Artifacts Identified ... for Free!

Got an artifact (or two or three) lying around your house that you're just dying to know more about? Bring it (or them) to one of the free "What The Heck Is It?" sessions being held by the local Archaeological Society of South Carolina chapters to commemorate South Carolina Archaeology Month. 

  

• The BDC and the Beaufort Chapter, ASSC are hosting a session on Saturday, October 3rd from 10 am to 1 pm. Two of our favorite archaeologists, Dr. Eric Poplin and Dr. Jonathan Leader, will be available to identify your artifacts.

• South of the Broad River residents may prefer to take their artifacts to the session at Coastal Discovery Museum on October 17th, 1 - 4 pm. The Hilton Head Island Chapter, ASSC is sponsoring this session. Dr. Poplin and Dr. Leader will be there to assist you. 

Psst! At the NOB session, we'll have copies of the 2015 South Carolina Archaeology Month posters to give away ... while supplies last.

"What the Heck Is It?" Artifact Identification Program

The Beaufort District Collection, Beaufort County Planning Department, and the Archaeological Society of South Carolina­­- Hilton Head Chapter hosts the 4th Annual "What The Heck Is It?" ­­Artifact Identification Program. Bring your mystery artifacts to be examined by Dr. Jonathan Leader, South Carolina State Archaeologist from the University of South Carolina in Columbia and a substitute for Dr. Eric Poplin, Archaeologist at Brockington & Associates from Mt. Pleasant, SC who unfortunately will be unable to come to Beaufort on Saturday.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Archaeological Society of South Carolina Hilton Head Chapter members will have local and regional artifacts on display.

Please meet at the Beaufort District Collection, Sat., Oct. 19th, on the 2d floor of the Library building located at 311 Scott Street, in Beaufort. The program will run from Noon until 4:00 pm.

For more information on this talk and other archaeology activities in the Beaufort and Hilton Head area, please contact Mary Lou Brewton, (912) 604-3634 Cell or maryloubrew@aol.com.

Reminder:  The BDC Research Room is closed from Noon to 1 pm today.  Be sure to visit us 10 to Noon, grab a snack and break from Noon to 1 pm, and return to continue your research from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Archaeology Program Tonight!

Join us!  It's free.  We would love to see you.  (And, while you're here, you can pick up your own personal copy of the "Sharing the Past" poster - also at no charge.)

Archaeology Month Programs

Beaufort County is fortunate to have many significant archaeological sites.  On September 23th, Beaufort County Council proclaimed October as "Archaeology Month." The following evening the City of Beaufort Council issued its Archaeology Month proclamation.

Ian Hill, the County Historic Preservationist, and I have been putting together archaeology month programs for almost a decade now.  This year we are very pleased to be collaborating with the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina to highlight the significance of archaeology here in Beaufort County.   

Two of the Archaeology Month events are being held in the Beaufort District Collection, the library system’s special collections and archives unit.  On Tues., Oct. 15, archaeologist Helena Ferguson will talk about efforts to raise public awareness about the value of archaeology.  A few days later, on Saturday, Oct. 19, Dr. Jon Leader and Dr. Eric Poplin will identify objects for the public during the “What the Heck Is It?” session from Noon to 4 pm.  

· “Sharing Our Past” lecture by SCAPOD Co-founder Helena Ferguson

   Tues., Oct. 15, 2013

   Beaufort District Collection, 2d floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort 

   6:00—7:00 pm

· “What the Heck Is It?” relic identification with archaeologists 

   Dr. Jon Leader and Dr. Eric Poplin

   Sat., Oct. 19, 2013

   Beaufort District Collection, 2d floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort  

   Noon - 4:00 pm 

At the end of the month, Oct. 24-26, the inaugural Arkhaois Film Festival gets underway at the Coligny Theatre on Hilton Head Island.  The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Coastal Discovery Museum, and the Humanities Council of South Carolina hope to turn this into an annual event on Hilton Head Island.  More than 30 films are set for screening.   

Each of these Archaeology Month events is free and open to the general public.   

We hope that you can come celebrate Archaeology Month with Beaufort County Library, Beaufort County Planning Department and the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Reminder: The Research Room will be closed Wed., Oct. 16th from Noon to 1 pm.  We will be open 10 - Noon and 1 - 5 pm that date.

BDC Focus Shifts for October

September was a whirlwind of visitors, lectures, events, discussion groups, and performances for the Beaufort District Collection.  We have reached almost 4 times the usual and customary volume of BDC customers with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's “Civil War 150” exhibit and supplemental programs during September.  Traditionally, October is quite busy as we highlight three annual commemorations in the special collections and archives unit of the Library system: Archives Month; Archaeology Month; and Family History Month.

 

Although the centerpiece of our efforts, the “Civil War 150: Exploring the War and Its Meaning through the Words of Those Who Lived It” traveling exhibit has moved along to its next destination (South Hamilton, MA), the Library system and its partners have plenty more Civil War related activities scheduled through the end of October. Details are available on our website: www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/civilwar.

The BDC has one final contribution to the “One County Reads the Civil War” project: the 4th annual Behind-the-Scenes Tour to celebrate Archives Month. Each year the tour features a different theme.  Fittingly, staff will highlight significant Civil War items within our collection this year on Sat., Oct. 12th at 2 pm.  The tour will last about 1 hour 30 minutes.  30 lucky people will learn how we care for the materials within the special collections and archives unit, how we share some of those materials in the Research Room and through the online “Virtual BDC,” and will have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with some of our Civil War related treasures.   

Although we do group tours (5 – 15 persons being the ideal) by prior arrangement throughout the year, this will be the only tour offered to individual members of the general public in 2013. There is no charge to attend. There are only a few slots left for those individuals over age 12 who are interested in learning about what we have, what we do, and how we share what we have with the community – and indeed, in some cases, the world!   Contact cseabrook@bcgov.net or call 255-6468 to register. 

The Beaufort County Planning Department and Beaufort County Library have co-sponsored Archaeology Month programs during October for almost a decade now.  This year we are very pleased to be collaborating with the Hilton Head Chapter of the Archaeology Society of South Carolina. Two of the Archaeology Month events are being held in the Beaufort District Collection.  On Tues., Oct. 15th,  archaeologist Helena Ferguson will talk about efforts to raise public awareness about the value of archaeology.  A few days later, on Saturday, Oct. 19th, Dr. Jon Leader and Dr. Eric Poplin will identify objects for the public during the “What the Heck Is It?” session from Noon to 4 pm. 

We have copies of the 2013 Archaeology Month poster, “Public Archaeology in South Carolina” in the BDC Research Room to give away.  Drop by during our regular hours of operation, Mondays through Fridays, 10 am – 5 pm to pick up one.

The inaugural Arkhaois Cultural and Archaeology Film Festival gets underway at the Coligny Theatre on Hilton Head Island, Oct. 24 – Oct. 26.  The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Coastal Discovery Museum, the Humanities Council of South Carolina, and the Arts Commission of South Carolina hope to turn this into an annual event on Hilton Head Island.  More than 30 films are set for screening.   

All of these Archaeology Month events are free and open to the general public. 

October is also Family History Month.  Approximately 35 – 40% of our Research Room and e-mail customers are interested in exploring their roots.  This can be rather challenging as so many of our government records were lost in 1865. 

The Library system provides access to Ancestry Library Edition year-round to support genealogical research.  Although the BDC concentrates on genealogical materials relating to our immediate area, we try to guide anyone interested in pursuing this avocation to appropriate sources of additional information.  To facilitate researchers, we offer occasional genealogy workshops, one-on-one research appointments, and telephone reference interviews by prior arrangement throughout the year.  Because time and staff are in short supply, we will focus on Family History Month primarily through the BDC’s social media this year.  Since 2008 we have made almost 100 posts about family history and genealogical matters to our blog, www.beaufortdistrictcollectionconnections.blogspot.com. On our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/BDC.BCL (case-sensitive), expect to see a genealogy hint or tip every weekday during October.

We hope that you will continue to support the efforts and programs of the Library system as we note Archives Month, Archaeology Month, Family History Month, and conclude the “One County Reads the Civil War” project. 

SCHM for Jan. 2012 Has Arrived!

The South Carolina Historical Magazine dated January 2012 has arrived. (It has been running behind schedule for several years now as the cost of publication has gone up - and available financial resources to publish the journal have become ever tighter.)  This issue includes several Beaufort District related book reviews and an article about J.D.B. De Bow, the man behind De Bow's Review, "The South's most influential nineteenth-century monthly journal." 

The BDC has five issues of De Bow's Review in our collection.  Although the physical issues are rather fragile, we allow customers to read the ones we have, provided that they are very careful when handling the volumes.  A detailed list of the articles contained in each of the five issues we have can be found by looking into my "De Bow's Review" bookbag.

The other two articles in this SCHM address definitions of Catawba tribal membership and the white men who were executed in Charleston for their involvement in the Denmark Vesey slave conspiracy (The BDC has a copy of the 1822 Official Report of the Trial of Sundry Negroes, Charged with an Attempt to Raise an Insurrection in the State of South Carolina to which much reference is made in our Research Room.)

Three of the books reviewed are in our holdings: Twilight on the South Carolina Rice Fields: Letters of the Heyward Family, 1862-1871 edited by Hollis and Stokes 975.703 HEY (BDC and Local History); the very popular Northern Money, Southern Land: The Lowcountry Plantation Sketches of Chlotilde Martin, updated by Hoffius and Cuthbert 728.8579 MAR (BDC and Local History); and, Maroon Communities in South Carolina: A Documentary Record by Lockley. (The book is in the BDC but you can download Dr. Lockley's lecture here in Beaufort for "Archaeology Month 2009" to learn more about this book.) 

Reminder:  The Beaufort County Library system will be closed Monday, Nov. 12th to observe Veteran's Day.  

Join Us Tonight!: Civil War Maritime Archaeology Program

Don't forget:  This program will be in County Council Chambers, not in the Library.  We hope to see you there.   

Added Bonus: Free SCIAA Archaeology Month posters - "Civil War Shipwrecks in South Carolina" while they last!

Reminder: Judge on Archaeology on Thursday

Chris Judge will lecture on "Making Artifacts Talk: Fifteen Years at the Johannes Kolb Site––Archaeology and Education" at the Beaufort Branch Library on this Thursday, Oct. 27th beginning at 5:30 pm.

This lecture is brought to you by the BDC@The Branches local history series and the Beaufort County Planning Department. The lecture will occur in the old SC Room on the first floor of the Beaufort Branch, 311 Scott Street. It is free and open to anyone over age 12 interested in learning more about archaeology in South Carolina.

Brooker on Tabby at HHI Archaeology Society

The Archaeological Society of South Carolina, Hilton Head Chapter celebrates Archaeology Month with a lecture by
Colin Brooker on Tuesday, October 18th at 1 pm at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn. Brooker is an expert on "Worldwide Tabby Architecture," and supervised the stabilization of the ruins on Dataw Island.

The lecture and meeting are free and open to the public. For further information, please contact George Stubbs- 843-363-5058 www.assc.net.

In case you'd like to see some of the materials the Library has on the topic of tabby, visit our Tabby: Cement of the Lowcountry webpage.

Celebrate Archaeology Month with BC Planning and Library!

October is a busy month for the BDC. In addition to it being "Archives Month," it's also "Family History Month," as well as "SC Archaeology Month."

Beaufort County has numerous recognized digs within its boundaries. In concert with the goals of South Carolina Archaeology Month, the Beaufort County Planning Department and the Beaufort County Library have teamed together to stimulate public pride in our state’s long archaeological heritage, increase public understanding of why archaeological research is important, educate the public about how to protect, preserve and study archaeological resources, and encourage legitimate archaeological activities. For the past 7 years, Ian Hill, the County's Historic Preservationist and I have brought programs on the topic of Archaeology to you during the month of October. This year is no exception.

We are very pleased to host USC-Lancaster Professor and archaeologist, Chris Judge here on Thurs., Oct. 27th at 5:30 pm. His lecture "Making Artifacts Talk: Fifteen Years at the Johannes Kolb Site––Archaeology and Education" is part of the BDC@ The Branches local history series. The lecture will be held in the old SC Room on the first floor of the Beaufort Branch library building at 311 Scott Street in downtown Beaufort.

Learn more about the Kolb Site at http://38da75.com/.

On your way to Judge’s presentation, linger a few minutes at the archaeology related materials and artifacts on display in the Beaufort Branch Library. Or check out some of the many archaeology-related books, videos, and database resources the Beaufort County Library provides.

Come to the lecture and pick up your own "Making Artifacts Talk" poster with loads of information about the Kolb site on the reverse! Free, while supplies last.

October is always the busiest month for the BDC -- and this one was even busier than usual

Please note: I'm counting Sept. 29th and Sept. 30th as part of October. We were closed until 5 pm on September 29th to relocate the BDC.

We held the Grand-Reopening private function on September 29th, and got back to daily business on September 30th.

The BDC hosted 9 Behind-the-Scenes tours of our new facility, created a display of significant documents we have inside the new room, and I wrote an inordinately large number of Connections entries to highlight Archives Month for which there were 550 pageviews.

In addition, we coordinated 2 free-and-open-to-the-public programs and accepted a County Council proclamation on behalf of the AM Team 2010 for Archaeology Month.

Because a learning staff is a competent staff, we participated in several no and/or very low cost training opportunities in order to help us become even better stewards of the materials entrusted into our care.

99 people got a Behind-the-Scenes tour of our new facility during October.

We had a total of 42 people attend the Archaeology Month programs on Palmetto Bluff and Gullah Genealogy. The session on Gullah Genealogy, presented by archaeologists Carl Steen and Dr. Jodi Barnes, was broadcast live on the County Channel on Oct. 26th.

We also had 96 Research Room customer visits (with only 1 complaint).

I (and the Smithsonian Institution Archives) posted 31 days of blog entries about archives, management of archives, other archives, etc. Just click on the BROWSE BY TOPIC tag "archives" along the left hand column to see all 31 entries. There were 550 page views of Connections during October.

We fielded 15 e-mail or telephone reference inquiries.

Charmaine went to the PALMCOP (Palmetto Archives, Libraries, and Museums Council on Preservation) conference to learn more about preservation techniques for encapsulation, phase boxes, basic book repair, document repair, and care for photographs and negatives.

I went to the combined Society of Georgia Archivists and the South Carolina Archival Association conference at the very end of the month in order to keep my skills current. It is always a good idea to "test" what we do here against what other area archives are doing to share their holdings with the public.

Charmaine participated in 2 free online webinars sponsored by the IMLS dealing with how to use social media to tell our story offered with the public. (You may recall that the BDC was the recipient of a Connecting to Collections Bookshelf grant a few years ago, and I was the grateful recipient of a scholarship from Heritage Preservation to attend the IMLS regional symposium in Buffalo, NY last June.)

So adding it all up, the BDC touched the lives and helped meet the curiosity of 252 people plus however many unique individuals looked at this blog 550 times last month.

Final Archaeology Month Program Tomorrow

Coming November 4th to Beaufort Branch Library:

"Keeping the May River Wild"
Naturalist and Documentary Film-maker, Greg Smith
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Children's Programming Room, 1st Floor

BDC @ The Branches Programs Continue

“Archaeology of the Gullah People”
with Carl Steen and Dr. Jodi Barnes
Tues., Oct. 26th
5:30 pm—6:30 pm
County Council Chambers
100 Ribaut Road

The African American citizens of the Sea Islands and tidally influenced areas of the coast from Northern Florida to Southern North Carolina developed a distinctive dialect and culture and became known as the Gullah people. Few of them could read or write, and almost none left a written record of their lives. But like all humans they left material evidence of their time here. Therefore archaeology is one of the few avenues we have into documenting their lives. The archaeologists will discuss the role of archaeology, and cite some examples of archaeology at Gullah sites in South Carolina, including the Penn Center site for the proposed new St. Helena Branch Library.

Heads up: "Keeping the May River Wild" a screening with naturalist and documentary film-maker, Greg Smith will be held on Nov. 4, beginning at 5:30 pm at the Beaufort Branch Library. Join us in the Children's Programming Room for this natural history presentation.