Revealing the Revolution Challenge Extended to July 31

For the past several months the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort County 250 Committee has been trying to get folks out to explore the American Revolution related historic markers within Beaufort and Jasper counties with our "Revealing the Revolution" project. There's still time for you to participate in the Library Quest and/or the deluxe challenge - but time is swiftly falling away for you to do so. If you want to be entered into the Grand Prize drawing for the framed Mills Atlas (1825) map of Beaufort District (reproduction), you need to get your game sheet returned to us by July 2 as originally planned.  

The Library Quest and the Historic Marker Challenge has been extended to July 31, 2026 -- which gives you more time to get out there and learn some Revolutionary War history connected to the long and storied history of Beaufort District and win the car sticker and challenge coin prizes. (Please note: Those who turn in completed game sheets July 3 - 31 will be eligible only for the car sticker and challenge coin prizes.) As our partner says "It's fun! It's free!! It's history!!!" 

We will give away the car stickers and commemorative coins indicating your success as appropriate until our limited-edition supply runs out. But you cannot win, if you don't submit your completed game sheets to one of the collection boxes at the Branch libraries or on the bookmobiles by the deadline. Don't want to come to a library location? That's okay too. You can submit your completed game sheet online through the Beaufort County Historical Society's website. Please note: The Beaufort County Historical Society will mail out the car stickers and commemorative coins in early August to those who have successfully completed the historic marker challenge.  

Local History Programs in May 2026

We have three local history programs scheduled for May. We hope that you'll be able to join us at one or more of them. 

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.

Local History Program: Loyalists of Beaufort District with Katie Epps

At 11:00 AM on March 26th at the Bluffton Branch Library, join us for Loyal to the End: The Loyalists (or Tories) of Beaufort District with Katie Epps.

In some ways, the American Revolution was Beaufort District's first civil war. Join Palmetto Bluff Archaeologist Katie Epps as she discusses the often-overlooked Loyalists of Beaufort District and their actions in the Revolutionary War.

Katie Epps fell in love with history while growing up in Charleston. She earned her undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the College of Charleston and her master's degree from the University of South Carolina. She worked at Palmetto Bluff as a contract archaeologist from 2004-2008 and returned in 2021 as the Assistant Archaeologist. She is now the Director of Cultural Resources and is responsible for the archaeological resources of Palmetto Bluff, conserving the metal artifacts, preparing artifacts for perpetual curation, and working with the Conservancy to ensure the cemeteries are maintained and restored.

The "Historically Speaking" local history series is brought to you by the Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort County Historical Society.

Doors open at 10:30 AM.

Reminder: The Beaufort County Library will be closed April 3rd for Good Friday.

Local History Program: Reminiscences as Reclamations with Mollie Barnes

Join us for Reminiscences as Reclamations: Reading Susie King Taylor and Elizabeth Hyde Botume in Conversation, a local history program hosted by Dr. Mollie Barnes, on March 6th at 11:00 AM in the Beaufort Branch Library Meeting Room. 

Mollie Barnes is Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, Vice President of the Margaret Fuller Society, and Vice President of Organizational Matters for the Society for the Study of American Women Writers. She has published more than a dozen articles and book chapters on nineteenth-century women writers. Her book—Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838–1902 (University of South Carolina Press, 2026)—studies the ways women documented their own and one another’s lives in diaries and biographies, focusing especially on the intersection of gender and race. The National Endowment for the Humanities supported this research with a 2023 Summer Stipend. She is completing two new books: Laura Matilda Towne, Abolitionist: Penn School Diaries, 1862–1864 and Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney and Nineteenth-Century Women’s Lives: A Cultural Biography.

Dr. Barnes will present part of the coda of her new book, Paper Heroines (released February 5), where she studies Susie King Taylor’s Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers (1902) and Elizabeth Hyde Botume’s First Days Amongst the Contrabands (1893) together, side-by-side. Through this diptych, she’ll demonstrate how and why we ought to read women relief workers—and their life writing—in conversation and in community with one another. When we do, we’re able to recover stories of Black women’s lives that have been overlooked or dismissed for too long.

The "Historically Speaking" local history series is brought to you by the Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort County Historical Society.

Reminder: The Library system will be closed on Monday, February 16, 2026 in honor of Presidents Day. 

RESCHEDULED Local History Program: A Party Divided with Eric Ellis

The joint BDC & BCHS program, A Party Divided: Political Divisions of the Beaufort Republican Party During Reconstruction with NPS Historian Eric Ellis, has been postponed and rescheduled. 

Originally planned for later this month, the program will now be held on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 11:00 AM in the Beaufort Branch Library Meeting Room. Please be sure to update your calendars.

Reminder: The Library system will be closed on Monday, February 16, 2026, in honor of Presidents Day. 

New Year, New Programs: January and February BDC Programs

The BDC is welcoming the new year with quite a few new programs. We can't wait to learn from these presenters, and we look forward to seeing y'all there too!

Dr. Brenda Litchfield has been growing camellias for 30 years and is a co-author of The Camelia Garden Field Guide. Her program on January 27th at the St. Helena Branch Library, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, will cover the fascinating history of camellias along with their care and propagation. Dr. Litchfield will also discuss the different forms and varieties suitable for growing in the Lowcountry. 

Dr. Brenda Litchfield grew up in Beaufort when it was a sleepy little town that no none had discovered yet. She taught elementary, middle, and high school in Neptune Beach, FL for 11 years before earning her Ph.D. She taught at Florida State University for one year and for 27 years at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. She has been growing camellias for over 25 years and had 250+ in her former yard in Alabama. Dr. Litchfield's book, The Camellia Garden Field Guide, is a guide for anyone interested in growing camellias. She is on the Board of Directors of the American Camellia Society and has served on many committees. She was president of the South Alabama Camellia Club for 13 years – because no one else would do it! She and her husband travel whenever they can, and she has been to 70 different countries. She lived in China (Macau and Xi’an [she awn’] for 10 months and Thailand for 6 months while teaching at universities there.

This program is co-sponsored by the Beaufort History Museum and the Beaufort County Library. 

On Saturday, February 7th, the BDC is going on a Field Trip to the Beaufort National Cemetery - and you're invited! Docent and historian Bonnie Wade-Mucia will be our tour guide. 

 Bonnie Wade Mucia, AG® is an Accredited Genealogist in the New England region and is the owner of Keeper of the Past Genealogy, LLC. She serves as the Director of the Mayflower Families Silver Books Project for the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, where she concentrates on the descendants of Mayflower passengers. In addition, Bonnie is a volunteer docent and historian at Beaufort National Cemetery and has conducted military repatriation casework for the U.S. Army and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) on World War II soldiers. She has published numerous articles in respected genealogical journals and delivered lectures on various topics. Originally from Rhode Island, Bonnie now resides in Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband, Joseph.

The tour will begin promptly at 1 PM and will last an hour. Registration is not required.

Please note:

• Transportation to the Beaufort National Cemetery is on your own. Carpooling is encouraged as parking is limited.
• Please arrive at the National Cemetery (1601 Boundary Street) before 1 PM to ensure that you are not left behind.
• Please dress comfortably in clothes and shoes that will support an hour-long walk outdoors.

UPDATE 6 FEBRUARY 2026 at 2:30 PM: We regret that Ranger Ellis' program has to be postponed. We will provide the new date and time for his talk about "A Party Divided" when the new details are finalized. -- gmc

Then, on Friday, February 20th 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. 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.

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This schedule is subject to change. We ask that you check the Library's online calendar for program updates and cancellations. Also, please note that the BDC Research Room may be closed on local history program days due to limited staff availability.

Reminder: The Library system will be closed on Monday, January 19, 2026 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy AND on Monday, February 16, 2026 in honor of Presidents Day. 

"Beaufort District's Militia in the Revolutionary War" with Rich Thomas, Chair of the Beaufort County 250 Committee

We've got one more local history program left in 2025. We continue our focus on the course of the American Revolution as we get ever closer to the upcoming 250th anniversary commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Though the overall topic is the same as Neil Baxley's most excellent presentation yesterday, this one has a more narrow focus - militia units in Beaufort District.

The definition of the term "militia" has varied through time but in the late 18th century, the term generally meant "a body of able-bodied [usually white] male citizens" generally between the ages of 15 and 45 or so "who served as a part-time, citizen-army for local defense." Individuals were mostly left to do their own business though when called, the militia members were expected to show up and do their duty. Though militia had to supply their own arms and were subject to military training, sometimes all did not go as intended. For example, not all white male persons between the ages of approximately 15 and 45 years were in favor of supporting King George III or in favor of supporting the Patriot cause. Some men preferred to avoid taking sides. In other words, the years between 1774 and 1784 were complicated for residents of South Carolina.  

We are pleased that Rich Thomas, Chair of the Beaufort County 250 Committee, has agreed to share his knowledge about what the area militia units were doing over the period with us as a reprise of the talk he did at St. Helena Branch earlier in 2025. (I'm so glad that he didn't hold that technical equipment failure against us and has graciously consented to giving it a go for another segment of the BDC's service population at Bluffton Branch.) We do so hope that you can join us!  

Thursday, December 4, 2025 - "Beaufort District's Militia in the Revolutionary War" with Rich Thomas | Historically Speaking series, co-sponsored by the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort County 250 Committee | BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way, 11 AM | First come; first seated. Doors open at 10:30 AM.

Program Summary: Rich Thomas will discuss the role and actions of the "Beaufort District Militia in the Revolutionary War." British inroads into South Carolina following the 1778 Capture of Savannah were repeatedly confounded by the resourceful militia forces of Beaufort District, north and south of the Broad. Trace their activities and learn more about some of the individuals whose courage and dedication had a direct impact on the Continental Army’s success in gaining independence from English rule.

Speaker Biography: Richard Thomas is an experienced global business executive and successful entrepreneur having served as CEO, President or Executive Vice President in seven different ventures in four diverse industries. He is very involved in local historical organizations such as the Heritage Library, Santa Elena Foundation, and Friends of Honey Hill Board. He is Chairman of the Beaufort County 250 Committee responsible for planning local celebrations of the nation's Semiquincentennial. He wrote Backwater Frontier: Beaufort County, South Carolina at the Forefront of American History (2018). His current research interest is focused on the early colonial period of St. Helena and Prince William's parishes in Beaufort District.   

FYI: The Library system will be closed Thursday, November 27 - Sunday, November 30, 2025. All hands will return on deck as of 9 AM Monday, December 1, 2025. 

Programs Coming Your Way in September

The BDC has three public programs on our calendar for September this year. We hope that you'll be able to join us for one or even better both!. 

• Monday, September 8, 2025 - "History of Bluffton" with Michael Reynolds. | BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way | 4 PM. 

Program Blurb: The Bluffton History presentation begins with the Native Americans who occupied the area, it then covers the colonial period, the predevelopment period and modern times.  The program showcases Bluffton as was when first settled all the way through through the population explosion of the 21st century through the eyes of one of its native sons, Michael Reynolds.

Please note the start time a later in the day start time and is expected to last a bit longer than is customary for BDC local history programs. This adjustment was made at the Speaker's request. 

Speaker Biography: Michael Reynolds was born and raised in Bluffton and has called Bluffton home for six decades.  He is the founder of the "Bluffton History" Facebook page that has been operating for 15 years and is committed to researching and publishing Bluffton history, showcasing old Bluffton maps and photographs, newspaper articles and recording oral histories of some of Bluffton's most senior citizens.  Michael can trace his Reynolds family in Beaufort County nine generations to the 1690s, over 330 years ago.  His dad was the first person to hold the title of Bluffton Police Chief, which was a part time job back in the 1960's.  Michael's mother's family were some of the Swiss Huguenots who settled Purysburg in 1732. Michael is truly as local as it gets.

• Monday, September 22, 2025 - "Spanish-American War 1898: Context, Causes, Combat and Consequences" with Barney Forsythe, PhD and Raul Galvan, PhD. | Co-sponsored by the Friends of Fort Fremont. | BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road | 2 PM. 

Most of us give little thought to the Spanish-American War - and if you think about it at all, you probably think that the war was caused by Spain's sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor and that Teddy Roosevelt led the Rough Riders to victory on San Juan Hill. This program offered in partnership with the Friends of Fort Fremont may cause you to re-think those points.  

Program Blurb: Learn how the United States emerged as a global power at the start of the 20th century, thanks to the "splendid little war of 1898." Presenters George "Barney" Forsythe and Raul Galvan will discuss the United States war with Spain, explore the multiple factors that led to the conflict (not the least of which was Cuba's fight for independence), summarize combat operations, and consider the consequences of the war for all parties. 

Speaker Biographies:

George B. "Barney" Forsythe, a 1970 graduate of West Point, spent 35 years on active duty in the United States Army before returning to the United States Military Academy as a professor and later as Vice Dean for Education. He retired for the first time in 2005 and advanced in rank to Brigadier General. He joined Westminster College in Missouri as Senior Vice President and Dean of Faculty until he was selected President of the college in 2008. He retired again in 2015. Gen. Forsythe currently serves as the President of the Friends of Fort Fremont. 

Dr. Raul Galvan was born in Cuba and came to the United States in 1961. He had a long career at Milwaukee PBS and the Bradley Center and earned his Doctorate in History from UWM in 2011. While in Public TV, he produced many television shows and was nominated for numerous Regional Emmy Awards. He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals, op-eds as well as a youth book, and has traveled to Cuba frequently. He relocated to Beaufort County in 2024. 

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 - "History on a Stick: The Historical Marker Program" with Leah Roche | "Historically Speaking" series, 7.1, co-sponsored by the Beaufort County Historical Society | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | 11 AM. 

No doubt you've passed by many an installed "History on a Stick" (aka historic marker) in your lifetime. Did you ever wonder where the historical markers you see whizzing past on the highway came from? Come learn about one of the signature activities of the Beaufort County Historical Society in this season 7 opener for the BDC Beaufort County Historical Society "Historically Speaking" local history series. Leah Roche will be the presenter. 

Program Blurb: Though historical markers seem to simply “appear” on the landscape, there is a detailed process involving many people, lots of time, money, and maybe a little “blood, sweat and tears” to earn designation as an official S.C. Historical Marker. Follow the “Life Cycle of the Historical Marker” from its beginning as a simple idea to commemorate an event, place or person of historical significance, through the research process, to state approval, marker fabrication, installation, dedication, and maintenance. Discover how to enjoy the markers all over our county by creating your own Marker Scavenger Hunt, using our geographical lists accompanied by our Google Maps with marker locations. Gain a clear understanding of the fascinating process the Beaufort County Historical Society adheres to, under the auspices of the S.C. Department of Archives and History, as the oldest of many groups who develop these markers countywide. 

Speaker Biography: Leah Roche earned her Bachelor’s degree in Library Leah Roche earned her Bachelor’s degree in Library Science and History from Florida State University, and her Master’s in Library Science from the University of South Carolina. She served as a high school media specialist (school librarian) for 28 yrs at both Beaufort and Bluffton High, and was voted Teacher of the Year at Beaufort High School early in her tenure there. She later was the first media specialist in Beaufort County to earn National Board for Professional Teaching certification. In her role as media specialist, Leah served as webmaster of the school websites at both Beaufort and Bluffton High. 

After retirement, she joined the Beaufort County Historical Society, and helped develop that organization’s current website. She also created the interactive Google map of SC Historical Markers in Beaufort County, so that citizens and visitors alike could locate and visit them. She planned a county-wide “marker scavenger hunt” called “Marker Mania,” which took place during the first summer of COVID, involving over 250 participants. She currently serves as the Recording Secretary and Webmaster for the . Beaufort County Historical Society.

Remember to always check the Library system calendar and the Library's homepage for the latest updates regarding changes to our program and operations schedule. We are solidly in the most active phase of hurricane formation for the next 6 weeks. 

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. 

Historically Speaking 5.3: Sea Island Cotton and Tom Austin

The "Historically Speaking" series returns on January 18, 2024 with a lecture about one of agricultural products that brought early 19th century prosperity to this area.

Akin to vegetarian silk Sea Island Cotton commanded a price over twice as high as the coarser "short staple cotton" grown inland.  In tandem with Carolina Gold Rice, Sea Island Cotton made pre-Civil War Beaufort the "Newport of the South", but its unique features demanded enslaved labor for its tending.  Thought to be extinct, Tom Austin tells the story of this crop and his ongoing project to preserve a small patch for Low Country posterity.

Tom Austin is a professional conservationist working as the Edisto Island Open Land Trust's (EIOLT) Land Protection Specialist, an independent researcher, and an avid naturalist from the ACE Basin of South Carolina. Through EIOLT's Hutchinson House project on Edisto Island, a reconstruction era freedman home which is being restored and developed into a public greenspace, Tom has found himself amidst an effort to study, interpret, and re-introduce one of the State's most influential cash crops, Sea Island Cotton.

This lecture is brought to you by the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort District Collection. We hope that you can join us! Registration is open until capacity is reached:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tom-austin-lazarus-the-resurrection-of-sea-island-cotton-from-extinction-tickets-792647368617?aff=oddtdtcreator. 

Just a reminder: The Library system will be closed on Monday, January 15, 2024 for Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

BDC Local History Programs Fall 2023

The Library system's push to re-invigorate our community programs has had consequences for the BDC - which are good for you but quite challenging for the BDC as I try to cover all the responsibilities inherent in caring for special collections type materials with insufficient staff to get those responsibilities done. 

I am very fortunate to have forged solid and supportive relationships with historically minded individuals, community groups, and organizations from whence comes many of the key components for creating and coordinating local history programs for you. Here's what we have to offer you during Fall 2023. All programs are open to the general public at no charge. Space is always limited to the size of the meeting room we use. Most require registration. As indicated in this Connections article, the Research Room will be closed on local history program days.   

You will notice that the BDC is taking to the road a lot, September - November, in an attempt to bring high quality local history programs to a Branch Library close to you.  

September has programs about the colonial period, the mid-20th century and a special event. 

Thursday, September 21, 2023 -- Historically Speaking 5.1A: "Beaufort Before Britain; Our District's European Origin Story" with Dr. Larry Rowland and Chris Allen. Beaufort Branch, 311 Scott Street, 11 AM. Registration opens September 7, 2023 on the Beaufort County Historical Society website. As always, we will close registration when we reach the meeting room capacity. If you have questions about registration, please send them to beaufortcountyhistorical@gmail.com.  

Thursday, September 28, 2023 -- "Paradise: An Authors Book Talk" with Nelle and Ora Smith. BDC@ Hilton Head Branch, 11 Beach City Road, 10 AM. First come; first seated. Door opens 30 minutes ahead of the program start time.

Friday, September 29, 2023 -- Enjoy light refreshments in the upstairs lobby of 311 Scott Street to mark the 13th anniversary of the relocation of the Beaufort District Collection at 3:30 PM. 

October is pretty full as well. The "Beaufort Before Britain" lectures are in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from mid-September to mid-October each year. We begin with a reprise. 

Thursday, October 5, 2023 -- Historically Speaking 5.1B: "Beaufort Before Britain; Our District's European Origin Story" with Dr. Larry Rowland and Chris Allen. Bluffton Branch, 120 Palmetto Way, 11 AM. Registration for this reprised lecture opens September 21, 2023 on the Beaufort County Historical Society website.

Saturday, October 7, 2023 -- "What the Heck Is It?: Artifact Identification" is an artifact identification session with professional archeologists who will analyze, identify and date your artifacts. Over the years folks have presented 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.  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. Drop-in at Bluffton Branch, 120 Palmetto Way, from 1 PM - 4 PM with your artifacts and try to stump our esteemed archaeologists. I am honored that the Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina is allowing me to be a co-sponsor this year.

The "Plantation Profiles" lectures may be the first time that the Beaufort History Museum and the Beaufort County Historical Society have agreed to help the BDC tri-sponsor a set of lectures. We expect this topic to be very, very popular on both sides of the Broad River. Be sure to register as soon as registration opens. We have very different Fire Marshal capacities so if you can't get into the session at St. Helena Branch Library on the 17th consider signing up for the session on the 19th at Bluffton Branch where we can seat almost twice as many registrants. 

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 -- "Plantation Profiles" (Northern Beaufort County) with Kayleigh Vaughn of the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage. St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, 2 PM. Registration opens October 3, 2023 on the Beaufort History Museum website. This program is co-sponsored by the BDC, Beaufort History Museum and the Beaufort County Historical Society.

Thursday, October 19, 2023 -- Reprise of "Plantation Profiles" (Southern Beaufort County) with Kayleigh Vaughn of the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage.  Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way, 11 AM. Registration for this session opens October 5, 2023 on the Beaufort County Historical Society website. This program is co-sponsored by the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort History Museum. 

In November, we are participating in the Beaufort History Museum's Civil War Encampment and co-hosting a program with them related to the history of a Union unit stationed here during that period. We also have two programs relating to the colonial period of history in honor of Native American Heritage month.    

Friday, November 3, 2023 -- "Kilted Warriors: A Brief History of the New York Highlanders" with re-enactor Tom Vaselopulos. Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, 2 PM. Registration opens October 20, 2023 on the Beaufort History Museum website. 

Saturday, November 4, 2023 -- New York Highlanders Civil War Era Living History Encampment at the Arsenal, 713 Craven Street, Beaufort. 9 AM - 4:30 PM. The demonstrations are free. I'll be there showing off surrogates of some of our Civil War and Reconstruction materials and talking with interested passers-by and area residents from most of the day.

Thursday, November 9, 2023 -- "Snake Bit: Henry Woodward, South Carolina's first English Settler" with Bob Lanham. BDC@ Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road, 11 AM. No registration process: First come; first seated. Door opens 30 minutes ahead of the program start time. 

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 – "The Yamasee" with Hannah Hoover. BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, 2 PM. No registration process: First come; first seated. Door opens 30 minutes ahead of the program start time.

We'll take a local history program break for the Thanksgiving through Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holidays since my local history programs demographic tend to travel during that period of the year but rest assured we'll crack things back up programs-wise towards the end of January 2024 - and with a real treat!  

"Waving the Red Shirts of Redemption" Local History Program July 12th

The Beaufort District Collections second contribution to the Library's summer activities delves into an exploration of the collaboration among disparate groups to create a Fusion political movement in the early 1870s. It's a topic that deserves more focus than it usually receives. 

As you are probably aware, Reconstruction Era politics was a rough and tumble and often violent affair. National Park Service Historian Nathan Betcher will discuss the political turbulence of the ten years between the end of the Civil War and the election of 1876. Radical Republicans, Independent Republicans, Straight-out Democrats and Fusion Democrats all vied for votes and dominance. Scandals, malfeasance, and charges of voter fraud were rife. Local players included William Whipper and Robert Smalls. 

We are pleased to offer “Waving the Red Shirts of Redemption: Reconstruction Era Politics and the South Carolina Election of 1876” with Nathan Betcher (NPS) as an "Historically Speaking" Extra during Summer Reading Program 2023 on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 in the Beaufort Branch Library's Theresa Dunn Meeting Room, 311 Scott Street, beginning at 2:00 pm. This free program will be a "First Come, First Seated" local history opportunity.  

About the Speaker: 

Nathan Betcher is the Historian for Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort, South Carolina. At the park, he is responsible for research into the people and places of Reconstruction, coordinating activities of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, and is responsible for all resource management at the park in accordance with Section 106 and NEPA. He holds a Red Card as an All-Hazards Resource Advisor (READ) and has been on multiple hurricane damage assessment teams as a READ. He has also completed the ARPA For Cultural Resources Professionals and NEPA/Section 106 in-resident courses. 

​​​​​​​Nathan spent ten years in the Army on active duty as an Armored Crewman, where his Army assignments took him overseas to South Korea, Germany, Iraq, and multiple duty stations in the US.  After leaving active duty, he returned to school to finish his degrees, and transitioned to the Army Reserve as a Civil Affairs Specialist.  He holds two BAs, one in History and the other in Political Science from the University of Kentucky, and earned his MS in Historic Preservation from the Clemson/College of Charleston historic preservation program.  During his time in graduate school, he did internships at Grand Canyon National Park and Ft. Sumter & Ft. Moultrie National Historical Park.  

Nathan started his Park Service career in 2018 as the Historian at Ft. Sumter and Ft. Moultrie NHP and the Charles Pinckney NHS, both located in the greater Charleston SC area.  He transferred in 2021 to Reconstruction Era NHP to build a Resources Program at the park.  In 2022 Nathan was selected into the first cohort of Army Monuments Officers – the first group of Soldiers tasked with protecting cultural heritage in the Army since the famed “Monuments Men” of World War 2.   

During his free time, Nathan loves to travel with his wife Bailey who is also completely committed to spoiling their dog, Abby.    

More Local History Programs in May 2023 ... and beyond

Updated 22 May 2023 - gmc. 

Although we were gobsmacked at the speed by which the registration for Jackpot closed and thankful that so many were interested in scandal and true crime, there are two other opportunities this month to learn more about Beaufort District through a BDC sponsored local history program. 

We turn our attention back more than 200 years to "The Liberty Trail in Beaufort District" with Bill Davies. At the present time, he is Vice-Chair of South Carolina's 250th Committee and President of the South Carolina Historical Society. 

A graduate of The Citadel, he was a US Army JAG attorney for 5 years and a member of the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough Law Firm for 37 years.  His Board credentials related to the history and cultural heritage fields are long. He is on the boards of the Liberty Trail, SC Archives and History Foundation, Santa Elena Advisory Board at Coastal Discovery Museum, Friends of Honey Hill Battlefield, Palmetto State Military History Foundation and others. He is a member of the SC Battleground Preservation Trust, Sons of the American Revolution,  the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the American Battlefield Trust, the American Friends of Lafayette, the Blue and Gray Educational Society, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage, the SC Military History Club, the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society, the Historical Societies for Beaufort, Colleton, Edgefield, Greenwood, and Kershaw Counties among others.

Please check the Beaufort County Historical Society's website for any remaining seats. Everyone with a ticket can enjoy the free lecture being held in the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church, 1201 North Street in downtown Beaufort.  As a reminder: Only members of the BCHS can vote during the business portion of the meeting. 

Our final local history program this month covers the late 18th up through the late 19th century. 

Settling matters of honor according to accepted practice was an important part of being a gentleman in the 18th and 19th centuries. The practice involved issuing a challenge to fight another male person of equal social rank according to a prescribed process for an alleged slight or slander to one’s self or family member. 

Come learn about some of the little known duels held in Beaufort District South Carolina from law enforcement professional and historian Neil Baxley in a BDC@ The Branches local history program being held at the Bluffton Branch Library on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. We've changed this into a "First Come; First Seated; Doors open 30 minutes before Program start time" local history learning opportunity. 

But wait there's more local history programs coming up in June, July and August that you may want to attend. 

Saturday, June 24, 2023 - "African Presence in the Lowcountry" with Meldon Hollis, Professor of African American History | 10 AM - Noon | BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way. | Debra is already taking registration at 843-255-6503 but with 120 seats available registration is not necessary.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - "Waving the Red Shirts of Redemption: Reconstruction Era Politics and the South Carolina Election of 1876" with Nathan Betcher, Historian for the National Park Service | 2:00 - 3:30 PM | BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street | First come; first seated; No registration process. Doors open 30 minutes before program start time.  

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - "Tide of Death: The Hurricane of 1893" with Grace Cordial | 1:00 PM | BDC@ Hilton Head Island Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road | First come; first seated; No registration process. Doors open 30 minutes before program start time.  

Join us for one - or more - or even better yet, all these upcoming free local history programs!

BDC Local History Programs in May 2022

The BDC is co-sponsoring two local history programs during May. 

Nelle and Ora Smith will give an Author Book Talk about Paradise: Memories of Hilton Head in the Early Days on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 in the St. Helena Branch Meeting Room, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road.

Their talk is part of Season 5 of the joint Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library Local History series coordinated by the Library’s special collections and archives unit, the Beaufort District Collection.

When John Gettys Smith was hired as the public relations man for Charles Fraser's Sea Pines Plantation Company in 1963, he moved his young family to the Carolina lowcountry – much to the horror of his parents and in-laws. His wife Nelle McCants Smith and their daughter Ora Elliott Smith will share what it was like to live on Hilton Head from the early 1960s into 1996.

Nelle opened the first shop in Harbour Town and ran it for 25 years. Nelle helped start the first Sunday school at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a Cub Scout troop, the PTA, and the library. Her husband was the assistant general chairman under Fraser for the Heritage Golf Classic for the PGA tournament’s first five years. He also designed the distinctive plaid worn by the champion of the tournament. Everyone – including 8 year old Ora – had to pitch in to help during those early years - and she continued to pitch in working with her mother at Nell's Harbour Shop, and later owning and managing a second Nell's Shop at Wexford Plantation. 

As Nelle explained to newspaper columnist David Lauderdale recently: “If we lacked something we felt we needed, we just started it!” In other words, the women were part of the “can-do generation” that helped transform Hilton Head Island from a quiet coastal island with only a couple of thousand inhabitants on it into the premier resort destination it is today. 

Listen, laugh, and learn with these two indomitable ladies of the Lowcountry. Registration required. Space is limited to 44 people. Sign up opens online May 3, 2022 through the Beaufort History Museum website’s events page.  Registration will close when room capacity is reached.

Two days later, the next installment of the "Historically Speaking" series co-sponsored with the Beaufort County Historical Society will be held in the First Presbyterian Church's Fellowship Hall at 1201 North Street in downtown Beaufort. Featured speaker, Dr. Vernon Burton, will lecture on "Beaufort's Response to Alternative Facts in the Civil War: First, Second and Third Reconstructions."

6 May 2022 Update: The direct link to the registration page is https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beauforts-response-to-alternative-facts-during-reconstruction-tickets-332765198667. 

Ninety Six, South Carolina native Dr. Vernon Burton will share his insights about how the course of Reconstruction was just different in Beaufort County. His academic accomplishments are legion. He is the Judge Matthew J. Perry Jr. Distinguished Professor of History at Clemson University and a professor of sociology, Pan African studies and computer science. He spent 34 years as a professor of history, sociology and African American studies at the University of Illinois, where he is also an emeritus University Distinguished Teacher and Scholar and University Scholar. Burton served as president of the Southern Historical Association and the Agricultural History Society. He is also Executive Director of the College of Charleston's Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World program. A prolific writer, Burton has authored or edited 20 books, more than 200 articles and numerous digital humanities projects. Locally he is probably best known as the author of Penn Center : A History Preserved (2014).  The BDC has copies of both In My Father's House are Many Mansions : Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina (1985) and Toward the Meeting of the Waters: Currents in the Civil Rights Movement of South Carolina during the Twentieth Century (2008) which he co-edited with Winfred B. Moore, Jr. His title The Age of Lincoln (2007) won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Literary Award for Nonfiction and was selected for Book of the Month Club, History Book Club and Military Book Club. In 2017, Burton received the Governor’s Award from South Carolina Humanities. 

This session also happens to be the Beaufort County Historical Society’s Annual Meeting. Registration is required and space is limited. Sign up opens online May 5, 2022 on Eventbrite. (The Beaufort County Historical Society uses Eventbrite for its registration only events.) Registration will close when room capacity is reached.

The Means of Grace: Author Book Talk by Dr. Eric Plaag

The BDC's first ever live streamed Author Book Talk is almost here. Dr. Eric Plaag will discuss his most recent book, The Means of Grace: A History of Robertville Baptist Church on Monday, November 15, 2021. We are delighted to have the Beaufort County Historical Society and Carolina Historical Consulting LLC as co-sponsors for this local history program.

The church, founded in 1786 was originally known as the Black Swamp Baptist Church. It has been a faithful member of the Savannah River Baptist Association for almost 200 years. Though it is now in its third structure and worships as the Robertville Baptist Church, the congregation remains active with members residing in present-day Hampton and Jasper Counties. 

This is the first comprehensive history of the church's past drawing on research materials held by state and county governments, church archives, and special collections in the Carolinas,  including our own Beaufort District Collection. The author understands that his job as a historian is to gather, analyze, and evaluate the evidence available and to place historical people and events within the context of their times. This can be challenging not only for the historian but also for the listener. 

The concluding paragraph of the afterword sums up his thoughts about some of the more difficult and problematic aspects of the church's history this way: "What I know with certainty is that the history of the Black Swamp Baptist and Robertville Baptist Churches is fascinating, filled with all of the complexities one might expect of a community that was often rich in diversity of ethnicity, wealth, education, social standing, and experiences of the world." Here! Here!!

Dr. Eric Plaag is well suited to the task put before him by the church's congregation to write the church's history. From his ten page curriculum vita, here are a few items directly relative to his work on this book: 

• B.A. in Religion, College of William and Mary
• M.F.A. in Creative Writing, George Mason University
• Ph.D. in History specializing in United States History to 1877, Public History, and Culture, Identity and Economic Development

He is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Carolina Historical Consulting, LLC., genealogist, and author of a dozen commissioned histories, including Means of Grace, The Case for Port Royal: Interpreting the Reconstruction Era National Monument, and Sherman's March Through South Carolina. He has researched and submitted more than two dozen National Register of Historic Places applications included several located within the confines of the former Beaufort District. He has taught for American Public University, the University of South Carolina, Franklin Pierce College, and a number of other institutions of higher education since the mid-1990s. Dr. Plaag lives and works in Boone, North Carolina which honored him by declaring February 25, 2018 "Dr. Eric Plaag Day."  

We plan to open the Zoom Room for guests about 20 minutes before the lecture begins at 2 pm. There will be 90 or so slots available for live viewing. My job is to introduce the speaker and keep track of the questions coming in through the chat box so that I can relay the best ones to Dr. Plaag to answer at the end of his prepared remarks. Your job is to be attentive,

practice good Zooming behavior, and offer feedback. We are asking that you mute your microphone, turn off your video camera, and use the chat box for interactions with fellow attendees and questions for the presenter. 

If you sign up for the BDC's email distribution list, you'll get the proper URL sent to your email a few days before Dr. Plaag's presentation

It's easy-peasy to sign up for the Grace.Notes list. Go to the library's Subscribe page, enter your email address, first name, last name, check the box beside "Beaufort District Collection" and press the Subscribe button as shown in the illustration above. I promise that I will not inundate your in-box with lots of messages. If you are already on the distribution list, the software will let you know.