We have three local history programs scheduled for May. We hope that you'll be able to join us at one or more of our them in May.
On Thursday, May 14 at 11:00 AM in the Beaufort Branch Library Meeting Room, NPS Historian Eric J. Ellis will lead a thought-provoking program on Reconstruction-era politics entitled A Party Divided: Political Divisions of the Beaufort Republican Party During Reconstruction. During the beginning of the Reconstruction period in Beaufort, SC, a division in the Republican party grew. This political division pitted William C. Morrison and Robert Smalls, heroes of the Planter, against each other. This division in the Republican party was heated and even violent at times and involved some big names in Beaufort history. Hear how this division began, how it played out, and how it impacted the Republican Party of Beaufort’s Reconstruction period at "A Party Divided: Political Divisions of the Beaufort Republican Party During Reconstruction."
Originally from Jacksonville, Eric joined the US Navy after high school serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. After the Navy, Eric attended school at New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Eric earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and his Master of Arts in Public History and 19th c. US History. After graduation Eric took a position with New Mexico Historic Sites as an Interpretive Ranger. In 2023, Eric accepted a position as a historian for the National Park Service at the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. In his time with the Park Service, Eric focused his research on Black Landownership during the Reconstruction period and completed research on a variety of topics on the Reconstruction period for the park and park partners.
This program is part of the "Historically Speaking" local history series brought to you by the Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort County Historical Society.
At 2:00 PM on May 19th at the St. Helena Branch Library, please join us for Dr. Randy James' fascinating program on Cochineal.
You may be wondering, "What is Cochineal?" The answer is not a simple one!
Dr. Randy James, AKA Dr. Dirt, will share the fascinating yet forgotten history of a colonial industry: the harvesting of Cochineal insects on Hunting Island. But why would anyone want to grow bugs? Come join us to find out!
Dr. James has a PhD in soils and is a Professor Emeritus with the Ohio State University, College of Food, Agriculture & Environmental Sciences. He has lived in Beaufort for over 15 years, doing a lot of volunteer work in the community, and is endlessly fascinated with our dirt.
This program is co-sponsored by the Beaufort History Museum. Doors open at 1:30 PM.
How many of us know that Europeans were in Beaufort almost a century before the Pilgrims first ate turkey at Plymouth Rock? Dr. David Moore will give a presentation diving into this little-known history on Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 11:00am at the Coastal Discovery Museum (70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head, SC 29926). This program is co-sponsored by the Beaufort County Historical Society.
“Santa Elena” (Saint Helena) was on European charts as a strategically important geographic point from 1526 and became Spain’s premier North American colony 1566-1587. Spanish “La Florida” encompassed all lands from modern Maine thru New Mexico. From Santa Elena, Florida’s capital until 1576, expeditions and religious missions ranged as far north as the Chesapeake Bay, as far south as Key West…and as far west as Tennessee. Captain Juan Pardo was tasked with establishing a highway connecting Parris Island to the silver mines in northern Mexico. Fort San Juan, just outside today’s Morganton, NC, was one of the multiple outposts Captain Pardo established during two expeditions of the interior from 1566 to 1568. Archaeology revealed, and artifacts recovered from the “Berry Site” (as Fort San Juan is now known), are direct reflections of Beaufort’s 16th Century history.
Dr. David Moore has worked at the Berry site near Morganton, North Carolina for 25 years and currently directs the summer field school. He has directed major excavations at numerous sites in North Carolina including Hardaway, Warren Wilson, and Berry. His work in the upper Catawba Valley began in 1986 with excavations at the Berry site as part of his dissertation research. He is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Warren Wilson College.
Reminder: The Beaufort County Library System will be closed on April 21st for Staff Development Day.
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