April is another busy programming month for the BDC. We are participating again in the system's festivities for National Library Week. The American Library Association choose a theme which we can use quite nicely this year.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025: Outreach Day - While this isn't a program per se, it does impact our schedule - and perhaps will extend our impact at the County level. Representatives from each unit of the Library will reach out to a different County department to share information about what we have or do that can help with what they have or do. Most of the units are going to the other departments under our Assistant County Administrator Audra Antonacci-Ogden. I asked for BDC staff to go to BCTV as we had done a series of short local history videos with its predecessor, the County Channel in 2012 that are still running on YouTube today.
Beaufort County Moments segments include topics such as Gullah food, pirates, shifting County boundaries through time, the nationally renowned but long gone Gold Eagle Tavern, and Kirk's Bluff among others. Presenters include Dr. Larry Rowland, Dr. Emory Campbell, Natalie Hefter, Dennis Adams and me.
Perhaps there are collaborations in our respective futures (?).
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 - "Drawn to the Library: An Artistic Treasures BDC Behind-the-Scenes Tour" with BDC Staff in the BDC Research Room | 311 Scott Street, 2nd Floor | 5:30 - 6:30 PM | Space is limited; Registration Required: 843-255-6468; bdc@bcgov.net | Registration opens March 26, 2025 | Closed when capacity is reached.
We piloted part of this tour during a new staff orientation in March. We highlighted the cartographic resources, some mid-19th illustrated newspaper prints; some original sketches; and a few posters and selections from our archival holdings for them. The point is this: if you came to last year's BTS, odds are highly in your favor that you'll see some different materials highlighted on the tour this year. Registration is now open and will remain open to 4 PM on April 9th or until full - whichever so happens to come first. Please register as we will only take up to 15 people on this tour: 843-255-6468;
bdc@bcgov.net.
Winter Storm Enzo forced the postponement of the reprise of a program at Bluffton Branch about the people on the Planter with Robert Smalls in 1862. Juggling the schedules of the speaker, the Beaufort County Historical Society, the BDC, and the meeting room schedules at Bluffton left us - fortuitously - with a date during National Library Week.
Thursday, April 10, 2025 -- "Historically Speaking" 6.4B: "Beyond Robert Smalls: The Untold Stories of the Freedom Seekers on the Planter" with Chris Barr, NPS Chief of Interpretation | Bluffton Branch, 120 Palmetto Way | 11 AM - 12:15 PM | First come; first seated
Program Description: On board that steamer on May 12, 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.
Speaker Biography: 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.
We end the month with another installment in our ongoing series about the Revolutionary War as we get ever closer to the big celebration day, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Program Description: Dr. Burnett will discuss war strategies utilized by both American patriots and British soldiers through an integration of philosophy and cartography. He will begin with a general overview of the geology and topography of the Eastern Seaboard which influenced the outcome of many battles. From there he will narrow his lecture to South Carolina and highlight battles in Beaufort District. You will hear about the Swamp Fox, the Gamecock, and the Wizard Owl and how each used knowledge of their native terrain to defeat the British. Come learn the “real story” about why the South Carolina state flag features a palmetto tree. Space is limited. First come, first seated; Doors open at 1:30 PM for seating.
Speaker Biography: Thomas L. Burnett, Jr., PhD received his B.S.in Geology and Biology and then his M.S. in Geology and Oceanography from the University of South Carolina. He Received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M in Geology and Oceanography. His long career included work in universities in South Carolina and California and in private business with Getty Oil and Texaco.
Sydney, Cassandra and I hope to see you at one (or more) of these local history related educational opportunities.
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