Some of What We Accomplished in March

The Beaufort District Collection (BDC) had a busy March with materials processing, community engagement activities and a BDC@ Bluffton Branch archaeology program, co-sponsored with the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Ashley continues to work on the Arnsberger Postcard Collection, preparing it for submission to the Lowcountry Digital Library this week. It's been an intensive process making high resolution scans of more than 200 postcards, capturing metadata, creating tags and subject headings. We hope that you enjoy the end results beginning National Postcard Week in May. 

Among the goals we set for this unit during 2016 was to interact more often with more segments of our community. Thus, the BDC continues to enter into collaborations with community groups.

•  The BDC represented the Library system on the Beaufort History Museum’s Living History Civil War Encampment weekend planning committee and at the event on Saturday.  Staff talked with 160 people and handed out 100 brochures about Civil War materials and Library services. 

• We highlighted the family history resources of the BDC for 10 members of the Charleston Genealogy Society on March 16, first during a behind-the-scenes tour and for some, during a family history research session.

• Senior staff attended the private “Virtue, Liberty, Science: A Legacy of Education in Beaufort County: History and Reflections on the Occasion of the Investiture of Dr. Al M. Panu” lecture and reception the evening of March 16. 

• On March 23, 30 Landmark Conference attendees got to enjoy a broad subset of our treasures in a special behind-the-scenes tour. Staff was pleased to be invited to the Landmark Conference banquet on March 24 during which they heard Dr. Brent Morris’s presentation on historical interpretations of Reconstruction through the past century and to interact with other stewards of cultural heritage collections.

Such community engagement activities allow BDC staff to interact with other professionals, customers, and the public, to assess the Library’s perception in the community, solicit input, and provide fertile ground for new ideas for service delivery to form. 

As you may remember from previous posts, the BDC is the only Beaufort County Library public service unit that has to provide services and programs at other Library unit locations. We have to provide at least one program per year per location - though at some of the locations we do more (depending on meeting room availability, speaker preferences, and turn-out at previous programs and trainings at a particular location).

On March 22, LAMAR Institute archaeologists, Dan and Rita Elliott, screened a documentary film and gave the Battle of Purysburg Final Report at Bluffton Branch to 26 interested people. This well-attended program was co-sponsored by the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.We hope to return to Bluffton Branch with a quite different local history program over the summer.

August Outreach & Programs

The Beaufort District Collection sponsors programs about local history, Gullah culture, natural history, archaeology, genealogy and materials preservation on a recurrent basis throughout the Beaufort County Library system. We're featuring local history, natural history, archaeology, films, a tour, exhibits, and military history during August:

The "Reconstruction History Long Ignored, Neglected: Are We Finally Ready to Talk?" panel exhibit from the USC-B Libraries is currently on display in our 2nd floor lobby. 


We're also working with USC and the Beaufort Chapter, ASSC to reach out to the community tonight through the USC-B Reception and Book Signing with Dr. Larry Rowland and Dr. Stephen Wise. (At long last, volume 2 of the History of Beaufort County South Carolina is published!) We're taking some of our own Civil War, Reconstruction era, phosphate mining, and Hurricane of 1893 treasures to display. Library Director, Ray McBride and Library Assistant Director, Jan O'Rourke will be on hand to meet-and-greet you and answer any questions you might have about the Library system. If you have any questions about the items and surrogates on display, feel free to ask me for more information.

Meg Gaillard, Archaeologist

Tomorrow morning, Meg Gaillard, Archaeologist with the SC Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program will be here to show documentary films about Fort Frederick, the oldest tabby structure in Beaufort District, and lead participants on a tour of the Fort Frederick historic site. (We regret that we cannot provide transportation to the site on the Naval Hospital grounds). Join us in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room at 11 am for the film showings. Come early as we can only seat 50 people. 

For photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey about Fort Frederick click http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20sc1116&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true.

On August 27th,  I'll be sharing images and personal accounts about the Hurricane of 1893 at Hilton Head Branch on the 122nd anniversary of the most devastating disaster to ever befall Beaufort District. That presentation will begin at 2 pm.

We also expect that the "We Are P.I.: Making Marines" panel exhibit from the Parris Island Historical & Museum Society will arrive very soon. (Stay tuned for the announcement).

Phosphate Industry on May 15th

Cultural heritage organizations like to band together to bring extra special series, events, or presentations to you, our community.  These special offerings are planned months, sometimes even years in advance. We try to maximize our funds and reach by collaborating well and as often as possible.  Such an offering is coming to Beaufort County on Thursday, May 15th so please mark your calendars accordingly.

On Thurs., May 15th, the Beaufort District Collection, the Beaufort County Historical Society, and the Coastal Discovery Museum are co-sponsoring free lectures by Dr. Shepherd McKinley about his book, Stinking Stones and Rocks of Gold: Phosphate, Fertilizer, and Industrialization in Postbellum South Carolina, University Press of Florida, released yesterday! The lecture North of the Broad River will be held at the St. Helena Branch Library at Noon followed a reprise of the lecture at the Coastal Discovery Museum beginning at 3 pm. Make plans now to attend one of the sessions about the most important of Beaufort District's past industries.

 

Morsels of Local History at Your Fingertips

Click on the rotating slide on our Library homepage to see and hear about topics of local historical interest. None are more than 3 minutes in length.  More segments are in production.

Brought to you by the County Channel, Beaufort County Planning Department's Historic Preservationist, Ian Hill, Beaufort County Library's Dennis Adams and Grace Cordial, and Coastal Discovery Museum's Natalie Hefter.