Beaufort District Collection Local History Program plans are evolving as we navigate all that COVID-19 and the vaccination controversy have wrought. Please note: Until further notice, all visitors to the Library must be properly masked and socially distance from others.
As you are likely aware, COVID-19 mitigation efforts have affected Library operations and Library program efforts since mid-March 2020. For example, the Summer Reading Program programs in 2020 and 2021 were held outdoors or were virtual events. In the case of the BDC's programs we had to postpone or cancel programs previously scheduled to be held in April and May 2020.
Last summer, the Beaufort County Historical Society and the BDC decided to forge ahead with an all virtual Season 2 of the Historically Speaking series, acquiring new skills in the process. The online attendance numbers proved good. More than 800 people viewed the three lectures that we were able to post. One lecture had to be postponed due to scheduling conflicts and staff shortages. At the same time, the Beaufort History Museum and the Library suspended our joint Local History series for the July 2020-June 2021 season by mutual agreement.
So... yes things have indeed been quite different since the first COVID-19 shutdown in mid-March 2020.
Under normal pre-COVID conditions, the BDC manages three sets of programs: 1) stand alone BDC local history programs which are generally how-to or instructional in nature (e.g. how to use the "Freedmen's Bureau Records"); 2) the "Historically Speaking" series held with the Beaufort County Historical Society; and 3) the "Local History" series co-sponsored by the Beaufort County Library and the Beaufort History Museum that began in 2016.
Together and separately each organization has been pondering our respective ways forward to a return on in-person programs since June 2020. Plans were steaming ahead: We had our speakers on topics we felt of interest to our community; We had reserved the rooms for August, September, October and December 2021. Unfortunately, the spread of COVID-19 in Beaufort County has not lessened, indeed it has grown larger which makes it even scarier for us to host in-person events - even if we had done so at a very reduced room capacity standard to observe health and safety protocols.
This fourth surge has nixed most of those plans.
The first program affected was "Tide of Death."
I try to give the "Tide of Death" presentation at least once every three to four years in one or more library locations. 2021 meant that it was about time to do it again. I had planned to do an in-person event on August 27th, the hurricane's anniversary. When it became obvious that an in-person program could not happen, Thomas Schotter of the Library's Marketing and Communications unit recorded me talking about the biggest, baddest hurricane to strike Beaufort District in its long and storied history. We recorded it on August 20th in the BDC "studio." We posted it on August 27th. Just between us: We probably should have spent a bit more time editing the raw footage but staff shortages and schedules just did not allow either of us that opportunity. The presentation has been running on the Library's YouTube Channel for a couple of weeks now. It will remain available at least to the end of this month. (I do so hope that you watch it and let me know if you came away knowing more about the Great Sea Island Hurricane than when you began.)
There are 4 programs on the calendar between September and December. Due to the surging infection rate in Beaufort County, at least 3 of those programs now require implementation of some on alternate plans of delivery to you. On the plus side, this old dog is having to learn new tricks and acquiring new skills even at this late stage in my professional career.
September's program is postponed until November. I had planned to offer an in-person Author Book Talk with Dr. Eric Plaag about his Means of Grace: A History of the Robertville Baptist Church on September 16th. Then we decided to record his talk while he was going to be in the area. Then his visit to the lowcountry was postponed. Then Dr. Eric Plaag, Thomas Schotter, and I got our thinking caps out again. Thomas and I tested the technology on September 10th and we think that we'll be able to pull it off come mid-November. (We cannot do it any sooner than that due to conflicting schedules.) That means we're going to try the BDC's first ever LIVE YouTube program about Means of Grace on 15 November. I am grateful for the cooperation of the Beaufort County Historical Society, and Carolina Historical Consulting, LLC in making this happen for us.
To participate in the LIVE event one will have to get the URL from us. Be sure to sign up for the BDC's e-mail distribution list to get the URL link and notice for the live and virtual event. All other viewers will be able to access the recording through Library's YouTube Channel within a day or two after the live and virtual event.
Programs planned for October will be delivered remotely, more or less on schedule.
October had two programs on the calendar: one "Historically Speaking" session with the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Season 5 opener in the Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library series.
Season 3 of the "Historically Speaking" series was set to open with Dr. Molly Barnes of the University of South Carolina Beaufort with "Reading Between Lines and Across Rivers: Charlotte Forten and
Harriet Tubman, June 1863." We are in the process of finalizing where, when and how precisely this session co-sponsored by the Beaufort County Historical Society, USCB's Institute for the Study of Reconstruction and the BDC will be shared - but shared it will be. Neil Baxley is the featured speaker for the BHM/BCL series a few days later in October. His topic is "Duels in Beaufort District." Just as in the case of Dr. Plaag's and Dr. Barnes' sessions, we spent a lot of time debating what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. We made a decision last week: "Duels in Beaufort District" will be recorded inside the BDC's temporary "studio," edited, and then posted on the
Library's YouTube Channel a few weeks later.
I think that local history program groupies should get a little something extra for your faithfulness.
One of the things that we have tried to do since having to go virtual with our programs is to let the membership of the respective sponsoring organizations get the link before we publicize it more broadly on our respective Facebook pages and websites.
If you want to see the program before we make the link open to the general public on the Library's website, here in Connections or on the BDC's Facebook page, you'll need to either already be on the BDC's list or you'll have to subscribe the the BDC's newsletter before early October. Just be sure to check the "Beaufort District Collection" box.
November will now have the program about Means of Grace mentioned above.
The program scheduled for December is - as of this writing - planning to be held with a live audience assembled in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room.
Our fingers remain crossed that by December all health concerns related to COVID spread will have abated and we can gather together in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room for a lecture about the the history of the New York Highlanders during the Civil War with Tom Vaselopulos as part of the Beaufort History Museum's Encampment weekend. Of course, all of these plans are subject to change as we do not know what further impacts vaccination rates and COVID-19 spread may have on us over the course of the next several months.
