March 2023 was pretty busy. Here's a re-cap of the posts I wrote for the BDC's Facebook page last month:
March 1, 2023 - BDC Overview for March 2023: We've switched out the hearts for shamrocks. Olivia has selected materials about seafood for the Research Room display case to honor our upcoming local history program at the St. Helena Branch Library. The details will show up in Connections later this month. Now that Olivia has finished the "Basics of Archives" class, she's helping me with doing the work behind the work that makes "Finding Aid Fridays" possible. We honor the local women who are telling the story of this community through time in the Uniquely BDC, Black History Note, and Finding Aids FB during March. Two new BDC docents arrive to join my long-serving, dedicated crew of 4 plus we anticipate the return of a Beloved BDC Docent following an absence of several months. You'll get to hear more about their respective projects in April.
I'm out later today to talk about our postcard collections at the Coastal Discovery Museum. Doing so against the televised and streamed closing arguments in the Murdaugh double-murder trial going on in neighboring Colleton County today is really tough. When this was arranged months and months ago, none of us could anticipate that the criminal case of the 21st century would still be underway - or that the weather would be so unseasonably warm and beautiful. Yet the "BDC's show" must go on....
March 6, 2023 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC:" You'll notice several themes to the Monday posts this month: The theme is items only found in the Research Room about "seafood" that were written wholly or in part by women authors and relate in some fashion to our next Local History program. Giving credit where credit is due, I've borrowed a lot of words from Olivia's upcoming Connections article about the March display case.
In Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold Jack and Anne Rudloe discuss all aspects of the shrimp, from its anatomy to its role in the food chain. They highlight different types of shrimp and the role of shrimp to the human experience. They particularly celebrate the modern shrimper. They discuss techniques, trials, and tribulations these folks go through to ensure that everyone will have food on the table at the next family gathering or dinner outing. Give us a call to make an appointment to review this book: 843-255-6468.
March 13, 2023 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC": De Gullah n de Geechee Seafood Cookbook was inspired by the recipes of Gloria Haynes Polke’s family, whom she says, “learned to cook without measuring our ingredients.” In an effort to share her culture’s food with others, she began writing down recipes and measurements, which date all the way back to her enslaved ancestors and ancestors of Native American heritage. In this cookbook, the author dedicates each chapter to a specific type of seafood: fish, scallops, lobsters, shrimp, crabs, oysters, and clams, respectfully, with a few miscellaneous recipes included at the end as well. Full of delicious ingredients and straightforward instruction, Polke’s book is only available for viewing here at the BDC.
March 20, 2023 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC:" Serving not only as a cookbook, but as a resource for the history of seafood and cooking in the South, Shrimp, Collards and Grits by Pat Branning (2011) introduces readers to the wonders of Southern cuisine. Divided into appetizers (or what the author calls ‘Gracious Begginings’), ‘Breads and Brunches,’ ‘Hot from the Oven Entrees,’ ‘From the Garden,’ ‘Sensational Seafood,’ ‘Gullah Fixin’s,’ and ‘Sweet Splurges,’ this cookbook compiles a vast number of recipes in a way that is easy to follow and visually appealing. Originally from Georgia, the book is her love letter to Southern cooking. Make an appointment to come read it here in the Research Room: bdc@bcgov.net ; 843-255-6468
March 27, 2023 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC:" An Oral History Project by former Beaufort County Councilwoman Laura von Harten is today's selection as an item found only in the BDC Research Room - and also just so happens to cover an aspect of our most recent local history program. Her Oral History Project is a collection of von Harten's newspaper articles about local shrimpers and the challenges of selling one's catch at a profit. Most of the articles were published in the Beaufort Gazette during the 1990s and early 2000s. The booklet also includes some poems composed by her. Laura died in 2019. The volume was compiled and donated to the Research Room by her mother, Pat von Harten, in early 2021.
March 8, 2023 - "Black History Note in Women's History Month:" The first African-American teacher to participate in the Port Royal Experiment, Charlotte Forten taught out at Brick Church for a short period of time during the Civil War. She was a member of an illustrious free Black family from Philadelphia. Her grandfather was a Patriot during the American Revolution. Her father was a prosperous business owner. Though small in stature and often frail in body, she was a cougar for civil rights, literary achievement, and some would say in her romantic life as well. She definitely helped tell the story of Reconstruction in Beaufort District through her journal. The BDC has a bibliography about her posted in our BDCBCL: Links, Lists and Finding Aids blog.
March 22, 2023 - "Black History Note in Women's History Month:" Perhaps the most influential female voice that tells the story of the Gullah people of the Southeast is Beaufort District's own Marquetta Goodwine, enstooled Queen of the Gullah/Geechee Nation since 2000. We share a number of her written and performed works through the BDC Research Room.
March 29, 2023 - "Black History Note in Women's History Month:" Some women tell stories through images. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, widow of tennis great Arthur Ashe, did so for Daufuskie Island, first in 1982 and again later in 2007. The 25th Anniversary edition was revised and edited to include 110 photographs, many never before published. Her photographic essay about Daufuskie Island is a clarion call to preserve the remnants of island life and the culture of the rural south. This title is widely held by SCLENDS consortium libraries. We store ours in the BDC and Local History sections at the Branch libraries.
March 10, 2023 - "Finding Aid Friday in Women's History Month:" Byrne Miller came to Beaufort, South Carolina in 1969 and immediately enhanced the community with her love of modern dance and the joy she found in teaching dance. The bulk of the collection directly relates to her dance activities and contribution to the arts. Her papers indicate her involvement as a caregiver to family members with mental illness, the tragic death of an adult child, and the ravages of Alzheimer Disease which led her to participate in and become an advocate for experimental medical treatments for that disease. The direct link to the Finding Aid is https://bdcbcl.wordpress.com/2022/11/17/byrne-miller-papers-1932-2003-bulk-1969-1995-finding-aid/.
March 17, 2023 - "Finding Aid Friday in National Women's History Month:" I had to go with the most Irish sounding name I could: Murray in honor of the day. Things are a bit complicated in that Madame Murray's maiden name was Despard - a surname of Huguenot in origin. The Madame Murray Sketches Collection, 1862 – 1867 consists of a series of drawings made of St. Helena and Lady's Island sites probably done during a visit South to see her daughter Ellen Murray. Ellen Murray had joined Laura Towne at Penn School in 1862. You can read the Finding Aid on the BDC's WordPress blog.
PS: Now I know that some will say that Murray is Scottish but I looked it up. Wikipedia assures me that "Murray (Irish: Ó Muirí) is both a Scottish and an Irish surname with two distinct respective etymologies."
March 24, 2023 - Today's selection for "Finding Aid Friday in National Women's History Month" is significant for several reasons. On a personal level, the Nancy Ann Ciehanski Papers was the very first archival collection that I processed - using money from an SC SHRAB grant. But more importantly, these papers offer us a behind-the-scenes view of politics in Beaufort County from the perspective of one of the key players in the creation of the Town of Hilton Head Island as a limited municipality in 1983.
Various BDC staff have worked on it from time to time since 2005. Most recently Olivia integrated some later additions into the collection. I updated the Finding Aid in the Research Room and have posted it to the BDCBCL: Links, Lists and Finding Aids blog for all to see. Trust me: It will give you a view of the early days of the Hilton Head Town government that you will not find assembled anywhere else. Just be sure to contact us ahead to set up the necessary appointment: 843-255-6468 or bdc@bcgov.net.
March 31, 2023 - "Finding Aids Friday:" As promised, Olivia and I solved our archival quandry mentioned here on February 24th. Over the past month, we pulled together materials created by or gathered by one of the Library's former assistant directors about topics related to African American history, family history, Robert Smalls, and the Confederate flag issue into one collection, the Hillary Smith Barnwell Research Files collection. Her collection now has a Finding Aid on the BDC's Links, Lists and Finding Aid blog. (If you want to get into the weeds with us, read "Challenges of Archival Processing, Part 1" on our Connections blog.)
Programs Related Posts:
March 2, 2023 - Local History Quiz Time: For a short period, the area roughly from present day Ridgeland to Fairfax was known as "Lincoln County". For whom or what was Lincoln County named?
A. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States
C. Lincoln vehicles that hauled moonshine around the county
(Hint: If you attended the most recent program of the "Historically Speaking" series brought to you by the BDC and the Beaufort County Historical Society, you have a heads up on the correct answer.)
March 7, 2023 & March 16, 2023 - Reminded folks to sign up for the Shrimp Tales local history program.
March 21, 2023 - Today's the day for Shrimp Tales with author Beverly Jennings! Olivia and I look forward to seeing those with reservations at St. Helena Branch Library this afternoon.
March 22, 2023 - I just added some more images from yesterday's Shrimp Tales Author Book Talk. We were just shy of the Fire Marshal's room capacity limit. Everything went along swimmingly thanks to our presenter, Beverly Jennings; our program co-sponsor, the Beaufort History Museum; and the cooperation of the St. Helena Branch Library staff, Viktor Kulik and Candy van Tine.
March 30, 2023 - I was surprised to learn at our local history program last week that shrimp were considered to be worms by the Portuguese and Sicilians when they arrived in Florida in the early 1900's. They thought that eating them was probably not so good of an idea. But, hey, they needed the work - and if other people wanted to chow down - that's okay. Want to learn more about the evolution of shrimp industry along the coast? Shrimp Tales: Small Bites of History by Beverly Jennings gives the history of the people, places and boats as they evolved into the commercial shrimping industry in the Southeast. "Small Bites" include short stories and quotes from the hardworking shrimpers who loved their work, sidebar fun facts, recipes in every chapter, operations in each chapter such as boat building, and illustrations of tools of the trade. The book is available in the Research Room as well as in the local history sections at the Branch Libraries.
Just Because Posts:
March 9, 2023 - Public Service Announcement: As in years past, volunteers are in some of the Library's facilities to help you with tax preparation on certain days at specific times. The Tax Help page on the Library's website points you to the most current and up-to-date information about tax preparation volunteers and services.
March 14, 2023 - “Luck” has nothing to do with getting through this door into the Research Room … Call us: 843-255-6468 or E-mail us: bdc@bcgov.net to make an appointment to use the rainbow of resources in the Special Collections and Archives unit of the Beaufort County Library. Who knows? What you discover may be just the pot of gold you were in search of.
March 15, 2023 - John Jakes loved to write and he loved libraries, particularly the Hilton Head Branch Library during his 32 years of residency. His Bicentennial series, the Kent Family Chronicles, cemented my love of reading historical novels and then fact-checking them when I was teenager. He died yesterday at a hospice facility in Sarasota, Florida. Rest in peace, Mr. Jakes.
1) Bring your device to a BCL location.
2) Access the Library's Wi-Fi network.
3) Search for your people on ALE on the BCL's dime.
March 17, 2023 - Most of the staff present on the 2nd floor added something green on the top or base of their ensemble this morning in honor of St. Patrick's death date of March 17, 461. We may not have reached 40 shades of green, but it looks to me as if we have at least a half a dozen shades covered. Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day - while we work.
March 18, 2023 - Beaufort had a famous international visitor 198 years ago today.
April 1, 2023 -BDC's Monthly Overview for April 2023: April is another busy month in the BDC.
I'm helping out at Lobeco Branch until 5 pm today. Staff shortages within the Library system is an ongoing challenge - No fooling.
I will be at the "Breathing Democracy into Spaces: 1st SC Volunteers of African Descent Symposium" on Saturday, April 8th.
April is National Poetry Month and we celebrate National Library Week and Preservation Week before month's end. Accordingly, I will do my best to highlight these three themes this month. 
Join us on Monday, April 17th for the "What's in Your Attic?" program with South Carolina Historical Society's Virginia Ellison - no sign up needed - in honor of Preservation Week.
The next day registration will open for the Operation Jackpot local history program with author Jason Ryan.
I am thrilled that this year the long-delayed "Beloved BDC Docents" get together (originally planned for April 2020) will happen. The docents seldom cross paths with each other, yet their individual projects are critical to the BDC's goal of preparing materials for access.
Just so you know: I won't be writing a "Uniquely BDC" post on Monday, April 3rd nor a "Finding Aid Friday" post on April 7th because I won't be in the office either day. In fact, if you come to any part of the Library system on Good Friday, April 7, 2023 you'll be alone. It's a County holiday and all units of the Library will be closed.
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