January 16, 2025 - A Special Place and Time Author Book Talk - Hilton Head Branch Library
We start with a traditional Author Book Talk on January 16. Beaufort District's history is full of colorful personalities. Judy Hutson recounts tales of some of its more interesting 20th century inhabitants at an Author Book Talk about A Special Place and Time: Life and Love at Palmetto Bluff during the Golden Age. She will explain why she decided to write the book and give an overview of the wealthy Wilson family and members of the local Beach and Hutson families who worked on Palmetto Bluff Plantation. We take the BDC to Hilton Head Branch Library for this particular local history program. 
About Judy Hutson:
A native of Savannah, Hutson married into "a family of incredible storytellers" in 1975. She taught reading, language arts, and social studies at McCracken Middle School for 31 years.
We venture out on to some new territory 6 days later. I am so excited to bring you a program that connects archives, genealogy, and the musical arts. Local history collections are meant to document local community life in its joys, mundanity, and sorrows. Unfortunately, Tendaji's art is based in a local tragedy that the materials in the Research Room allowed him to expand upon stories told within his family. Below is what Tendaji wrote about his presentation.
A Song for Betty: Ancestors, Archives, & Art by Tendaji Bailey
Sankofa encourages us to look into the past in order to imagine the future. This presentation focuses on the story of Betty Gardner, a Gullah Geechee woman whose story was uncovered in the archives of the Beaufort County library. A Song for Betty highlights the power of art to inspire and heal trauma.
Emerging artist, Tendaji Bailey will share how he turned his research into art through a lecture and musical performance.
About Tendaji Bailey:
Tendaji Bailey is a Gullah Geechee native of Port Royal & St Helena Island, SC in Beaufort County. He is a 2015 graduate of Morehouse College and former middle school math teacher and community organizer.
He is an Artist and the founder of the Gullah Geechee Futures Project. He helps to develop programs and events to educate the public about the rich history and culture of Gullah Geechee communities throughout the coastal south east and beyond through the Mellon Morehouse Movement, Memory, & Justice Project. He is also the Gullah Geechee educator at the Coastal Discovery Museum providing tours and workshops. He is a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpreters.
As an emerging artist he transforms into a Griot, a traditional Stroyteller, by singing, song writing, and curating immersive experiences through his most recent work, “SEEKING|SOARING: Gullah Resilience Songs”.
The very next day we head to Bluffton Branch Library with a reprise about the people who were on the Planter with Robert Smalls on May 13, 1862 again presented by the National Park Service's Chris Barr. On board the ship that night were more than a dozen enslaved people [the actual count and names of the freedom seekers change depending on the source used] who risked their lives at the chance for liberty in the Charleston Harbor. Their stories have long been lost in the shadow of Robert Smalls. This presentation by Park Ranger Chris Barr from Reconstruction Era National Historical Park will draw on newspaper and pension records to share the experiences of these little-known freedom-seekers.
January 22, 2025 - A Song for Betty: Archives and Music - St. Helena Branch Library
We venture out on to some new territory 6 days later. I am so excited to bring you a program that connects archives, genealogy, and the musical arts. Local history collections are meant to document local community life in its joys, mundanity, and sorrows. Unfortunately, Tendaji's art is based in a local tragedy that the materials in the Research Room allowed him to expand upon stories told within his family. Below is what Tendaji wrote about his presentation.
Sankofa encourages us to look into the past in order to imagine the future. This presentation focuses on the story of Betty Gardner, a Gullah Geechee woman whose story was uncovered in the archives of the Beaufort County library. A Song for Betty highlights the power of art to inspire and heal trauma.
About Tendaji Bailey:
Tendaji Bailey is a Gullah Geechee native of Port Royal & St Helena Island, SC in Beaufort County. He is a 2015 graduate of Morehouse College and former middle school math teacher and community organizer.
January 23, 2025 - "Beyond Robert Smalls" - Bluffton Branch Library
This program is part of the joint BDC and Beaufort County Historical Society "Historically Speaking" series.
About Chris Barr:
Chris Barr is the Chief of Interpretation at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. His career with the National Park Service has included work at Andersonville National Historic Site, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. He has been here in Beaufort County since 2019.
January 28, 2025 - "Ferguson's Branch" - Bluffton Branch Library
We end the month with the premiere of Neil Baxley's "Ferguson's Branch" about a military action that tried to stymie Sherman's March through Beaufort District and the rest of the Carolinas. (Spoiler alert: It didn't - but you should come to Bluffton Branch anyway to learn more about a relatively unknown military action from one of the County's resident military historians. Neil always educates and entertains with his talks.)
This program is a joint venture of the BDC and the Beaufort History Museum.
About Neil Baxley:
A native of North Carolina, Neil Baxley spent 4 years in the Marine Corps before joining the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office more than 40 years ago. In 2013, Col. Baxley was put in charge of Beaufort County's Emergency Management Division. In his spare time, he studies and writes history. He's given presentations at the South Carolina Archives and at area museums and libraries. He's authored two Confederate regimental history books, Walk in the Light: The Journey of the 10th and 19th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2013) and No Prouder Fate: The Story of the 11th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2009) and the foreword to Confederate General Stephen Elliott: Beaufort Legend, Charleston Hero by D. Michael Thomas (2020).
BTW: Having Cassandra aboard to bounce ideas off and collaborate with me has expanded our programming scope this fiscal year. Stay tuned. There's more to come before June 30th.
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