I'm going to try a different format today for this re-cap of the Facebook posts I've made over the past 6 weeks. I will again omit some past program announcements. You can let me know if you prefer this oldest to newest chronological format to my usual categorized re-cap: bdc@bcgov.net ; 843-255-6468.
18 February - A Blast from the Past: Cassandra recently came across these Island Packet newspaper clippings about the Hilton Head Branch Library in an archival collection she's working on. We liked it, and thought that you might, too.
19 February - "Black History Note" - Autobiographies & Memoirs : Memoirs of the Prodigal Son : The Road to Redemption : Fifteen Years in Prison and Beyond by Rev. [and attorney] John C. Dortch is "An inspirational saga of one man's spiritual odyssey... An epic tale of his Christian upbringing, his fall from grace, his quest for redemption and ultimately his spiritual resurrection. A powerful message of hope and triumph through obedient faith in the word of God." No other SCLENDS library make this title available. We have a copies in the BDC and local history sections at the branch libraries.
21 February - "Finding Aids Friday" in Black History Month: Delores Brazel Nevils relocated to South Carolina in 1977 where she became a contributor to the local newspaper, joined the Penn Club, and helped incorporate the Gullah Festival in 1987, one of the premiere festivals that celebrates the many contributions of the Gullah/Geechee people in American culture. We will be happy to show you the collection: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468.
22 February - Because February is "Library Lovers Month" we suggest that you show your love for the Beaufort County Library by learning a bit about its history. How we got to where we are today is an interesting tale.
24 February - "Uniquely BDC: Materials Monday" in Black History Month - Autobiographies & Memoirs: Eva Smalls Segar has plenty of Songs to Sing, Stories to Tell about growing up Gullah on a small farm in Northern Beaufort County during the 20th century. She graduated Robert Smalls High School and spent 40+ years working as a nurse, more than 30 of those years were at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.
25 February - We'll be heading over to St. Helena Branch shortly to set up for Tendaji's program later today. This will be the first partially sung program that the BDC has ever done. I'm excited to try something a bit new so late in my career. Trying different ways of doing things helps keep the creative juices flowing, you know? And Cassandra and I are already sketching out what topics we'd like to offer July 2025 - June 2026 and what new program formats we'd like to explore.
28 February - "Finding Aids Friday" (AM) in Black History Month: Former Beaufort County Library Assistant Director Hillary S. Barnwell researched topics relating to African-American history, family history, Robert Smalls, and the Confederate flag issue.
Series 2 contains genealogical material relating to the Barnwell and Glover families; Series 3 contains some of her historical research papers. Of particular note in Series 4 are unpublished “Black Beaufort: Three Women of Color Walk Old Beaufort, South Carolina” by Hillary S. Barnwell, Barbara Carter and Claudette Humphrey. Book Proposal and Correspondence, 2002; “African American Places of Interest in Beaufort, South Carolina,” 1997; and “Vignettes of African American History,” 1997.
(PM) If you didn't come to the BDC Reading Room to see the Gullah Geechee display for "Black History Month," you can read about its contents in the BDC's Connections blog.
1 March - Monthly Overview
2 March - The BDC and Beaufort Branch library kick off our contributions to the Lafayette 200 festivities this week. Kathleen McTeer and her staff host a Flag Making event for the kids on Thursday. We are grateful for their hearty support. Grace and Cassandra are meeting with folks from the SC Newspaper project to discuss details for a long-awaited collaboration. Otherwise, we're going to be in the office doing our fundamental duties of direct customer service, collections care, planning future programs, and demonstrating our productivity and perseverance and passion for our purpose.
3 March - "Uniquely BDC: Materials Monday:" in Women's History Month (AM) - “Missionary Teachers to the Freedmen” is a bibliography produced by the BDC about the Port Royal Experiment, a bold Federal government – private humanitarian initiative to provide necessary support, education, and medical care to the enslaved people of the Port Royal area beginning in early 1862. Teachers were a vital component of the initiative - and many of those were women.
(PM) It's officially E-Book Week. We provide a lot of e-books through the Hoopla service. Alyssa Krob, Digital Resources Librarian, compiled a list of Local History titles related to the Beaufort District for you.
4 March - Here comes the Robert Smalls High School Band, the Tidal Wave Band, and the USMC Parris Island Band on "Marching Band Day." All these images are from the Lucille Hasell Culp digital Collection.
5 March - "Black History Note" in Women's History Month: Charlotte Forten was one of the female teachers during the Port Royal Experiment . Her health forced her to return to North after a few months but she kept a useful journal of her time on the Sea Islands. Her journal has been published in several forms. It is listed in the bibliography about her in the BDCBCL: Links, Lists and Finding Aids blog.
7 March - S.C. American Revolution Trust has launched the Revolutionary War Markers Project map! This interactive resource allows you to explore the locations and stories of more than 185 historical markers related to the American Revolution across the state. There are plenty in the Beaufort District to visit.
9 March - This will be a busy week in the Research Room. On Wednesday afternoon, we are co-sponsoring the adult crafts sessions "Waiting for Lafayette" while at the same time, the kids will be enjoying Toys and Games from 1825. Both are part of the Library's contributions to the community celebration of Lafayette 200 in collaboration with the Historic Beaufort Foundation and a host of other local organizations. Registration is required: 843-255-6441. The following day we're hosting an orientation to the BDC for Library staff. (You'll get your chance during National Library Week.)
Local author and columnist Ryan Copeland takes you through his - and his late father's - experiences with everything from pulling a hearse out in front of oncoming traffic to riding along unwillingly to the scene of a death investigation. If you ever wondered why there are so few people who do this for a living, check out the book that shows one unique perspective from a Beaufort native.
11 March - Sydney switched out the contents of the display case to highlight our resources about the "Most Famous Man in America in 1825." See and read all about it in Connections.
12 March - (AM) We've got a big day today... while we're waiting for the Marquis de Lafayette to arrive in town!
The BDC has a copy of the microfilm series of Penn School Records to share with our customers. Though the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has digitized some of the Penn School archives, not all of 15,000+ items are online and/or on the microfilm. We have a guide to what we make available inside our Research Room. Just reach out and we'll send you a copy of the document: bdc@bcgov.net ; 843-255-6468. It may be that we can save you a trip to Chapel Hill.
14 March - Just posted in honor of National Quilting Month and in appreciation for the Guild's help with one of our "Waiting for Lafayette" programs on Wednesday: Cassandra finished processing and writing the Finding Aid to the records of the Sea Island Quilters Guild.
17 March - "Uniquely BDC (and Irish): Materials Monday" for St. Patrick's Day 2025 - One of the two books that we have from the Beaufort College Library of 1861 is Curran and His Contemporaries (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851).
Curran’s speeches before the judicial bench were widely admired. Lord Byron said of Curran, "I have heard that man speak more poetry than I have seen written". Karl Marx described him as the greatest "people's advocate" of the eighteenth century. His occasional tendency of challenging people to duels (he fought five in all) rather than compromise his values, along with his skillful oratory, quick wit and his championing of popular Irish causes such as Catholic Emancipation and the enlargement of the franchise, made him one of the most popular lawyers in Ireland.
He also could speak Irish, still the language of the majority of the native born population at that time. He wrote a large amount of humorous and romantic poetry.
Our copy was returned to the Beaufort Township Library in 1944 by Mary Fuller Hull. How she got it remains unknown. Hathitrust Digital Library has a copy as well.
18 March - Today's the day we celebrate a momentous "Red Letter" Local History Day! Drop by our booth at the Scott's Street Fair after the procession. We'll be there from Noon to 3 PM.
19 March - (AM) Though General Lafayette (2025th edition) has come and gone, his legacy - and discussions about what really happened that night 200 years ago - live on. I wrote a Connections post to provide some historical context for the relationship between President Monroe and General Lafayette - to explain just how the General was invited to visit the United States in 1824 and why he came by Beaufort in 1825.
20 March - A tremendous "thank you" to the Library staff and presenters who helped the BDC contribute to the "Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration" on Tuesday. It was a true community event led by the indomitable Lise Sundria who just kept on keeping on through months of planning and challenges. Read my "Final Thoughts about Lafayette 200" in Connections.
21 March - Finding Aid Friday: Cassandra was able to process the records of a small local women's club rather quickly because: The Sage Society Records is a small collection of textual documents on paper made during a small time frame that came in very organized. If only all donated archival collections were as "tidy" upon arrival - which I will admit is an archivist's enduring pipe dream.
22 March - If you enjoyed Mark Schneider as Lafayette on Tuesday, then our next local history program is for you! Eliza Lucas Pinckney, portrayed as a time traveler from the 18th century by experienced historical interpreter and author Peggy Pickett, gives modern audiences her view of the American Revolution as a woman and the mother of two Continental Army officers. One of those sons, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, left his plantation on Pinckney Island in her care while he was away helping secure our country's for independence from Great Britain.
24 March - Rachel Crane Mather was an educator, missionary, and humanitarian. Her Mather School for Girls educated black female students for a century. The Technical College of the Lowcountry has occupied the site since 1968. We have a bibliography of websites, books and other materials about her online in our WordPress blog.
26 March - (AM) Registration opens today for the 2025 BDC Behind-the-Scenes Tour. We'll showcase some of our artistic treasures in our closed stacks on Wed., April 9th from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. Teens and adults over the age of 12 can sign up for one of the 15 slots available: 843-255-6468; bdc@bcgov.net
(PM) "Black History Note: Women's History Month" - The History of the Palmetto Education Association by John F. Potts, Sr. (1975) preserves the record of South Carolina's professional organization of Black teachers from 1900 to its merger into the South Carolina Education Association in 1968. In 1922 the mission of the organization was "to: 1) improve its members in the science and art of teaching; 2)dignify and promote the public interest in the cause of education; and 3) elevate the standards of the teaching profession and improve the Negro race educationally." In 1954, the first woman to be elected president was Dr. Madge Perry Parker of Orangeburg. Under her leadership, the association grew to have 93% of Black teachers working in South Carolina as members. Many of the SCLENDS libraries have a copy of this title.
27 March - Two of the Best State Documents of 2024 are about Beaufort County historic sites:
1) Fort Frederick: A SCDNR Heritage Preserve and the World It Changed* is a digital and physical booklet for children created by staff at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Heritage Trust Program, and 2) Skull Creek Chronicles is a story map about Green's Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve on Hilton Head Island. Congratulations Heritage Trust, Meg and Reese and Nick Linville.
29 March - 101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina is a collection of thumbnail descriptions about women who made a significant impact from the South Carolina Encyclopedia. The collection is organized chronologically by time period, with women associated with each period included in that section. Women with ties to Beaufort District include: Eliza Lucas Pinckney; the Grimke sisters; the Rollin sisters; the Pollitzer sisters; Valerie Sayers; Esther Hill Hawkes; Susie King Taylor; Abbie Mandana Holmes Christensen; Mary Gordon Ellis; and Harriet Keyserling. The volume is edited by Dr. Valinda Littlefield.
30 March - There is absolutely nothing planned outside-of-the-house in the BDC this week - which is no bad thing. Sydney will be taking care of our customers; Cassi will work with the archives and volunteers; I'll be playing catch-up and prep-up with past and future tasks and projects. There's still time for you to register for the exclusive National Library Week tour of BDC operations on April 9th: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468
31 March - "Uniquely BDC: Materials Monday" The Lucille Hasell Culp Collection contains many photographic treasures, including this one of Eleanor I. Anderson, the 10th administrator of the Mather School in taken in 1956.
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