What to Expect during July 2026

Monthly Overview for July : The BDC remains focused on all things American Revolution. Most folks do not know that the SC250 Committee and the local committees are funded through 2033 to mark the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. So continue to expect references to the Revolutionary War era going forward after the big birthday party on July 4th.

The most important news: We have extended the deadline to complete the Library Quest and Historic Marker Challenge until the 31st of July - with this notable exception - ONLY those who return the 15-item game sheet on or before tomorrow July 2nd will be entered into the grand prize drawing for the Mills map.

The Summer Reading Program this year is all about "Unearthing a Story" - which we interpret as highlighting the BDC's archaeology related resources - and whenever possible to archaeology related resources about the American Revolution within our holdings. Sydney's been researching what we have about archaeology in our local area for a post here in Connections later this month.

We have one local history program scheduled : Dr. Raymond will be at Beaufort Branch on Tuesday, July 7 to discuss "Travel Narratives about the Gullah-Geechee in Beaufort County" for us.

The Research Room will be short-handed for much of July as staff rotate vacation times.

Don't forget: The Library will be closed on July 3 and July 4 for the 250th July 4th celebration! Library staff, including the BDC staff, will resume regular schedules on Monday, July 6.

Happy 250th Birthday, America. Though this quote by Benjamin Franklin refers to the passage of the Constitution in 1787, perhaps it is very timely today too: When a woman asked him if the newly formed United States was a monarchy or a republic, his tart reply was: "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."

What to Expect in October 2024

October is always one of the busiest months of the year in the BDC. We celebrate Archives Month, Archaeology Month, Family History Month, Gullah Geechee Heritage Month and half of Hispanic Heritage Month in the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar. Expect to see social media posts about each of these topics. 

We have a lot of "stuff" to do: a mandatory County training; 2 community outreach efforts; 4 local history programs; and the semi-annual Library Staff Training Day on October 14th. In addition to our regular duties and working with Research Room customers, we're still trying to find the right person to join the BDC team by reviewing applications and setting up interviews.

Programs on our schedule: 

October 5 - "What the HECK Is It?: Artifact identification" at Hilton Head Branch Library with the Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina

October 10 - Past & Present: BCL's Digital Collections - Our first program at the new Port Royal Branch Library 

October 15 - "History of the BJWSA" session #1 with Tricia Kilgore; BHM/BCL Local History series Season 8.1A at St. Helena Branch Library

October 22 - "History of the BJWSA" session #2 with Tricia Kilgore; BHM/BCL Local History series Season 8.1B at Bluffton Branch Library

As of this writing, Research Room closures related to these efforts will occur on Thursday, October 3rd, Monday, October 14th, Tuesday, October 15th and Tuesday, October 22nd. But other unexpected closures can occur due to inclement weather (we're still in Hurricane Season) and staff shortage. 

BDC Breaking News : ASSC, HH and the BDC Team Up to Bring Archaeology Programs to Hilton Head Branch Library

Here's a re-cap of the Grace.Note I sent out last week. 

The Beaufort District Collection and the Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina are teaming up to bring 3 archaeology related programs to the Hilton Head Branch Library this Fall.

FORD’S SHELL RING PROJECT

Archaeologist Jeff Sherard will share information about the work he has done at Ford’s Shell Ring in Beaufort County. As you will discover, the Ford’s Shell Ring has some unique features that are fascinating. The Shell Ring is a passive park project done jointly by the County and Hilton Head Township, and the Hilton Head Chapter, ASSC has been involved in the project from the beginning. 

“Ford’s Shell Ring Project” with Jeff Sherard | Saturday, September 14, 2024 | 2 PM | BDC/ Hilton Head Chapter, ASSC | Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | Doors open for seating at 1:30 PM

WHAT THE HECK IS IT?

Okay, guys and gals, I will admit that I just love these free artifact identification sessions! Over the years folks have brought in a full range of artifacts – prehistoric, historic, projectile points, ceramic sherds, Civil War crypto devices, African dolls, 1st century lamps, etc. – to name a few. Look around the house and bring in that thing you wonder what the heck it is. 

We’ll have some of South Carolina’s finest professional archeologists on hand to analyze, identify and date your artifacts. I will be so happy to see State Archaeologist Dr. Jon Leader and Brockington & Associates archaeologists Jeff Sherard – and maybe Dr. Eric Poplin – and you, of course -- on October 5^th at the Hilton Head Branch Library.

Note Well: Do not bring any weapons (guns, swords, daggers, etc.) to be examined. It is the policy of the Beaufort County Library not to allow any weapons in the libraries. No monetary valuations will be provided.

"What the HECK Is It?: Artifact Identification" with State Archaeologist Dr. Jon Leader, Dr. Eric Poplin, and Jeff Sherard | Saturday, October 5, 2024 | 2 PM | BDC/ Hilton Head Chapter, ASSC | Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | Doors open for seating at 1:30 PM

EXPLORING THE HISTORY AT YOUR DOORSTEP

Nick Linville is not an archaeologist but he works closely with them by doing historical research necessary to inform archaeological digs. In fact Nick will share the captivating stories he has uncovered through his years of research into three cultural preserves in the area: South Bluff Heritage Preserve on Coosaw Island, Altamaha Towne in Okatee, and Green’s Shell Enclosure on Hilton Head Island. From Native American archaeological sites to historic colonial plantations, enslaved quarters, and freedman homesteads, this presentation explores the deep layers of the past that are right here in Beaufort County. 

"Exploring the History at Your Doorstep" with Nick Linville | Friday, November 22, 2024 |            1 PM | BDC / Hilton Head Chapter, ASSC | Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | Doors open for seating at 12:30 PM

I remain a relict – but not a relic quite yet, Grace

Underwater Archaeology Topic of "Historically Speaking" Lecture

 It's been awhile since Dr. James Spirek, the underwater archaeologist at SCIAA has visited us to speak about his work. The Beaufort County Historical Society, the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina, and the BDC are delighted that he'll be coming down next month to talk about shipwreck explorations in and around Port Royal Sound. 

Over 30 ships from early European colonization to modern times have met their fate on the treacherous shoals fringing the entrance to Port Royal Sound.  These shipwrecks include a French corsair called Le Prince that wrecked while entering the sound after a successful voyage of trading and raiding in the Spanish West Indies in early 1577; HMS Colibri, a British warship that grounded on the shoals after plundering Sea Island plantations during the War of 1812; and the SS William Lawrence, a merchant steamship bound with an assorted cargo to Savannah that wrecked during a winter gale in 1896.  This illustrated presentation will discuss the ongoing efforts by the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology to document these shipwrecks along with other unfortunate casualties of the shoals to advance our knowledge of the maritime archaeological legacy in the waters of South Carolina.

Speaker Biography:

James Spirek, the State Underwater Archaeologist for South Carolina, works at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.  Employed there since 1996 and holding his current position since 2012, Jim’s responsibilities include managing and studying the maritime archaeological legacy residing in the lakes, rivers, and coastal waters of South Carolina.  Jim has participated in numerous projects documenting a diverse range of sunken prehistoric and historic watercraft, Colonial and Native American sites, Civil War warships and blockade runners, and other underwater archaeological remains in state waters.  Jim received his B.A. in History from George Mason University in 1987 and his M.A. in Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology from East Carolina University in 1993.

"Shoals and Shipwrecks" with underwater archaeologist Jim Spirek | Thursday, May 16, 2024 | 11 AM | BDC/Beaufort County Historical Society "Historically Speaking" series 5.5 | Education Building, First Presbyterian Church, 1201 North Street, Beaufort | Doors open for seating at 10:30 AM

Please note: This lecture will also include the annual business meeting of the Beaufort County Historical Society. All are welcome to attend the free event but only official members of the BCHS will be allowed to vote during the business meeting portion. If the business meeting goes as it has done in the past, that part of the proceedings should take only 10 - 15 minutes. 

We hope that you'll be able to join us for this free lecture. 

"Yamasee Homelands" with Hannah Hoover & "Battle of Beaufort, 1779" with Neil Baxley

We are delighted to have Hannah Hoover share her research about the Yamasee Indians on January 31, 2024 beginning at 2 PM in a BDC@ Beaufort Branch Local History program. We are also delighted that the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina has agreed to co-sponsor her lecture.

Hannah Hoover is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Michigan and holds a research affiliation with the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, she received a BA in Anthropology and Classical Studies from Tulane University in 2018 and an MA from the University of Michigan in 2021. 

Her dissertation research explores community formation in colonial contexts, specifically the emergence of new Tribal Nations amidst the demographic and economic changes of the 17th-century Southeast. 

For the past two years, Hoover has lived in Beaufort while working on her dissertation, tentatively titled “Small-Scale Processes of Native Nation-Building: Archaeological Investigations of early 18^th century Yamasee Towns in the South Carolina Lowcountry.” She has conducted three seasons of archaeological fieldwork at the Yamasee primary town of Pocotaligo, located today on the Mackay Point Plantation, with the assistance of over 50 community and student volunteers, including our own former BDC assistant, Olivia Santos.

Her work has been funded by several granting agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Wenner Gren Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, the Beinecke Scholarship, the Southeastern Archaeology Conference, and the Archaeological Society of South Carolina. 

Colonial surveyors created stunning maps of the natural landscapes of the Carolinas during the 17th and 18th centuries. They also frequently recorded cultural features, including Native American towns, homesteads, mounds, roads, bridges, and fields that dotted the Southeast. The common appearance of such markers on regional maps, property plats, and town memorials affirms that Europeans encountered rich and intricately constructed Native worlds.

The documentary record created by early surveyors and property transactions provide a valuable means for reconstructing Native homelands in the early Carolina colony. When considered alongside archaeology and study of modern place names, we may begin to disentangle local processes of Native erasure and better realize the deep-time connections Indigenous communities continue to hold to their ancestral homelands in South Carolina.

In this presentation, Hoover will focus on Yamasee homelands in the Port Royal Sound of South Carolina. Yamasees were a broadly diverse Native community who settled in the Port Royal Sound in 1685. They formed a strong alliance with the Carolina colony by prominently participating in the regional fur and Indian slave trades. Yamasees are most well known in local and popular history for their 1715 instigation of the Yamasee War against the colony which vastly reconfigured North American geopolitics in its wake. While the causes of war have long been debated, settler encroachment and abasement of Yamasee women and lands certainly played an outsized role in souring their political relationship. Through several case studies, she will explore how some of the earliest settlers of Beaufort County sought out Yamasee homelands in the years after the Yamasee War and ultimately engaged with, erased, and in some cases rewrote Yamasee histories in the process.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 – "Reconstructing and Reconnecting 18th Century Yamasee Homelands in the Port Royal Sound, South Carolina" with Hannah Hoover. | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott, 2 PM. |  No registration process: First come; first seated. Door opens 30 minutes ahead of the program start time. | Co-sponsored by the Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Hoover credits the resources of the Charleston County Register of Deeds office and the Behan Papers here in the Beaufort District Collection and her ongoing collaboration with Dr. Denise Bossy, Associate Professor of History at the University of North Florida for making this presentation possible. 

Don't forget that there's another local history program the very next day! On February 1, 2024, we host Neil Baxley for a reprise of "Battle of Beaufort, 1779" at the Hilton Head Branch Library. His lecture is co-sponsored by the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society, and the Beaufort County 250th Committee. 

Though the British Winter Campaign, 1778-1779 in the Palmetto State had mostly gone in Britain’s favor, South Carolina's first land based engagement between professional British, militia, and Continental forces resulted in a Patriot victory - and it was here in Beaufort County! Come learn about the strategy, tactics and significance of this American Revolution battle fought near the MCAS Air Station 245 years ago.  

A native of North Carolina, Neil Baxley spent 4 years in the Marine Corps before joining the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office more than 40 years ago.  In 2013, Col. Baxley was put in charge of Beaufort County's Emergency Management Division.  In his spare time, he studies and writes history. He's given presentations at the South Carolina Archives and at area museums and libraries. He's authored two Confederate regimental history books, Walk in the Light: The Journey of the 10th and 19th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2013) and No Prouder Fate: The Story of the 11th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2009) and the foreword to Confederate General Stephen Elliott: Beaufort Legend, Charleston Hero by D. Michael Thomas (2020). 

We hope that you will be able to join us for one - or both! programs. 

Program about Shell Middens: Remains Left by the Indians

We're hosting archaeologist Jeff Sherard on Wed., February 20 in a BDC@ Beaufort Branch local history program. Please join us at 2 pm to learn about the remains left behind by the Indians of this area and what those remains can tell us about them. No need to register.

 

Sherard earned his Bachelor's in Anthropology from the University of Alabama. He has conducted fieldwork throughout the southeastern United States and has over 20 years of archaeological field and laboratory experience, including 10 years at Brockington & Associates Cultural Resources Consulting. Sherard supervises the Charleston lab after directing numerous archaeological survey and testing projects and authoring over 200 cultural resources assessment reports, including several mitigation reports. His areas of specialty include the analysis of flaked-stone debitage and tools, daub and prehistoric architecture, and colonoware. In one research project, Sherard completed a morphological study of daub from a Moundville earthlodge to identify unique and varying construction methods.

PS: Debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction and the production of chipped stone tools. This assemblage includes, but is not limited to, different kinds of lithic flakes and lithic blades, shatter and production debris, and production rejects.

BDC Reaches Out with Program and Events

We are getting off to a slower start than usual in 2019. Not to worry, though, because we have 3 community outreach events and 2 library based programs between January 31 and February 28 for you to attend. Some are free while some require advance registration and payment of a fee to our partners. We cover onomatology, African American history, genealogy, archaeology and lots of disasters in these offerings:

Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names with Grace Cordial | Thurs., January 31, 2019 | BDC@ Coastal Discovery Museum, 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island | 3 PM | $ Registration and fee required by CDM https://www.coastaldiscovery.org/event-registration/?ee=12625 The session will be closed when capacity is reached.

Freedmen's Bureau Records with Toni Carrier, Executive Director, Center for Family History, International African American Museum | Sat., February 2, 2019 | BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road | 1 PM - 3 PM. To register for the workshop: https://www.gullahgeecheecorridor.org/calendar/ or telephone: (843) 818-4587 email: info@gullahgeecheecorridor.org


In 2019, BCHS and BHM are celebrating 80 years of preserving history in Beaufort County. The lecture will be held in the Tabernacle Baptist Church with a reception and book sale in the Tabernacle Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. The Beaufort District Collection will project a slideshow of items from its holdings about William J Whipper, Jonathan Jasper Wright, the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort Museum during the reception. 

Professor Burke

 
W. J. Whipper and J. J. Wright: Beaufort's and South Carolina's First Civil Rights Lawyers presented by Prof. W. Lewis Burke in cooperation with the Beaufort County Historical Society, Beaufort History Museum & Tabernacle Baptist Church | Thurs., February 7, 2019 | BDC@ Tabernacle Baptist Church, 901 Craven Street, Beaufort | 6:00 - 7:30 PM | $ Registration is required: https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3119022



Shell Middens of the Lowcountry with Jeff Sherard, Archaeologist, Brockington & Associates | Wed., February 20, 2019 | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, First Floor, 311 Scott Street | 2 PM
First come; first seated; No registration

Hurricanes in Beaufort District's Past with Grace Cordial | Wed., February 27, 2019 | BDC@ Palmetto Bluff Conservancy Classroom, 659 Old Moreland Road, Bluffton | Noon to 1 PM
Free and open to the general public

The Library system will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2019 to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.

Re-Scheduled Programs

The evacuation of the area in light of the approach of Hurricane Florence led to the postponement of two local history programs. Both have been re-scheduled for October.

The first lecture of Season #3 of the Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library's local history series is “Altamaha and the Yamasee Indians” with Dr. Eric Poplin. As before the lecture will be held at Beaufort Branch but the new date is Tuesday, October 9^th. The time remains at 2 PM. Registration opens to the general public on September 25. Everyone must register through this link:  https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3073818. Those with reservations for September 11^th lecture should expect an e-mail from the Beaufort History Museum next week regarding the registration process. Registration closed when full.

You'll have to wait a tad longer for the re-scheduled "Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names." The Bluffton Branch Library's large Meeting Room is heavily booked and between that schedule and what else is going on in the Beaufort District Collection, the earliest mutually agreeable date is Friday, October 26, 2018. Instead of an afternoon session, the talk with begin at 11 AM. Everyone is welcome to this free first-come, first seated local history program.

Heads up: The Beaufort County Library will be closed on Wednesday, October 3rd for Staff Work Day. Regular hours resume on Thursday, October 4, 2018.

Poplin Lectures about the Combahee Ferry River Crossing on Nov. 15th

Archaeology is one of the key themes in our holdings here in the Beaufort District Collection. We try to offer enlightening, illuminating and educational programs and exhibits from time to time on the status of archaeology within the area. This week we have a lecture to supplement the "Combahee Ferry Historic District Exhibit" currently on display in the 2nd floor lobby.

Event Name:  “Archaeology of the Combahee Ferry Historic District"

Short Description of Event: Dr. Eric Poplin of Brockington and Associates discusses the archaeology performed before the Harriet Tubman Bridge spanning the Combahee River was constructed. First come; First Seated (Maximum capacity: 85) Co-Sponsor: ASSC

Time and Date of Event: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 2:00 pm

Location of Event: BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902

Price of Event: Free; Ages 12 - Adults

Anyone who has driven from Beaufort to Charleston on US Hwy 17 has gone across a rich and multi-tiered archaeological site. Learn about the significance of the Combahee River crossing beginning with the Native Americans who camped along its banks, the lost town of Radnor, the daring raid to free the enslaved led by Harriet Tubman and the 2nd US Colored Troops in 1863 up to the time of the new bridge. Come learn about this crucial transportation crossing through time by viewing the exhibit on loan from the SC Department of Transportation and by listening to Dr. Poplin's lecture. Doing so will change how you view your next trip up Highway 17 to Charleston.

Dr. Poplin Returns: Combahee Ferry Historic District Archaeology

One of our very most favorite archaeologists, Dr. Eric Poplin of Brockington and Associates, returns on Wed., November 15, 2017. This time his topic is the archaeology done in advance of the new bridge linking Beaufort and Colleton Counties at the Combahee River. He was the lead archaeologist investigating the uses of the area by Native Americans, colonial settlers, and by both Confederates and Federals during the Civil War. The bridge was named the "Harriet Tubman" bridge in honor of a daring raid up the river that freed an estimated 700 - 800 enslaved people in 1863.

We will have 85 seats available on a first come; first seated basis in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room, 1st floor, 311 Scott Street. We hope that you'll be able to join us.

The exhibit is on display in the 2nd floor lobby just outside the BDC Research Room door, Mondays - Fridays 9 am to 5 pm with the exception of holidays and unexpected closures. Please note: The Library system will be closed on Fri., Nov. 10th and Sat., Nov. 11th for Veterans Day.  

5th Annual What the Heck Is It? Artifact Identification Drop-In

It's time for our annual "What the Heck Is It?" session - my very most favorite BDC program of the year! It's always fun to see what folks have stashed away in their homes - artifactually speaking. Over the past years, we've seen arrowheads, spearpoints, fossils, Cold Charlotte, 1st century lamps, tourist produced pens (thought by the owner to be an Egyptian receptable for poison), a Nazi flag taken during World War II, and even some 20th century concrete  garden statuary from Home Depot. So there's no need to be embarrassed if what you have turns out to be entirely something else. We are honored for the fifth time to have Dr. Eric Poplin, Archaeologist at Brockington & Associates from Mt. Pleasant, SC here to identify your objects.  We are grateful for the continued support of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina for this program.

Anyone owning an artifact with an unknown provenance, date of origin or identification is invited to bring it to "What the Heck is It?" for identification our expert archaeologists. No fee; No registration; No limit - though you must be able to haul the artifacts to the 2nd floor and back out to your car! 

Even if you don`t have an unidentified item, come in anyway to learn about the artifacts which have been brought in for analysis. It`s fun.

This event is free and open to the public.

Event Name: “What the Heck Is It? - Year 5”

Short Description of Event: Drop in with your artifacts and try to stump our learned archaeologist,  Dr. Eric Poplin. No registration. No limit of the number of items you can bring. Just understand that whatever you bring, you have to do all the lifting and toting to get it into the building and to get it back to your vehicle. Co-sponsor: Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Time and Date of Event: Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 10:00 am - 1:30 pm

Location of Event: BDC@ Beaufort Branch, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902

Price of Event: Free; Ages 12 - Adults