seen some items drawn from these vertical files - and expect more to come!
You can always come review all the vertical files in the BDC by appointment. Make the necessary arrangements no less than 3 days in advance to have the best chance of securing your preferred date and time: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468.
April 11 3:00 PM Angelina Smith of the Technical Services unit has begun inventorying the contents of the BDC for verification of BDC holdings. Doing so is an important task in the special collections and archives world. I asked her to do the public area first since our quarters are tight and it would be difficult for her to inventory while I was dealing with in-Room customers.
Alas it cannot be done quickly. Without a doubt, inventorying all day every day would be boring so she does it for an afternoon or two or three each week depending on what else she has to get done for the Library system.
We chose the afternoon because of my experience over the past two years: The 3 to 5 PM research slot is the least popular of the three slots we offer per weekday. 
When we relocated to our present quarters in September 2010, Charmaine Concepcion and I placed 516 items of the most commonly used and genealogical related materials on the "Ready Reference" area shelves. When Angelina tied up the scanning of barcodes on 24 March, there are now 682 items for customers to use freely during their research appointment.
Next up to be counted: Microfilm reels of which we had 1439 on 29 September 2010 - but since then I've added some and Hilton Head Branch eliminated its microfilm services (when their machine died after almost 3 decades of service) by transferring their reels to the BDC. It's going to be quite interesting to learn what the actual current count is.
Stayed tuned. I will share the total microfilm figure with you once Angelina provides it to me.
April 12 9:13 AM Please plan accordingly around the fact that the Library will be closed on Good Friday, April 15, 2022 - and Wednesday, April 20, 2022 -- which means that it may take me more than 72 hours to get back to you about an available research appointment dates and times since I do not monitor incoming work emails or phone calls when the Library is closed. But I do take care of catching up as quickly as is practical upon my return to the office. So please leave a voice mail [843-255-6468] if you call or send an email [bdc@bcgov.net]- with the expectation that you will get a response within a few days.
April 12 2:46 PM Long-time Beaufort Township Librarian Mabel Runnette wrote a research paper for the Beaufort County Historical Society entitled "Libraries of Beaufort, South Carolina" sometime in the 1950s. It is #41 of 69 such research papers that we have from the BCHS in Research Room.
One can hear the sincerity of her grievance against the confiscation of the Beaufort Library Society materials in 1861. The paper is important for the details she provides based on her personal knowledge of the institution and her membership in the Clover Club.
For example: On page 25 she mentions that "On the death of Miss Adeline Scheper it was found that she had willed to the Library all of her private library and directed that her home should be sold and the proceeds divided between the Library and the Church Home Orphanage."
I know that the Library is still reaping the benefits of the Scheper Fund, since I have bought "books of permanent value" with funds generated by the interest on the Scheper Fund created from the sale of her home almost 100 years ago.
April 12 4:54 PM The general public is invited by the Beaufort County Historical Society to its unveiling of "The Great Fire of 1907" historical marker on Thursday, April 21, 2022 beginning at 11:00 AM in Elliott Park at the base of Carteret and Bay Streets. Details.
Not only does the BDC take care of the BCHS's records, our resources assist greatly during the research process for creating many of the BCHS's historic markers around Beaufort County.
April 13 9:28 AM "Black History Note": When the State of South Carolina integrated public libraries services the Laura Towne Library at Penn Center and the J. I. Washington Library on Carteret Street that served the African American community merged with the white Beaufort Township Library to create the Beaufort County Library. It took a few years to work out the administrative changes.
Details are on the BCL's website under the "Research & Learn" tab > Select "Library History" from the drop-down box.
April 13 3:17 PM One of my favorite "There's a Poem in This Place" verses is "Island Names" by Edith Bannister Dowling. It's from her "One for Sorrow, Two for Joy" anthology (Hilton Head Island Publishing Co., 1967). The Library has plenty of copies of this book and her other collections of poems to share in the Research Room and through the Local History sections of the Branch Libraries.
April 14 9:09 AM 90 years ago today, the Beaufort Gazette carried this story about the first African American pilot to be granted a flying license and his upcoming Air Show on page 8. (Another serendipitous discovery while doing other work in the newspaper microfilms).
April 14 4:45 PM Reminder: All units of the Beaufort County Library will be closed on Friday, April 15, 2022. Units normally open on Saturdays will re-open on April 16th.
April 15 12:01 AM Reminder: The Library and the BDC are closed today. Those units usually open on Saturdays will be open tomorrow. I won't be checking any incoming email, FB messages, or telephone voicemails until I return to the Research Room.
Think that you've got what it takes to be a volunteer in the BDC? Contact me bdc@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468 so that we can discuss your interests and skills and how those might contribute to the BDC's ongoing or planned projects.
Please note: Volunteers must possess a valid Beaufort County Library card and be at least 16 years of age to be considered. For safety and security reasons all volunteers are required to complete a brief application and background check prior to volunteering. Volunteer service cannot begin until you have passed the background check.
Heads up: All units of the Beaufort County Library will be closed on Wednesday, April 20th for Staff Development Day.
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