Programs Update

As you are aware, Winter Storm Enzo did a number on our January program schedule. We have new dates for "A Song for Betty" with Tendaji Bailey and for "Beyond Robert Smalls" with Chris Barr. Plus we have a few additions to our roster to share. 

Now set for February 25, 2025: A Song for Betty with Tendaji Bailey 

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”.

As of this writing, these local history programs are still on go: Setting Sail: Your Map to Online Library Resources; Shrimp Tales Author Book Talk; Eliza Lucas Pinckney's Revolutionary War; the Library programs related to the Lafayette Bicentennial; Dr. Burnett's talk about how Beaufort's ecology influenced the American Revolution; and Dr. Dirt. 

A New Date for "Historically Speaking" 6.4B: "Beyond Robert Smalls" with Chris Barr: 

Beyond Robert Smalls: The Untold Stories of the Freedom Seekers on the Planter with Chris Barr

The earliest date that the speaker, BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society and Bluffton Branch Library could accommodate for the reprise about the people who were on the Planter with Robert Smalls is April 10, 1025 at 11 AM. On board that steamer on May 13, 1862 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. 

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.

The Final Additions 

As a very special, special treat, Chris Barr has agreed to do this presentation at Beaufort Branch on the anniversary of that momentous undertaking. BDC staff will be happy to see you in attendance at either  Bluffton Branch or Beaufort Branch - or both. Ranger Barr does have a way of adjusting the content each time a bit. You're sure to hear something new both outings.  

"Beyond Robert Smalls: The Untold Stories of the Freedom Seekers on the Planter" with NPS Chief of Interpretation Chris Barr | "Historically Speaking" series 6.4C | Monday, May 12, 2025 | Beaufort Branch, 311 Scott Street | 11 AM | First come, first seated. Door opens at 10:30 AM

We are pleased to add a local history program about the history of Parris Island with the Parris Island Museum's Steve Price and an Author Book Talk with Annelore Harrell into our schedule for May. Expect more details later.

The BDC has far exceeded its performance targets re: programs and community events for Fiscal Year 2025 which runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. It is beyond our organizational capacity to host any more local history programs or community outreach than are currently scheduled. We are, however, quite open to talk about programs and community outreach events for the period, July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026. Contact us to discuss: 843-255-6468 ; bdc@bcgov.net.