As per usual, most notices about events or schedule changes in the past at the time of this entry have been selectively edited or deleted. I decided to begin with the most recent posts of Facebook this time.-- gmc
26 August - "Women's Equality Day" and "National Dog Day" AM - Today we celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution on August 26, 1920 and Women's Equality Day - though it is important to note that even with passage of the 19th Amendment some women in the United States were still unable to lawfully cast ballots. Abbie Holmes Christensen was the most prominent of local advocates for the right of women to cast ballots and to have their ballots counted. We have a vertical file of clippings on the topic of suffrage in the Research Room - though as one might suspect South Carolinians of the day were not particularly known for their support of extending the franchise to women. We have multiple copies of Monica Tetzlaff's biography of AHC to share through the Local History sections. The National Archives has more information about this critical document in the history of the United States posted online. PM -- On this "National Dog Day" and given the heat of this summer, I think that Rover has the right idea: I'd rather be hanging out on my porch, too. (This image is part of the Library's Donner Digital Collection hosted by the Lowcountry Digital Library.)
25 August - Today's "Uniquely BDC Materials Monday" highlights our holdings of the short-lived hyper-local newspaper, the Bluffton Eccentric. We have most - but not all - of the issues. And don't forget, there's only two weeks to the "History of Bluffton" with Michael Reynolds at Bluffton Branch Library. A late addition to our Fall 2025 local history schedule is the opening lecture for the "Historically Speaking" series we do with the Beaufort County Historical Society. Leah Roche will present "History on a Stick" about the historic markers along our streets and highways on Thursday, September 25 at Beaufort Branch Library.
23 August - New Deal Art in South Carolina: Government-Supported Images from the Great Depression is a catalog of an exhibit that ran at the South Carolina State Museum June 16 - October 14, 1990. What I found most interesting are the references to the Beaufort Fine Arts Association and its art gallery space called the Beaufort Civic Arts Center that was in the Beaufort Township Library's basement. Funding came from the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The catalog contains citations of Beaufort Gazette articles about the local art scene. Beaufort related images included in the catalog are John "Tuscarora Jack" Barnwell, and photographs taken of the area by Walker Evans and Marion Post Wolcott. You have several options available for accessing this item. You can read it in the Research Room or you can download a copy from the State Library's digital library or borrow a copy through the SCLENDS consortium
22 August - Please pencil this upcoming program into your calendars: Barney Forsythe, PhD and Raul Galvan, PhD will provide some background information on the whys behind the construction of local landmark Fort Fremont on September 22. We recently posted a guide to library materials and other information about Fort Fremont in our BDCBCL: Links, Lists and Finding Aids blog on WordPress to guide your research.
21 August - One of the joys of being a librarian is looking at statistics (not). In July, 225 Local History items got checked out from the branch libraries and bookmobile. Customers of Hilton Head Branch were way in the lead with 77 check-outs; Beaufort had 42; Hilton Head Branch and Port Royal Branch tied with 34 check-outs each. Be sure to drop by the Branch Libraries to see all the stock that the BDC shares through the local history sections.
20 August - "Black History Note:" Sam Doyle (1906 - 1985) was a folk artist from St. Helena Island. He used cast-off materials at hand, like house paint, softened plywood and roofing tin, to paint his colorful and vibrant vision of Gullah life on the sea islands. The greater folk art world discovered his work in 1982. Let's honor him and his art during this "American Artist Appreciation Month."
19 August - It's World Photography Day when we celebrate the art, craft, science and history of photography. Here are some ways to honor the day:
1) The BDC has 5 photographic collections posted online through the good services of the Lowcountry Digital Library.
2) Book recommendation: Partners with the Sun by Harvey Teal discusses the history of photography in SC. The BDC has a copy but there are a few copies that can be borrowed via SCLENDS.
3) Peruse the 770s at your local public library for other books about photography.
4) Check out our coffee-table book recommendations.
5) Make a photo that shows your world today and share it with others.
17 August - No "specials" this week in terms of local history programs. But Cassandra offered some advice on how to protect your personal collections in "Beating Heat and Humidity" that you may find helpful.
16 August - Even though the Library's Summer Reading Program has come and gone for 2025, you still have some time to participate in the AHA 2025 Reading Challenge. I offered some suggestions in a Connections post earlier this summer to help you out.
15 August - On August 10 I posted to Connections what may well have been the BDC's first annual report - mostly for myself as I often just see what hasn't gotten done rather than all that has been done but also for transparency. It's sometimes good to step back and look at the forest. IMNSHO Fiscal Year 2025 was a good one. I am proud of the quality and quantity of the work done by the BDC staff, docent cadre, and our honorary staff person Valerie Lesesne of the Library's Technical Services unit (i.e., the BDC crew) and the depth of the public support we get from you for our efforts to acquire, preserve and share Beaufort District’s long and storied history through a variety of formats, platforms, and ways. Thank you.
14 August - Read how Beaufort celebrated the end of World War II 80 years ago today in this clipping from the Beaufort Gazette (which was the only newspaper published in Beaufort County at the time). The Japanese military forces accepted defeat on August 14, 1945. Officials announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies on August 15, 1945. This notice appeared in the Beaufort Gazette issue of August 17. The official signing of surrender took place on September 2, 1945, officially ending World War II.
13 August - "Black History Note Wednesday:" Leigh Richmond Miner was an artist, photographer, and Director of Applied Art at the Hampton Institute who took some evocative photographs of St. Helena Island circa 1900. Rossa B. Cooley used his images to help fund-raise for Penn School. The glass plate negatives were discovered many years later on the campus, preserved, and published as "Face of An Island" in 1970. The BDC has several copies of the title to insure that one will always be available in the future. You can borrow Face of An Island from one of the Local History sections too.
11 August - "Uniquely BDC: Materials Monday" - It's "Play in the Sand Day" - and this activity just so happened to get the highest number of votes in our most recent poll. It's many a person's favorite summertime activity. This is one of the more than 350 postcards in the Library's Arnsberger Postcard Digital Collection.
10 August - Though we have no "specials" this week, I thought that I'd share Sydney's latest selection for the BDC's registration station. Poet, Clover Club member and local resident Elizabeth Bannister Dowling composed "August in Beaufort" in commemoration of South Carolina's Tricentennial anniversary in 1970.
Dear winter residents, and moved Marines,Who have not summered Beaufort's summers through,To whom our eighth imperial month is new,Here's what you'd find, in gluey dog-day scenes:The dogwood blossoms -- gone; firedogs, firescreens,Atticed, or basemented; a kind of dewStuck to our hands, and heads; the zinnias, trueLast heroes, withering, and all gray their greens.But, you'd find more: an informality,Warm, heat-engendered, sweeter than other times;A shimmering laziness, a brave espritRebounding from the haze, and laced with limes,And, most of all, that famous, craved Cool SpellIn August -- lovelier than a Bay Point shell!
Included in A Patchwork of Poems by Edith Bannister Dowling, p. 31.
9 August - Book lovers, bookworms, and bibliophiles celebrate National Book Lovers Day today. What are you reading? [Answers included: Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon; Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in Eighteenth Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry by Philip D. Morgan; Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis; Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch [This one is a series with lots and lots of installments]; Theo of Golden by Allen Levi; Party of Liars: A Novel by Kelsey Cox [This one I expected to be non-fiction about either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party but ...] ; and The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert J. Waldinger and Marc S. Schultz. Only one title related to local history, but that's okay. At least folks are reading books.]
8 August - AM - "Finding Aid Friday:" The BDC has archival collections from all sorts of organizations, including some dedicated to the arts. The Beaufort Art Association was established in 1957 to promote and support the visual arts and local artists. In 2019 the association donated their archives to the Library. Let the Finding Aid be your guide to determine whether or not you'd like to set up an appointment to review the collection's contents: bdc@bcgov.net; 843-255-6468. PM - Pencil this BDC local history program at Bluffton Branch with Michael Reynolds about the history of Bluffton into your calendars for next month.
7 August - We're celebrating National Lighthouse Day this afternoon.
5 August - How the BDC cooperated with Summer Reading Program 2025 in June and July: I started off being somewhat discouraged by the theme "Color Our World" but Sydney decided that the display would be "'Color Our World' with History" which started us on the path to make our contribution fuller than I originally expected:
- The BDC held two "color" themed local history programs: one about the true-blue friendship of James Monroe and General Lafayette on July 2nd and colorful local public art projects on July 28th. Attendance was a bit above what we expected from a summertime local history program.
- Staff researched and wrote 9 Connections articles about "colorful" topics and formats in the Research Room - some of which were linked to Facebook posts.
- I uploaded 32 "color" related posts on Facebook.
- Cassandra researched and wrote a Finding Aid for the "Cows on Vacation" photographic prints.
4 August - "Uniquely BDC: Materials Monday" features the book that Ted Panayotoff wrote. The Beaufort County Library system has all 9 copies of Up Here: The Hunting Island Lighthouse and Lightkeepers within the SCLENDS consortium of 20 county libraries and the State Library that have agreed to share resources and circulating materials.
3 August - The week in the BDC, we have two "specials" [both of which have now passed].
2 August - It's National Coloring Book Day - and the BDC has some! We just don't let you color in them.
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