Diversify Your Reading 2022 Challenge : January & February

Back on January 11th, I proclaimed that I could cover the monthly themes offered by the Diversify Your Reading Facebook page with materials in the BDC and/or Local History sections. As I was doing the research for February I began to wonder if perhaps I had spoken too soon. If the BCL Facebook page had not shared my BDC Facebook page post, I probably would have just skipped February altogether. But they did and so I feel obligated to continue on. 

The first monthly theme, "January = Memoir,", was easy. It's a non-fiction topic. The BDC is mostly a non-fiction collection. I have old memoirs and newer memoirs to share. For example: 

About the Civil War Period: 
Memoirs of the War of Secession by Johnson Hagood
The Haskell Memoirs by John Cheves Haskell

Civil War Memoir of Thomas C. Albergotti, First Lieutenant, CSA, Hampton Legion

A Black Woman's Civil War Memoirs : Reminiscences of my Life in Camp with the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops, late 1st South Carolina Volunteers by Susie King Taylor

A Fire-Eater Remembers : the Confederate Memoir of Robert Barnwell Rhett

About the American Revolution: 

Memoirs of the American Revolution by William Moultrie

Memoirs of Tarleton Brown : a captain in the Revolutionary Army

More Recent Memoirs: 
Memoirs of the Prodigal Son : The Road to Redemption: "Fifteen Years in Prison and Beyond" by John C. Dortch

Little Geech: A Shrimper's Story : Life on the waters of Beaufort and the Sea Islands by H.H. "Bubba" Von Harten, Jr. 

Doctor K: A Personal Memoir by Herbert Keyserling, M.D.

Indeed here are so many to share that I made a flyer of just some of the 20th and 21st century options. 

(If you'd like to add to our collection and share your life story with us, I've posted a pathfinder of sorts of how to go about writing  a memoir or family history in a post a few months ago in Connections.) Bottom line: January 2022 was easy-peasy. 

Finding a suitable "Romance" title to share for February 2022 proved much, much harder. 

Any walk through a public library or a bookstore proves that the romance genre is popular. I've worked in academic libraries, archives and local history collections, so when I think of "romance" my first thoughts are "bosom buster" Harlequin romance titles or authors like Julia Quinn, who wrote the Bridgerton series. So to get grounded as to what I should be looking for, I first looked up the definition for "Romance genre." 

The Library's subscription to Novelist Plus was instrumental for there I discovered a "Romance Guide" that explained the the aim of the genre: Tell a story of two people (of different, same or trans- gender) who overcome some adversity(ies) to live their version of "happily ever after." The genre is very popular with authors, booksellers, and the (mostly) women who read them.  

(One must have a valid Beaufort County Library card and discuss password to access the Novel List Plus subscription database.) 

But did the BDC have any? 

I started with a keyword search on "romance" in the SCLENDS catalog and limited the results to the BDC. I got 16 possibilities, some of which I immediately eliminated as the term "romance" referred more to nostalgia and physical setting rather than a relationship between people that ultimately proves successful. For example, Carolina Gardens: The History, Romance and Tradition Many Gardens of two States through More than Two Centuries is more horticultural than love fest and The Romance of Lower Carolina : Historic, Romantic and Traditional Incidents of the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras : Of That Part of South Carolina at or below the Falls of the Rivers; Localities so Plainly Described, as to be Easily Identified obviously doesn't "qualify". 

Several novels by William Gilmore Simms were on the results list but I passed on those for various reasons. I eliminated Annie Colcock's Margaret Tudor : A Romance of Old St. Augustine on the basis of its setting in Florida though it may show up during Women's History Month. I eliminated the Charleston related titles. (Long-time readers of this blog know that I don't "do" Charleston). I did however do a little more research on these three novels on the results list: 

• The Right Side of the River: Romance, Rage and Wonder by Roger Pinckney (2002) was eliminated on account of the fact that I'm going to use a different book of his in another category later this year; 
• Fair with Rain by Ann Head (1957) was eliminated for the same reason. I'm going to use a different title of hers in August; and 
• Maid of the Combahee : A Romance of the South from the Manuscript of Sir Thomas Yeld, Bart. by Israel Plummer Taft (1918) was a strong contender. It was such a strong contender that I even did some genealogical research in the ALE database to learn more about this one-book author. He writes so compellingly of the American Revolution as it unfolded in Beaufort District that I was intrigued by the mystery of his connection to this place. As it turns out, though Taft was born in California in 1857, his father, Henry Spurr Taft, was a Colonel in the Federal Signal Corps who was stationed at Port Royal during the Civil War. Afterwards Col. Taft bought property on St. Helena Island and planted cotton for a few years into the Reconstruction period - which is how young Israel Plummer Taft knew the area so well. This was a definite plus for Maid of the Combahee. However, I saw no direct connection to the "romance genre" in the sense of "bosom buster" so I let this one fall by the wayside as well. (Oh, and I discovered that this is a very rare survivor of the Saulsbury Publishing Company of Baltimore, MD; It cost $1.50 at the time; that there is a digital copy on HathiTrust; that he registered the book with the Copyright Office on 29 December 1918, that he seemed to have preferred to be addressed by his middle name "Plummer"; and that the Beaufort Gazette didn't have any library related news during the period December 1918 through February 1919. I was hoping to see the volume added to the Township Library. But in the end, I didn't see a "love - overcome difficulties - happily ever after" plot line. It is so easy to go down rabbit holes in a special collection.)   

I had two options on the results list left: an anthology of short fiction and a poster. 

From the Heart: Stories of Love and Friendship, compiled by former weekend editor of the Beaufort Gazette, Kendall Bell (2003) is a Coastal Villages imprint - which means that a local press published it. His mission was to get submissions of  "heart-warming, positive, feel-good stories" for our turbulent times. Of the 51 stories he includes, only two are written by Beaufort residents - and neither of those fit the beloved who overcome difficulties to form their "happily ever after" - though some of the other short stories did indeed "fit" the romance theme. However those submissions came in from outside the area once known as Beaufort District. Thus I eliminated this one as well. (BTW: He compiled a second volume before his death caused by Covid-19 in January 2021 that we do not have in the BDC nor any of his other published monographs) . 

Which leaves this poster, a strong graphic for the BDC's Facebook page - which although may be short on words (not much reading to be done) - is definitely about romance: 

The Coastal Stage Players produced "The Last Romance" at the AMVETS Hall on Ribaut Road between Friday, October 25 and Thursday, November 3 in 2019. The comedy depicts how senior widower Ralph meets and woos reticent Carol in spite of his sister's jealousy. Ralph ultimately recaptures "a happiness that seemed all but lost." 

The reviews on the Dramatists Play Service website describe the romance: 

“The boulevard comedy gets a shot in the arm with Joe DiPietro’s THE LAST ROMANCE. Remarkably free of cliché…the golden-years love story casts a bewitching spell…it should enjoy a long life.” —Variety. “The play adroitly explores relationships between men and women in their golden years, as well as how the invisible ties of family often tie our hearts harder and faster than any love affair. A tale that mixes heartbreak with its humor and opera with the laughter…For all the breezy throwaway jokes—and there is enough laughter to make even old age seem pleasurable—the central message about seizing life with a passion comes through loud and clear.” —Naples News. “A tender romantic comedy.” —San Diego Union Tribune. “You’ll fall in love with THE LAST ROMANCE…The audience howls with laughter.” —FloridaWeekly.com.

Thus, is the process and why BDC Poster #257 is my selection for the February 2022 "Diversify Your Reading Challenge." 

Heads up: The Library will be closed on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 21, 2022. 

The next local history program will be held March 11, 2022. Registration for "The Battle of Purysburg, 1779" with archaeologist Rita Elliott will open on our co-sponsor's website on February 25, 2022. 

Black History Notes 2018- Re-cap

Things got a little hectic during February so I did not get to make my usual number of posts here in Connections. Here are the "Black History Notes" posted into Facebook last month:

28 February - "Black History Note:" Soldiers, sailors, nurses, artisans, laborers, officers, scouts, and spies: African Americans were at the center of the Civil War from the moment it began and played many roles in the war’s conduct and resolution. Our recently uploaded L.C. Hall Collection of stereoscopes includes some images of African American residents. Take a look! http://bit.ly/2suq91j

28 February - Last call (and also a "Black History Note") : Today is the FINAL DAY to see the Combahee Ferry Historic District exhibit here. It leaves tonight at 5 pm. (Many thanks to the SC DOT for letting us borrow this informative and educational exhibit and to Dr. Eric Poplin of Brockington and Associates for coming down back in November to lecture about it.)

27 February - "Black History Note:" The American landscape is littered with former abodes of enslaved people, both south and north of the Mason-Dixon line. Joe McGill has made it his mission to sleep in slave quarters over the past several years including some here in Beaufort County. McGill shares the scope, breadth, and goals of his Slave Dwelling Project in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/pARedEd5LI0

26 February - "Black History Note:" Investigate online resources for African-American genealogy research through the SC State Library's Black History Guide. http://guides.statelibrary.sc.gov/black-history/genealogy

25 February - "Black History Note:" The History Makers website, the largest video oral history collection online, features interviews with hundreds of African American leaders, including our own Emory Campbell, native son of Hilton Head Island and former Executive Director of Penn Center. http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/emory-campbell-41


24 February - "Black History Note:" The Chronicling America website contains digital images of thousands of newspapers, including almost 70 historical African American newspapers published between 1850 and 1950. You can search and browse 10 African-American newspapers published in South Carolina between 1865 and 1922 by selecting the "All Digitized Newspapers" tab, choosing "South Carolina" as the State and "African American" in the Ethnicity box.

While you're on that website, look at the Beaufort Republican and the Beaufort Tribune and Port Royal Commercial newspapers. These newspapers were owned by abolitionists who stayed in the area during Reconstruction. News coverage was sympathetic to the plight of African-Americans.

23 February - "Black History Note:" The State Library has a guide to Black History resources. (I noticed that as the book covers went by, that our Library has copies of most suggested titles, particularly for the Gullah and Geechee Culture and the Slavery and Emancipation headings.) http://guides.statelibrary.sc.gov/black-history

22 February - "Black History Note:" Have a question about African-American records? Find answers on History Hub! History Hub is a support community for history enthusiasts, researchers, citizen archivists, family historians, and archival professionals sponsored by the National Archives. https://historyhub.history.gov/gro…/african-american-records

21 February - "Black History Note:" Soldiers, sailors, nurses, artisans, laborers, officers, scouts, and spies: African Americans were at the center of the Civil War from the moment it began and played many roles in the war’s conduct and resolution. See how many African Americans you find in our latest contributions to the Lowcountry Digital Library. http://bit.ly/2EsLXAb

20 February - "Black History Note:" A monumental project is underway. When it's completed, 1.5 million historical documents will be accessible online, finally allowing descendants of former African-American slaves to learn more about their family roots. Read more http://bit.ly/2BG4Gll

19 February - "Black History Note:" Harriet Tubman freed more enslaved people in Beaufort and Colleton Districts in one day than she had done through the Underground Railroad in years. Come see our exhibit "Combahee Ferry Historic District" to learn more. It's leaving in less than 2 weeks so don't delay.

18 February - "Black History Note:" Check out the 28 African Americans highlighted by GALE based on sources in Biography in Context. There is an influential person for each day of Black History Month. Watch for the Beaufort SC notable. Free inside our buildings; valid Library card and password necessary to access the database from your home or office.

The Old Plantation

17 February - "Black History Note:" Check out "The Old Plantation" by Susan Shames. She uncovers the Beaufort District origins of the painting using genealogical, historical, and art history research methods and sources. It's a masterful book. The book is available in the BDC and in our Local History sections at the branch libraries. Call #: 759.13 SHA.

16 February - "Black History Note:" Martin R. Delany was the first black line field officer in the U.S. Army and held the highest rank an African American would reach during the Civil War. In 1865, he served with the Freedmen's Bureau on Hilton Head Island. (Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution NPG.76.101)

15 February - "Black History Note:" Fold3 is offering free access to some of its African-American related records during February. https://www.fold3.com/

14 February - "Black History Note:" South Carolina did not keep separate registers for vital records according to race. Vital records are crucial documents in genealogical research. Vital records are birth, marriage, and death registrations and certifications that this state began keeping in the 1910s. Details for accessing South Carolina's vital records: http://www.scdhec.gov/VitalRecords/

13 February - "Black History Note:" Watch the discussion about the challenges of interpreting the post-Civil War period in the national parks and about the first Reconstruction-era monument in Beaufort, South Carolina. http://cs.pn/2D3gJi8

12 February  - "Black History Note": Harriet Tubman was a freedom fighter. Learn about what she did in Beaufort District during the Civil War https://www.civilwar.org/learn/biographies/harriet-tubman…

11 February - "Black History Note:" A search on "Black History" in Hoopla gets over 2500 hits to e-books, audio books, music, movies & more. And all it takes is a valid Beaufort County Library card! https://www.hoopladigital.com/search…

10 February - "Black History Note:" The Library provides access to Ancestry Library Edition to help folks discover their roots. The ALE Learning Center includes an online guide on how to African-American genealogy research. http://bit.ly/2FBroO2

9 February - "Black History Note:" Drop by our Research Room to read the newly arrived Port Royal Experiment by Kevin Dougherty. This supplements the wonderful and enduring Rehearsal for Reconstruction by Willie Lee Rose.

8 February - "Black History Note:" Beaufort had several privately funded institutions dedicated to educating African Americans. While Penn School is the best known, Mather School and Harbison Institute also taught black students basic education, practical and/or higher level academic skills.

7 February - "Black History Note:" Gullah has been spoken on the sea islands since the arrival of African enslaved people here. Now it's a course at Harvard University. https://courses.harvard.edu/index.html

6 February  - Two "Black History Notes" opportunities brought by the BDC to you today!

1) We hope that you get a seat for Andrea Allen's presentation about "Jim Crow" before they are all gone! http://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-2760102
2) The Combahee River Historic District exhibit is open until 5 pm this afternoon. (Gentle reminder - Time is starting to run out: the exhibit leaves at the end of this month.)

5 February -  "Black History Note:" African-Americans challenged segregation in many ways over time. The Moving Image Research Collection at USC, Columbia has a video "Quest for Civil Rights: Penn Center" that examines the role of a local institution in securing equal and fair treatment under the law. Watch online https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A44072

4 February - "Black History Note": Test your knowledge of the role of African-American troops in Civil War history https://www.civilwar.org/…/african-americans-civil-war-hist… PS: Make note of the number of questions that relate to Beaufort District's history.

3 February - "Black History Note": Jim Crow laws impacted the lives of every African-American in virtually every part of the United States. Andrea Allen will share the history of Jim Crow laws on the people of this area during Lecture #3 of the Beaufort History Museum / Beaufort County Library local history series. Closed when full so don't delay! Sign up today! http://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-2760102

2 February - "Black History Note": Sometimes surviving planter's journals include lists of enslaved people as does one of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney's journals for Pinckney Island near Hilton Head Island. The Lowcountry Digital Library hosts this College of Charleston owned journal at http://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:31102

1 February - "Black History Note" : The rice growing skills of the enslaved Africans were the foundation of the lowcountry rice industry that brought riches to their masters. You can learn more at today's Beaufort County Historical Society lecture. Dr. Daniel Littlefield's presentation on "Black Rice" is at 2 pm today in the Wesley Methodist Church Fellowship Hall at 701 West Street in Beaufort. The lecture is free and open to the general public. Supplemental materials list is in our Wordpress blog http://bit.ly/2kuCM8o

I've decided to continue this "Black History Note" series on a weekly basis on the BDC's Facebook
page. Expect to see the "Black History Note" posts on Wednesday mornings.

Check Those Mortality Schedules, 1850 - 1880

Most budding genealogists know that they should check the Federal censuses for their ancestor but many overlook checking the various Mortality schedules for their ancestor. If your ancestor happened to die between June 1, 1849 - May 31, 1850 or June 1, 1859 - May 31, 1860 or June 1, 1869 - May 31, 1870 or June 1, 1879 - May 31, 1880 you may miss a treasure lode if you overlook the Federal Mortality Schedules.

The Federal Mortality schedules record the names of all persons usually living at home who died during the 12 months ending on June 1 of the census years of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. The key terms are the words "all persons." Although the enslaved were considered property under the law, the enslaved who happened to die in that 12 months preceding the Federal Censuses of 1850 and 1860 were included by name. (Slavery was outlawed by the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865). Other key data found in the mortality schedules about the deceased are his/her age, gender, marital status, color, profession, and condition. Place of birth, month and cause of death and number of days ill are also given. The enslaved deceased person's owner was included in the 1850 and 1860 schedules as well.

As with all the Federal censuses, information collected varied from census to census. In 1870 the national origin of the deceased's parents was added. The Mortality Schedule for the 1880 census includes length of time lived in the county, records of his/her citizenship, notes whether the disease was imported from another area, and name of attending physician.

Mortality schedules are essentially nationwide, state-by-state death registers that predate the recording of vital statistics in most states. (The State of South Carolina did not require registration of death until 1915.) In many states where vital records were not kept it provides a nation-wide death register for five years of those who happened to die June 2, 1849- May 31, 1850; June 2, 1859- May 31, 1860; June 2, 1869- May 31, 1870 or June 2, 1879- May 31, 1880. Even though it is commonly acknowledged that not all deaths were reported, the mortality schedules remain an invaluable source of information and family historians should check each one for their ancestors.

Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) provides an index to individuals enumerated in these mortality schedules entitled "U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index, 1850-1880." Each individual is linked to the census image on which they appear. Researching the mortality schedules can be a bit tricky as not all information that is recorded on the actual census is included in the index. Therefore, it is important that you view the image on which your ancestor is recorded to obtain all possible information about him/her. This database often included the names of the slave owners whose slaves had passed in the year preceding thee 1850 and 1860 enumeration date.  ALE recommends that one uses the 'Other' field to locate slave owners.


Ancestry Library Edition has a chart of the mortality schedules available by state at  http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8756.

The Beaufort District Collection has printed copies of the 1850 and 1860 Mortality Schedules for South Carolina and we have 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 on microfilm.  In addition, the Ancestry Library Edition database contains images from the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 Mortality Schedules.

As with all genealogical research, one's goal is to garner ever more clues to flesh out your ancestors. By using these schedules to document death dates and family members, it is possible to follow up with focused searches in obituaries, mortuary records, cemeteries, and probate records. They can also provide clues to migration points and supplement information in population schedules.

Please note: The library's subscription to Ancestry Library Edition is only available within library walls. (Users cannot access from home.)

Need some help searching for your ancestors? You can "Book a Librarian" for advice on how to do family history research and/or to get help using Ancestry Library Edition. Call 843-255-6468 or e-mail gracec@bcgov.net to arrange a Research Consultation.

The Ancestry Insider: Ancestry.com Changes Privacy Agreement

Databases are great when it comes to helping ferret out one's ancestors but by using such databases you may be giving up more private information to others than you may intend.  For example, Ancestry Insider breaks down the new Privacy Agreement into plain English that one agrees to when using Ancestry.com. It behooves us all to understand the exchanges, monetary and personal information-wise, we make to secure access to information provided by a specific database.


The Ancestry Insider: Ancestry.com Changes Privacy Agreement: © Atee83 | Dreamstime Stock Photos Ancestry.com announced changes to its privacy agreement last Friday, 27 June 2015. The changes expand ...

Freedman's Bank

Few people know that the Freedman's Bank was the first local financial institution in Beaufort District. Yes, that's right: Beaufort District did not have any local financial institution before Gen. Rufus Saxton (U.S.) advocated a bank for the newly freed slaves to learn "habits of carefulness and prudence"during the Civil War.

• You can peruse the online version of "New South Newspaper," a part of the University of South Carolina's Digital Collections, to read more about Gen. Rufus Saxton's efforts to get a branch of the Freedman's Bank in Beaufort.
• We also hold the New South, Free South, and Palmetto Herald on microfilm at Beaufort Branch and Hilton Head Island Branch libraries for the customer who loves reading old newspapers. [It can take awhile, but oh, it is ever so much fun!]

You can read plenty about the Reconstruction era financial difficulties in "Bankless in Beaufort: A Reexamination of the 1873 Failure of the Freedman's Savings Branch at Beaufort, South Carolina," by John Martin Davis, Jr. in the South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 104, January 2003, pp. 25-55. The author is both an attorney as well as an accountant so his skill sets afford penetrating insight into what really happened to the bank.

• You can find the South Carolina Historical Magazine in the Beaufort District Collection and at our Hilton Head Island Branch Library.
• When the Freedman's Bank failed, it left behind some crucial records for anyone doing African-American family research. Although the extent of the information can vary widely, it is one of the best sources of genealogical information to get you ever closer to that key 1870 Census.
• You can search Freedman's Bank records on the Family Search website. 
•  Ancestry Library Edition numbers the United States, Freedmen's Bureau of Field Offices, 1863-1878 records among its more than 10,000+. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedman’s Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of Congress on March 3, 1865. The Bureau was responsible for the supervision and management of all matters relating to refugees and freedmen, and of lands abandoned or seized during the Civil War. 
• Check out our Reconstruction webpage to gain a better understanding of the fascinating complexity of the Reconstruction era and its enduring impact on the people and institutions of the United States.

The Ancestry Insider: Monday Mailbox: Ancestry Library Edition

Beaufort County Library provides public access to Ancestry Library Edition in each of our locations during regular hours of operation. If you have a valid Beaufort County Library card, access to using our computers is free. The BDC has one public computer available for searching the SCLENDS catalog and researching local history topics and exploring genealogy.

Ever wonder how Ancestry Library Edition is different from Ancestry Institutional Edition is different from Ancestry.com? Me, too.  Blogger Ancestry Insider got Ancestry.com's Kim Harrison, Senior Institutional Account Executive, to explain - sort of. 

The Ancestry Insider: Monday Mailbox: Ancestry Library Edition: Dear Ancestry Insider, My wife and I have been asked to teach a class of newbies “How to use AncestryLibrary” and while doing a little research ...

Please note:
The Beaufort District Collection Research Room closes at our usual time of 5 pm on Wed., Nov. 26th. The Library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. The Library system resumes regular hours Sat., Nov. 29th.  We'll be back on Mon., Dec. 1st to help you get on with your research. 

The Ancestry Insider: Ancestry.com Attacked by Zombies

If you've tried using your Ancestry.com subscription or the Ancestry Library Edition database inside our buildings, you've probably noticed that the suite hasn't worked well at all recently. The Ancestry Insider graphic in the following blog post helps explain what's been going on.  

The Ancestry Insider: Ancestry.com Attacked by Zombies: Ancestry.com users have been from annoyed to outraged the past several days because Ancestry.com has been in and out of commission. On thei...

The Ancestry Insider: Changes Galore to Note and Consider

The genealogical community is bedazzled by all the changes within and among major suppliers of family history data on the Internet, paid or free. The Ancestry Insider blog tries to help unravel all that is underway ... 


The Ancestry Insider: FamilySearch Gives Further Details on Partnerships...: FamilySearch has announced further details and motivation behind its recent partnership deals. In recent months FamilySearch partnerships h...

BCL Online Resources: Databases

Have your checked out what hides behind the "Online Resources" tab on our Library's homepage (www.beaufortcountylibrary.org)?  There you will find links to a number of subscription databases we offer our customers, grouped into categories that we hope will make the databases easier to find and use.  

"Online Resources" then "Research Resources"

A few months ago, we rearranged the "Research Resources" to make it more customer friendly. What do you think?  Did we succeed in making the portal more customer friendly? 

Passcodes and brochures on how to access these databases from your home or office are available through all our Branch Libraries for registered borrowers.  Be sure to ask our reference librarians for help. Visit our Programs and Events calendar for formal training on how to use these resources.  

Please note: Ancestry Library Edition is not available outside our facilities.  

Humor: The Unexpurgated (and Illustrated) Version

As an actor sat having lunch in a restaurant, a waitress approached and asked, 

“Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” 

Trying to appear modest, the actor said, “Perhaps you’ve seen me in the movies.” 

“Could be,” she replied. “Where do you usually sit?”  

Source:  2012. "Wit and Humor." Supervision 73, no. 11: 27. Vocational and Career Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed January 2, 2013). [One of the subscription databases provided for our library cardholders through SC DISCUS].

Now that civilization has survived the countdown to the apocalypse of December 21^st, human beings can have a few laughs – and not feel guilty for having a bit of fun.

 

Source: Wikipedia

As readers familiar with this blog know, I am the special collections librarian and archivist who manages the Beaufort District Collection for the library system.  It is a serious job which I take seriously.  

 

Let’s get real: As a Capricorn, I would take any job seriously.  That’s part of my zodiacal DNA.   

 

Capricorns are “reliable, dependable, trustworthy, and serious.” Just access any of the bazillions of horoscope related websites and see whether or not any of them omit the word “serious” in their description of Capricornian traits. (You'll have to look really, really hard!)  Indeed, we Capricorns are so serious that our  basic weakness is often listed as a decidedly strong tendency for “too much work and not enough play.”

 

My knees are getting creakier and my back aches far more often than it used to.  As vigorous physical play seems out of the question, adaptation is necessary.  I am thankful that I still have enough flexible parts to be able to enjoy a hearty belly laugh when warranted.  Although I work in a serious place, doing serious work, which I approach in a serious manner, my numero uno 2013 New Year’s resolution is to laugh out loud - outside of work (I don’t want the Library’s Board of Trustees, the County Council, or my supervisor to think that I am having too much fun on the job!) – at least once a day – for the rest of my life.  Besides, research shows that laughing is an easy way to improve one’s health (and I won’t even have to break a “glisten” – which is a term that we polite GRITS girls use for “sweat.” "Sweat," EEW!)

 

As I hope to join the rising number of American centenarians, I have roughly 16,450 days worth of laughs ahead.

 

Research says that enthusiasm for one’s resolution wanes quickly, so before I lose mine, here are some of the “for grins and giggles” humor related materials the Library shares.  Perhaps you’re looking to have a chortling 2013, too.

Starting with those materials with which I am most accustomed, viz., the BDC and local history sections at the Branch Libraries.  There are some funny vignettes in Sheriff McTeer’s books Beaufort Now and Then, High Sheriff of the Low Country, and Adventure in the Woods and Waters of the Low Country and raconteur Pierre McGowan’s Gullah Mailman and Tales of the Barrier Islands (see Instant Crismus)

For sheer laugh out loud, husband-banning-you-from-night-time-reading-in-bed, the earliest volumes of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum number series are superior.  The last one, Notorious Nineteen, had a few chuckle moments but none of the gut-busting guffaws caused by the shenanigans of Grandma Mazur in the One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, etc. By this stage, odds are even Evanovich is getting tired of the series.  It’s time for some fresh blood.

I used our Novelist database to identify other authors of funny, upbeat contemporary fiction similar to those penned by Evanovich.  Now Tim Cockey’s Murder in the Hearse Degree and Hearse of a Different Color and books and audio-books by Sarah Strohmeyer and Lori Wilde are on my list.

http://bit.ly/ULsNpN

If you haven’t used our “My Next Book” service yet, you may want to give it a try.  This personalized and private service puts you in touch with a librarian who makes a “Picked Just for You” list of materials on topics of your choice.  “My Next Book” list on humor was prepared by Halle Eisenman of Hilton Head Branch Library.  She added Bossypants, the Thursday Next books, Good Omens, Lisa Lutz (who is “especially good for fans of Janet Evanovich”), the novels of Jane Austen, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson to my reading list. 

“Good Reads,” a BCL recommended website, has a “Humor and Comedy” category with lots of funny books to devour.  

You can find links to the “My Next Book,” Novelist database, and “Good Reads” on our Library website at http://beaufortcountylibrary.org/booklovers. 

Everyone’s sense of humor is unique and personalized.  My sense of humor tends toward the Southern, outrageous, and redneck varieties. (My name is Grace, because two of my grandmothers were (“Bless Mimi’s and Little Mommie’s hearts”) and I am a Cordial by marriage.  If one were to take my character traits and customary behavior into consideration, I am probably the last person on the earth whose name should be “Grace Cordial.”) 

I searched our online catalog for comedians I enjoy (Jerry Clower, Lewis Grizzard, Jeff Foxworthy, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, etc.) and followed where I was led by subject headings such as “Wit and humor,” Humorous stories,” “Satire,” “Black humor (Literature), - (which BTW doesn’t mean “funny material from African American authors writing hardback books”) - and “Humorous fiction” to identify even more library materials that will make me laugh - (away from work, of course.  Remember: I have a serious job taking being a good steward of the wonderful historical, cultural, archaeological and genealogical treasures we have in the Beaufort District Collection.) 

I discovered that Jerry Clower CDs are available through another SCLENDS library.  BCL’s collection of comedian DVDs and audio-books is more mainstream and traditional: Redd Foxx, Groucho Marx, Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, Danny Thomas, Bob Newhart, and Tina Fey are on offer.  Oldies but goodies are fine with me.  

Our library has strong holdings of television comedy series: Dick Van Dyke, Everybody Hates Chris, Wodehouse Playhouse, and My Name is Earl among a score of other series.  Likewise, we have a number of “Comedy Films” including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

For all of you who got an e-Reader for Christmas (Alas! I did not.  Kids, I think that I’m ready now), there are even a few options on our 3M e-book service: Babyhood and Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Find more information about our e-book services at http://beaufortcountylibrary.org/ebooks.   

It appears that this old mountain goat has access to plenty of library materials for my 16,449 chortles to go!  

Please note:  For the published on January 13, 2013 in the Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet version of this Beacon article click here.