Local History Program for August 29, 2018

News Flash: Just added to our program schedule!  

Beaufort is visually stunning with lots of antebellum homes because the Union occupied this town and established lots of hospitals during the Civil War. Thank goodness for the need to help the wounded. It helped save a lot of structures from physical damage and destruction. We're hosting a program based on medical history to illuminate the period for our customers on August 29th.

The beloved novel Gone with the Wind has a lot of characters - and a fair portion of them get sick or wounded. Living historian Dave Smoot has created a new program to share his deep knowledge of mid-19th medical treatments and practices based upon the medical manuals of the time. (The BDC connection?: Some students of Margaret Mitchell's work claim that at least some of the inspiration for the life and times of the Old South came from her childhood visits to Beaufort.)

• Scarlett's first husband, Charles Hamilton,  contracts measles; what would have been the treatment?
• Scarlett's mother, Ellen Robillard O'Hara, contracts typhoid fever; how would it have been treated?
• Mr. O'Hara's beloved Tara falls on hard times after the Southern defeat and he becomes addle-headed; what would have happened to him?
• Both Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Rhett and Melanie Hamilton Wilkes give birth; what special circumstances would have been present?
• A cast of thousands are lying wounded on an Atlanta street. One screams, "Don't cut, don't cut", on the operating table. What happened to the Civil War wounded?
• The book and the movie are different. There are characters in the book that are not featured in the movie? Some get sick. What happens to them?

Come to this free "first come, first seated" BDC local history program to find out!

3rd Annual Living History Encampment, March 24, 2018

Beaufort History Museum will present its third annual Living History Encampment on Saturday, March 24, 2018 from 9 am – 5 pm in the Arsenal courtyard. This year, the popular event will include displays of South Carolina militia from 1860 – 1861 and describe the militia’s role in defending the Port Royal Harbor, and subsequently in defending the mainland against the Federal forces. Also featured will be military impressions of the Union infantry, marine and naval forces that used Beaufort as a base of operations during the Civil War after the Battle of Port Royal Sound on Nov. 7, 1861. In addition, the role of civilian abolitionists and teachers involved in the Port Royal Experiment will be presented, along with the early transitions of Freedmen in this area.

Re-enactors coming to Beaufort from several states will stage the encampment in the walled Arsenal courtyard space and provide a unique opportunity for visitors of all ages to interact with the soldiers, abolitionists, teachers and Freedmen, and to learn firsthand how life was lived in Beaufort during the Civil War years. The Museum is partnering with other Beaufort organizations, including the Beaufort County Library, to plan and conduct the Living History Encampment, along with these educational events:

“Our annual Living History Encampment is one of our most popular events, attracting more than 600 visitors in a single day last year”, said Carol Lauvray, BHM Board of Directors President. “The event is educational and entertaining, and provides a chance for people of all ages to get a real sense of everyday life in Beaufort during the Civil War years. We are very grateful to encampment organizer, Daniel Gidick of Charleston, to the other re-enactors, and to our partner the Beaufort County Library, for all of their efforts to make this remarkable event available to the public each year.”

The encampment will offer a fascinating look at everyday life in Beaufort during that period, with re-enactors actually setting up camp in the Arsenal courtyard, staging cooking demonstrations and drills, and portraying soldiers and sutlers who traveled through the region selling everyday goods. Re-enactors will interact with visitors to the event, talking about the life of soldiers, the Port Royal Expedition, the Emancipation of African Americans, and military operations between Charleston and Savannah.

Admission is free to the Encampment in the Arsenal courtyard on Saturday, March 24, however donations to support the Museum are much appreciated. On Saturday, March 24, the day of the Encampment event only, admission to the Museum on the second floor of the Arsenal will be specially priced at $5.00 per visitor ($4.00 for Seniors). Children and active military and their families are admitted to the Museum free of charge at all times. 

(The text is from the Beaufort History Museum's press release 28 February 2018.)