I changed the theme for "Materials Monday" to "Uniquely BDC" and added a series called "Finding Aids Friday." "Black History Note Wednesday" had no particular theme in January. I acknowledged Martin Luther King, Jr.'s connection to Beaufort District and the life and career of its native son, Joe Frazier. Schedule changes caused by County holidays were several. I promoted [then] upcoming local history programs a number of times.
Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC Posts
January 2 - I'm posting a 2-fer item today to reach my "50 Shades of Beige" theme self-inflicted quota and begin the 2023 "Uniquely BDC" theme. In the course of doing my daily work, I have stumbled across more than enough unique materials to (successfully) argue with a plethora of examples this year that there is considerable value to the community we serve in having a dedicated special collection of local history related materials taken care of by and shared through a public library.
The BDC has the only copy of the Speech of Hon. Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, in the Senate of the United States on Senate Bill No. 398 to Aid in the Establishment ane [sic] Temporary Support of Common Schools delivered on March 27, 1884 in the SCLENDS consortium. The Senator (and former Governor of SC and formerly richest man in the South) saw illiteracy as "the greatest danger threatening the permanency of our institutions." He was requesting Federal financial aid for schools, particularly in South Carolina, that were struggling to fund education for all children, white and Black, even as the state's tax base dwindled and the school-age population surged. On this point, he was in opposition to the views of the other US Senator from South Carolina at the time, Matthew Calbraith Butler. You can read about Sen. Wade Hampton III and Sen. M.C. Butler in the online SC Encyclopedia.
Reminder: The Library is closed today. Regular hours resume tomorrow.
January 9 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC" One of my favorite items in the Research Room is the Southern Auto guide and directory of Beaufort County for 1918-1919. The ads are entertaining; the descriptions of the roads and transportation routes are interesting; and the list of businesses and owners quite useful for genealogical and historical purposes. I am also very fond of the maps included. The BDC is the only unit within the entire SCLENDS consortium to have a copy.
January 23 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC": The permanent part of the Beaufort County Library, i.e., the BDC Research Room, has the only copy of Bouts of Mania: Ali, Frazier, and Foreman - and an America on the Ropes (2014) by Sports Illustrated writer Richard Hoffer in the entire SCLENDS consortium. The book discusses the three athletic titans who fought five times to be the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world in bouts that were "global spectacles that offered brief glimpses of clarity and confidence [that] may have been the only thing that made sense back home during the social and political morass of the 1970s." Make an appointment to review this and other materials about Beaufort County's native son Joe Frazier.
January 30 - "Materials Monday: Uniquely BDC" - I made today's selection on account of the recently well presented and well attended "Civil War Union Bands" local history programs. A History of the Port Royal Bands by John Brookfield (Sam Teddy Publishing, 2015) explores a niche of Civil War military history that is quite fascinating. According to the book's introduction, the US government issued General Order 15 to establish infantry bands of 26 musicians on May 5, 1861. That order was rescinded 14 months later due to cost. However smaller brigade level bands of 16 musicians shared among 4 to 5 regiments were allowed.
By all accounts, two of the finest bands in the Union Army came from New Hampshire, the Third Regiment Band of the New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, and a few months after the Third's dissolution in August 1862, the Band of the Second Brigade, 10th Army Corps, Department of the South, often referred to as the Hilton Head Post Band. Both organizations were stationed near Port Royal, South Carolina, and led by Gustavus W. Ingalls, a native of Bristol, New Hampshire. (p. xii)
Besides being an historical account of Civil War bands, Brookfield researched the individual members of the bands before, during and after the war including as illustrations portraits and gravesites of some of the men, photographs of instruments owned by the men, and even an occasional sheet music cover.
This book was printed in very small numbers. The stars aligned and I was very fortunate to secure one of the last copies available for the Research Room directly from the printer. The BDC is the only library within the SCLENDS consortium to own and share this title.
Interesting to Me ... And I Hope for You as Well Posts
January 3 - We're back! Here's what the BDC has going on in January 2023: A new year brings new opportunities to learn, share, and do necessary behind-the-scenes tasks that make sharing and learning about local history possible for our community.
We're hosting Dr. Michael Johns on the topic of "Civil War Union Bands" at two branch libraries later this month. Registration for the "Bands" program and the "Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779" opens soon. (Stay tuned for details).
Grace continues working with the Beaufort County 250th Committee and fine-tuning metadata for the submission of 2 more digital collections to the Lowcountry Digital Library as well as answering customer questions, writing social media, and providing additional training about special collections and archives work for Olivia - mostly using real life examples as they arise in our daily work flow.
Physical inventory of cataloged items in the BDC and vertical file projects continue with the able assistance of Olivia, Technical Services Val, and volunteer Laura. Docents Joe and Peggy are hard at work on their projects related to the Behan Papers too.
Olivia starts "Basics of Archives" classes in order to be able to help me notch off as much of the archives backlog as possible.
The Library will be closed Monday, January 16 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Just in case you're wondering: There's never a "not busy" day in the BDC.
January 5 - There's a newly posted Beaufort County History Moment about the Phosphate Industry by Dr. Larry Rowland that includes a lot of images we take care of inside the Research Room. Jan Beaudrie of the County Channel staff discovered the recording in their video archives and asked me about illustrations to include that could polish the talk. Now you can see the completed video - and learn about an industry that few recall.
January 8 - The results are in. You can always read more about my [Diversify Your Reading Challenge] choices and why I made them in the BDC's Connections blog.
January 10 - Beaufort was one of the first cities in the United States to commission a guide for building and restoration in a nationally recognized historic district. Historic Beaufort Foundation's Executive Director Cynthia Jenkins, who worked with Milner architects on the initial project and the update, says that "The original report, with its detailed drawings and its focus on the “Beaufort Style,” became a collector’s item of sorts."
Isn't it a good thing that the BDC specializes in local "collector's item(s) of sorts", i.e., that prior editions of the Beaufort Preservation Manual are here in the Research Room? (That answer is "yes" in case you have any doubts) - and there are even a few circulating copies in the Local History sections at some of our branch libraries as well.
The latest iteration of the Beaufort (SC) Preservation Manual produced by John Milner Architects has been posted to the City of Beaufort's website for ease of use - which is a good thing ... but digital items on government websites tend to come and then disappear. Thus, I am trying to secure a printed copy for permanent retention in the Research Room.
One of the main values of archives is its utility in holding people in power accountable for their actions and decisions. If all other tactics fail, I will download and print out all 344 pages on the office copier so that in 2123 future researchers can decide how the guidelines were - or were not - followed.
January 12 - Happy Birthday (in heaven), Mr. Frazier!
January 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr. used to visit Penn Center on St. Helena Island for respite from his public political activities campaigning for Civil Rights during the 1960s. It is said that he wrote much of his "I Have a Dream" speech there. In honor of his life and work, we recommend I will not be silent and I will be heard: Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Penn Center, 1964-1967 by J. Tracy Power. The booklet is in the BDC for permanent retention of course, but there are plenty of print copies to borrow. There’s even a digital copy in the SC State Documents Depository collection online. Reminder: The Library is closed today to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Regular hours resume tomorrow.
January 19 - Read about some of the musical masterpieces that Olivia found in the Research Room on Connections.
Black History Note Wednesday Posts
January 11 - "Black History Note Wednesday:" South Carolina has always loomed larger in the national imagination, particularly in terms of political and social policy, than its size and population might justify. And South Carolina has always used its passion to influence national debate. The South Carolina Roots of African American Thought, an anthology edited by Rhondda Robinson Thomas and Susanna Ashton, reveals a tradition of national prominence and influence of black intellectuals, educators, journalists, and policy analysts from or adopted by the Palmetto State. Together these thinkers exhibit a coherent legacy of engagement, brought on and nurtured by South Carolina traditions.
The BDC has a permanent copy; there are 2 copies you can borrow with your BCL library card from the other parts of the SCLENDS consortium.
January 18 - "Black History Note Wednesday:" Praised by eminent historian Peter Wood as "A brave and wide-ranging work that synthesizes the increasing knowledge about African and American links and expands that knowledge considerably in new and convincing ways," Frederick C. Knight demonstrates that African knowledge shaped the Americas, particularly in agriculture practices.
I bought it [Working the Diaspora : The Impact of African Labor on the Anglo-American World, 1650-1850] for the Research Room most particularly for the essay "In an ocean of blue : West African indigo workers in the Atlantic world to 1800." Indigo was what fueled Beaufort District's first economic boom and lay the foundation of many a white planter family's wealth.
The Research Room has a copy; the Beaufort County Library is the only SCLENDS Consortium library to hold and share this title.
January 25 - "Black History Note Wednesday:" Beaufort District's own Jonathan Greene did the colorful book cover for Nancy Rhyne's Voices of Carolina Slave Children (1999). Rhyne re-packaged memories gathered in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration of elderly ex-slaves about their childhoods back in the 1840s - 1860s into a concise 109 pages. The formerly enslaved described work, games, food, clothing, thoughts about their situation and the Civil War, and what freedom gave to each one of them. These stories present brief glimpses into the lives and customs of enslaved children on North and South Carolina plantations. Five of the interviewees who shared their memories in this compact book had been enslaved in Beaufort District: Chaney Spell; Phoebe Fawcette; Henry Brown; Sam Mitchell; and Daphney Wright who spent summers with her owners along the river in Bluffton enjoying the products of the environment: mullet; oysters; crabs; and clams.
Though the Research Room has a permanent copy, this title is commonly held in the SCLENDS consortium. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a copy to borrow with your library card.
New Series: Finding Aids Friday
January 6 - I've decided to start a new BDC Facebook series on Fridays. From now until I retire expect to see a "Finding Aid Friday" post that describes one of our archival collections every Friday that the BDC Research Room is open. I reserve the right to not post on Fridays when the Library happens to be closed or I am out of the office (for whatever reasons).
A finding aid is "a description that typically consists of contextual and structural information about an archival resource." In other words, a finding aid is a guide to the contents and history related to a particular set of related items created by a person or entity.
Let's begin with the Charles N. Bayless Photograph Collection Finding Aid since people do love photos. Bayless photographed exteriors and interiors of historic buildings in Georgetown, Charleston, and Beaufort Counties as part of Historic American Buildings Survey funded in part by two National Endowment for the Arts grants during the 1970s. The photographs of Beaufort area structures were taken between 1977 and 1979. He donated the 466 black and white photographic prints relevant Beaufort County to the Beaufort County Library in 1979. I have no plans to digitize this collection during my remaining tenure.
The Charles N. Bayless Photograph Collection Finding Aid is posted online in the BDCBCL: Links, Lists, and Finding Aids WordPress blog. Contact us to schedule the necessary appointment for access to the Research Room: bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468.
The Elizabeth Crofut Waterhouse & Marguerite Crofut Papers (1891-1971) archival collection is comprised of eleven folders and two scrapbooks, primarily of violin, piano or vocal musical performances held in Beaufort, SC. The scrapbooks contain newspaper and magazine clippings, original photographs, and recital programs attended or presented.
The scrapbooks have been digitized for access only in the Research Room. Please contact us to make an appointment to review these and other materials in the Beaufort District Collection: bdc@bcgov.net ; 843-255-6468.
January 27 - Music was particularly important to the people of mid-nineteenth century America. Sales of sheet music were immensely profitable for the many publishing houses, North and South. When war came, the soldiers and the ones they left behind at home had a common musical foundation of sentimental songs, ballads, comic songs, operatic and patriotic tunes. Today's "Finding Aid Friday" selection is the Sue M. Capehart Collection of Piano Sheet Music. It includes 57 examples of popular sheet music for piano published between 1848 to 1869, including some rare Confederate imprints.
Programs Related Posts
Civil War Union Bands - Two Sessions
I promoted the "Civil War Union Bands" with Dr. Michael Johns sessions held at St. Helena Branch and Hilton Head Branch Libraries with Facebook posts on January 7; 14; 19; 20 and 24th.
I posted photographs from those sessions in Facebook Photo Albums on January 19, 20 and 26 with additions later in the month.
I posted a short video about Dr. Johns' program on January 19: It's not everyday that we get to hear period music on period instruments during a local history program - but we certainly did today! Thank you, Dr. Michael Johns. It was an aural extravaganza with a thorough history of an important facet of warfare - that few of us have ever given much thought. My personal knowledge of the topic exploded as a result of Dr. Johns' presentation. As always this program was successful because we had a willing and knowledgeable speaker who volunteered his time, a helpful branch library staff, and the cooperation of our official partners for this session: Beaufort County Historical Society and Coastal Discovery Museum.
Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779 (Forthcoming)
I encouraged registration for "The Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779" with Neil Baxley on January 20 and 24.
January 26 - As of 5 pm on 1/25/2023: Only a few seats remain for the "Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779" program set for 2 February. Program co-sponsors are the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society, and the Beaufort County 250th Committee. Registration will close when room capacity is reached.
Stuarts Town Symposium (Forthcoming)
January 3 - Dr. Peter Moore was recently interviewed about his new book "Carolina's Lost Colony: Stuarts Town and the Struggle for Survival in Early South Carolina" by the Dean of South Carolina history, Walter Edgar. The SC Public Radio program will air on all 10 SCPR stations on Friday, Jan 6, 2023 at noon EDT and rebroadcast twice that weekend – on Saturday morning on SCPR's News & Music stations, and on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. on SCPR's News & Talk stations. It will be available for on-demand listening starting January 9, 2023.
January 22 - Be sure to mark your calendars to attend the upcoming Stuarts Town Symposium! You may recall there was a week-long exploratory archaeology dig in The Point neighborhood searching for signs of the Lost 17thC Scottish Colony of Stuarts Town back in August 2022. For the past few months, all material found has been at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) at USC in Columbia - being cleaned, examined, and analyzed. As planned, there will be a free, public symposium to review those findings - as well as presentations on the latest scholarship around Stuarts Town history, and that of their allies, the Yamassee Indians on Saturday, February 4, 2023 in the USCB Center for the Arts from 1 to 4 pm.
January 28 - Listen to the recording of Walter Edgar's interview with author Peter Moore about "Carolina's Lost Colony" on demand at the South Carolina Public Radio Network website. Doing so will put you in good stead for the upcoming Saturday, February 4, 2022 Stuarts Town Symposium at the USCB Center for the Arts. The symposium is free. Please note: Lobby doors open to the public at 12:30. Seating begins at 12:45 on a first-come, first-served basis.
