Coastal Heritage Magazine: Oysters

"Lowcountry Living Shorelines: Restoring Carolina's Reefs," is the topic of the current issue of Coastal Heritage Magazine.  The magazine is available in print in the BDC Research Room.  For your convenience, the Sea Grant Consortium posts Coastal Heritage Magazine online at http://www.scseagrant.org/Content/?cid=626.


Public libraries have a broad range of customers.  Some customers prefer juicy tidbits of visual information.  If you are one of these customers, view the "Beaufort County History Moments "Oysters" segment hosted by Natalie Hefter. (She spends a lot of her time at Coastal Discovery Museum dealing with school groups.  Accordingly, she delivers the crucial information that one needs to have quickly. Beaufort County History Moments are a collaboration of the County Channel,  Beaufort County Planning Department, Beaufort County Library and the Coastal Discovery Museum).

For our customers who prefer to indulge their curiosity more deeply, some of the suggested reading materials that end the largest article actually can be accessed online, read in the BDC, found within our subscription databases, or borrowed through our circulating collections.

The "Shellfish Reefs at Risk: A Global Analysis of Problems and Solutions" report (2009) is available for download through the Nature Conservancy website using this URL: conserveonline.org/library/shellfish-reefs-at-risk-report/@@view.html  An update is found at http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/habitats/oceanscoasts/explore/shellfish-reefs-at-risk.xml.

The Oyster by William K. Brooks published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 1996 is actually a republication of the original book published in 1905. The 1905 edition is available from Google books.  URL: http://books.google.com/books?id=yCOUY6ww6PMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

The South Carolina Digital Library has Burrell's South Carolina Oyster Industry: A History online at digital.tcl.sc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/oyster/id/122.  We have print copies in the BDC under call # SC 664.94 BUR.

Ernest Ingersoll's The Oyster-Industry, 1881 is available online at archive.org/details/oysterindustry00inge.

Jeremy B.C. Jackson and others, co-authored  "Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems" in Science magazine, vol. 293, no. 5530 (2001).  The article is available through our subscription EBSCO Academic Search Premier database.  You can get the current passcodes from any of the regular branch libraries as long as you have a valid Beaufort County Library card. 

You can borrow Mark Kurlansky's The Big Oyster (2006) through the SCLENDS catalog. 

Bluffton Branch will share its copy of The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts (2007), call number 909.09 ROB with anyone who has a valid BCL or SCLENDS partner library card.

You can even get the recipe for "Oyster Dressing" from one of our Local History & Nature pages.  

In the BDC we have a vertical file on "Oysters;" a document of the exhibit text of a 1996-1997 Beaufort Museum exhibit called "Time & Tide: A Century of Oystering in Beaufort County," and a delightful audio-interview segment about "Oysters / Bluffton Oyster Factory" by Joni Kost on the "Postcards from the Lowcountry" DVD.  

In other words, we have plenty to share on the topic of oysters!  Yum.  Yum.

Beaufort Cook Book: A Treasury of Carolina Recipes

Local food newspaper columnist, Ervena Faulkner, recently wrote that "Tradition [is] on menu for Beaufort's anniversary." She cited 4 recipes from the Beaufort Cook Book: A Treasury of Carolina Recipes. Each recipe sounds wonderful.

As Faulkner notes, the first recipe in the book is by Ann Head:

Take a woman of hearty appetite
(Gourmet's delight)
Of abandon tempered by restraint
(No saint)
Generous and warm of heart,
(Not sweet, not tart)
And in a kitchen place her,
Bring to a rapid boil
And with herbs and spices lace her,
Serve her with flattery,
Add a soupcon of humility,
Laud her,
Applaud her,
For hers is no happenstance ability.

If you want to try other recipes from this book edited by Dee Hryharrow and Isabel Hooggenboom, you can borrow it from our Beaufort, Bluffton, or Hilton Head Branch Libraries local history sections and cook up a storm. There are also copies in the BDC.

The Library has multiple copies of the novels by Ann Head, aka Anne Christensen Morse here in Beaufort: Always in August, Everybody Adored Cara, Fair with Rain, and Mr. & Mrs. Bo Jo Jones. In addition, the BDC has more information about her in our permanent "Authors-Beaufort" and "Christensen Family" vertical files.

The Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863 was the Day of Jubilee, the date upon which

"all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

This, of course, included not only the parts of Beaufort District that had been occupied by Federal troops since the Battle of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861 where many contrabands were freed, but also those parts of Beaufort District still held by the Confederates -- where the slaves remained in slavery until the 1865.

Want to see the original Emancipation Proclamation? The National Archives has digitized it. (To see the hand-written pages: Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5)

The Beaufort District Collection has several resources to help you learn more about the local impact of the Emancipation Proclamation.

I recommend the contents of "Emancipation Proclamation" and "Emancipation Proclamation--Commemoration" vertical files as good starting points. We also have a book in the BDC entitled The nomination of the "Emancipation Proclamation Site" to the National Register 1993-1995 at call number SC 975.799 PEN.

There are items in a variety of formats and at various reading levels on the topic in the SCLENDS catalog. Some of these resources discuss the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation in our area; others discuss the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on a wider scope.

If you prefer online resources, here are a few recommendations.

You can read more about the effects of the on a more national scale in the Emancipation Proclamation article on wikipedia.

The Library of Congress has a special presentation within the American Memory database about the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation. The presentation provides an essay, timeline and Lincoln’s first and final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as the final version issued on January 1, 1863. Links to other online resources recommended by the Library of Congress about the Emancipation Proclamation are found at http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/EmanProc.html.

If you are an aural learner, I recommend a podcast available through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. (Gilder Lehrman Institute posts very thought provoking podcasts). Registration is required, but it's free.

Allen Guelzo, Henry L. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Professor of History at Gettysburg College (PA), "contends that the proclamation is among the most misunderstood of the Civil War era, a necessary and even desperate attempt by Lincoln to enact a form of emancipation that would pass legal muster." Guelzo delivered this lecture on April 21, 2004 at the New-York Historical Society. Running Time is 39 minutes, 46 seconds.

On a serious note, for those of you who haven't eaten your Hoppin' John and Greens yet, local cook and newspaper columnist, Ervena Faulkner, isn't whistling "Dixie" when she says "Don't
risk bad luck by skippin hoppin'john". Recipes are available in Mrs. Faulkner's Beaufort Gazette column, Pat Branning's feature on the Beaufort Tribune and on the our own Library website.

World of Beauforts Tasting Festival on Thursday

Don't forget to drop by the Waterfront Park Pavilion in downtown Beaufort on Thursday, April 16th beginning at 11 am for the premier "World of Beauforts Tasting Festival." Chefs will be sharing sample-sized bites of worldwide Beaufort culinary treats with you for free!

Join Us for (Free) Tasty Beaufort Treats

Q: How many places are named "Beaufort?"
A: There are over 20 towns and cities in countries throughout the world with places named “Beaufort”. France, Australia, Haiti, Malaysia, South Africa, Luxembourg, Ireland, Wales, and, our own country, all have "Beaufort"s.

To celebrate this year's National Library Week theme, "Worlds Connect," we're hosting a global gourmet event -- the first ever "World of Beauforts Tasting Festival." Amanda Brewer and Dennis Adams have done yeoman's work putting together the event and lining up the chefs to prepare sample-sized portions of signature dishes representative of Beaufort locations around the world.

Library supporters are helping make the "World of Beauforts Tasting Festival" happen in many ways. We could not be putting this event on for the community without the cooperation our beloved Friends of Beaufort County Library, area restaurants, Lobeco Branch Library, and our culinary experts.

Make plans now to meet us in the Waterfront Park Pavilion on Thursday, April 16th beginning at 11 am to taste the "World of Beaufort" treats. The woman to call for more information is Amanda Brewer at (843) 470-6524.

PS: (My interest is only in our Beaufort. When one has "Beaufort, South Carolina," who needs another Beaufort? -- particularly when those other Beauforts don't even mispronounce the name properly. I'll be there to answer questions about our Beaufort and the Beaufort District Collection.)

Traditional New Year's Day Cuisine in Lowcountry SC

Dennis Adams posted some New Year's Day cuisine recipes on one of our Local History web pages on our Beaufort County Library website.

Tomorrow, you have to get yourself some Hoppin' John and Greens or you'll likely regret it.

May we all have a prosperous, safe, healthy, and happy 2009! --gmc

Today is "Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day"

Now is the time to create the heavenly, homey odor of pungently bold cooking. Try these lowcountry recipes for a tasty lunch or dinner. They are sure to wake up lazy taste buds.

• Frogmore Stew
• Red Rice

Rice: A South Carolina Tradition

Rice...

• It has been labeled the "food of the world" because nearly 2/3 of the world's population considers it an essential food staple.
• Today, the United States is one of the world's largest producers, exporting to over 100 countries worldwide.
• South Carolina was the leading producer for almost two centuries; from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, nearly 1/3 of the entire North American crop was grown in South Carolina.

September marks the annual celebration of National Rice Month (established in 1991). It is a time to enjoy the taste, versatility, and immense economic contribution of rice to our national economy. For South Carolinians, rice is more than a delicious side dish. It is the building block of the everyday meal, a monument to Carolina agricultural history, and a way of life. In face, many lowcountry born and reared children grew up eating rice twice a day, every day, at lunch and supper.

Carolina planters cultivated rice in the coastal tidewater rivers of the lowcountry--mainly the Waccamaw, Santee, Cooper, Ashley, Combahee, and Savannah Rivers. While it is sometimes perceived that rice was grown on most plantations in the lowcountry, according to the Census of Agriculture of 1859, less than 40% of lowcountry farms grew any rice at all.

While cultivating rice was less labor intensive and less hazardous than growing sugar cane, it was rather more intensive than raising tobacco. African slaves were well suited to the tropical summer climates, tolerant to malaria and yellow fever, and previously acquainted with rice cultivation. These factors greatly increased the popularity of West African slave labor in the Carolina rice culture.

Rice production required skilled laborers, and lots of them. The larger the number of slaves on a plantation, the more likely that rice was cultivated by the planter. By 1860, nearly 1/3 of plantations with over 300 slaves and nearly 2/3 of plantations with over 500 slaves produced rice. The largest rice planter in the United States in 1860 was Joshua Ward (of the Waccamaw River area, Georgetown District, SC), owner of 1,092 slaves.

The American Civil War and Emancipation coupled with steadily declining soil quality and a series of destructive hurricanes heralded the demise of the Carolina rice culture. But fear not! Authentically grown "Carolina Gold" rice can still be found, thanks, in part, to the efforts of Dr. Richard Schulze of Turnbridge Plantation in Hardeeville, SC. After a nearly 60 year shortage, this gourmet southern staple can grace tables once again. California, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas may grow the majority of the United States' rice, but the history and tradition of rice cultivation will always remain fundamentally Carolinian.

To learn more about local rice cultivation, visit the Beaufort District Collection at 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, South Carolina 29902.

Suggested Reading

• B Alston. Rice Planter and Sportsman: The Recollections of J. Motte Alston, 1821-1909
• 306.3 DUS. Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps by William Dusinberre
• 633.18 SCH. Carolina Gold Rice: The Ebb and Flow History of a Lowcountry Cash Crop by Richard Schulze
• 633.1857 CAM. The History of the Rice Industry in South Carolina to the Civil War by Harriett Z. Campbell
• 633.3318 DOA. Rice and Rice Planting in the South Carolina Low Country by David Doar
• 975.7 LIN. Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin--1860 by Suzanne Cameron Linder
• 975.702 LIT. Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina by Daniel C. Littlefield
• 975.702 LIT. Rice and the Making of South Carolina: An Introductory Essay by Daniel C. Littlefield
• 975.789 SOU. The South Carolina Rice Plantation: As Revealed in the Papers of Robert F. W. Allston
• 975.79 HEY. Seed From Madagascar by Duncan Clinch Heyward
• 975.79 PRI. A Woman Rice Planter by Elizabeth Allston Pringle
• Beaufort County Historical Society Paper: "Rice, Indigo, and the Carolina Lowcountry" by Gerhard Spieler
• Vertical File: Rice
  

(image courtesy of The Library of Congress, Digital Collections)

Food for Thought and Thoughts on Food

Please note: This post was updated 13 April 2020. All information and links were accurate as of this date.- Kristi Marshall

Get your recipes ready and gear up for August: National Picnic Month. Here at the Beaufort District Collection we are committed to sharing our wealth of South Carolina and Beaufort District history, culture, and environment with you. And this month, that means food!!! Learn about some lowcountry culinary favorites that embody the culture and environment of this historic area. Whether the recipes are tried-and-true or new family favorites, we wish you happy reading, cooking, and eating!

Check out these cookbooks from your local branch of the Beaufort County Library. Comsume the following with wild abandon:

[Key: BDC=Beaufort District Collection, BEA=Beaufort Branch, BLU=Bluffton Branch, HHI=Hilton Head Branch, LOB=Lobeco Branch, STH=St. Helena Branch]

Collections of Lowcountry Favorites

641.5 CHE. The Chefs of Hilton Head: a selection of island recipes by John S. Colquhoun
Available at: BDC, BEA, BLU, HHI, LOB

641.5 FUL. Full Moon, High Tide: tastes and traditions of the lowcountry by Beaufort Academy
Available at: BDC, BLU, BEA

641.5 PIN. Lowcountry Delights: cookbook and travel guide by Maxine and Malyssa Pinson
Available at: BDC, BEA

641.5 SOU. Soups, Stews, Gumbos, Chilis, Chowders and Bisques by John Sams Colquhoun
Available at: BDC, BEA, BLU

641.5975 TAY. Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking by John Martin Taylor
Available at: BDC, BEA, BLU, HHI, STH

Gullah Cooking

641.5975 GAN. The Ultimate Gullah Cookbook by Jesse Edward Gantt, Jr. and Veronica Davis Gerald
Available at: BDC only

641.5975 ROB. Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way by Sallie Ann Robinson
Available at: All branch libraries

641.59757 GER. Bittle en' T'ing': Gullah cooking with Maum Chrish' by Virginia Mixson Geraty
Available at: BDC, BEA, HHI, STH

641.59757 ROB. Cooking the Gullah Way: morning, noon, and night by Sallie Ann Robinson
Available at: All branch libraries

641.59757 SEG. My Gullah Kitchen by Eva Segar
Available at: All branch libraries

Locally Produced Cookbooks

641.5 BEA. Bounty of Beaufort by Beaufort Power Squadron
Available at: BDC only

641.5 PEN. Penn School and the Sea Islands Heritage Cookbook by the Penn Heritage Celebration Committee
Available at: BDC only

641.5 REC. Recipes from the Galleys of Port Royal by Historic Port Royal Foundation
Available at: BDC only

641.5 SOU. Seafood Recipes by South Carolina Shrimpers Association
Available at: BDC only

641.5 TAS. A Taste of Freedom by The Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Officer's Wives' Club
Available at: BDC only

641.5 WOM. Bluffton's Favorite Recipes by The Women of the Church of the Cross
Available at: BDC only

Want to know more about lowcountry culinary delicacies? Check out these tasty websites:

South Carolina’s barbecue debate uncovered by the Charleston City Paper

Eat, Stay, Play Beaufort website featuring the Lowcountry favorite Frogmore Stew

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.