Two Local History Programs This Week

In addition to our usual duties and responsibilities inside the Research Room, we co-host two local history programs this week. The one by Ranger Rachel Dunn on Tuesday covers the history of South Carolina's most visited State Park with our friends at the Beaufort History Museum.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 - "The History of Hunting Island" with Ranger Rachel Dunn |BDC@ St. Helena Branch, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road | Co-sponsored by the Beaufort History Museum | 2 PM. 

For the past three years, Rachel Dunn has been the Interpretive Ranger at Hunting Island State Park, where she studies the natural and historical resources of the Lowcountry to create programs for residents and visitors to Beaufort County. She has a degree in Plant Biology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, is a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association for Interpretation, and most recently became a Lowcountry Master Naturalist in 2023.

On Saturday, March 14, we'll be going south of the Broad at 2 to co-host archaeologist John Fisher who will discuss a 1930s archaeological expedition in Beaufort County. We are pleased to be offering this session in cooperation with our friends of the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Saturday, March 14, 2026 - "The Ritter and Moorehead 1930s Expedition to Beaufort: Shell Rings and Midden Sites" with archaeologist John Fisher |BDC@ Hilton Head Island Branch, 11 Beach City Road | Co-sponsored by the Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina | 2 PM. 

Mr. Fisher is a Registered Professional Archaeologist who received his B.A. from the University of South Carolina (2013) and his M.A. in The Archaeology of the Arab and Islamic World from University College London (2017) after having served in the U.S. Army. While earning his M.A., he worked on sites from late antiquity and the early Islamic periods in several countries throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Additionally, he has directed and participated in digs across the southeastern USA ranging from the precontact period to the recent historic, with a special interest in conflict archaeology. He is currently the Curator of Archaeology for the Charleston Museum and serves as the director of the Lost Fort of Castle Pinckney Project, alongside Giles Dawkes of UCL, and at the Saint James Parish Church in Goose Creek, South Carolina. He is currently the President of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

We invite you to join us for one or both free local history programs.