The Accounts and Estate Administration Book, 1824-1852 contains loose papers belonging to S.C. attorney Samuel Gaillard Barker (1799-1863). These papers include a list of slaves with their dates of birth, gender, their work as a full or half-time field hand and their “usefulness” as a slave. Also included is a mortgage for seven slaves, a […]
The Adger Family Papers, 1813-1932 collection contains papers written by or for members of the Adger family in Charleston County, South Carolina. James Adger (1777-1858) was a wealthy merchant of Charleston and married Sarah E. Ellison, and among their children were John Bailey Adger (1810-1899), James Adger, Jr. (1812-1881), Robert Adger (1814-1891), who married Jane […]
The Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) is a social justice organization located in Charleston, South Carolina dedicated to achieving equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. The organization was founded in 1998 and is active as of 2020. AFFA has advocated for the equality of LGBTQ people in South Carolina through promotional […]
The selected manuscripts in this collection date from 1775 to 1784 and document the American Revolution in South Carolina and the United States. Materials for this digital collection include numerous letters, a plan of Fort Lyttleton in Beaufort, a notice concerning the election of John Rutledge, a safe conduct pass issued in Charleston, and orders […]
Anna D. Kelly (1913-2007) is known for her efforts to connect Lowcountry African Americans with the Highlander Folk School, most notably recruiting Septima Clark. A graduate of the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, Kelly was a charter member of the Avery Institute of African American History and Culture. She then played a crucial […]
In the 1950s many houses in Ansonborough were threatened with ”demolition by neglect,” having stood vacant or fallen into severe disrepair. In order to encourage homebuyers to move into the neighborhood to save these formerly unwanted treasures, Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF) was the first organization in the country to develop the Revolving Fund as a […]
English: Aquí Estamos is a digital archive that documents the history and culture of diverse groups of Latinos in the Lowcountry. The collection includes photographs, correspondence, promotional flyers, and other ephemera. The materials help document the first permanent settlement of Latino immigrants on Johns Island in the 1980s, the emergence of an Hispanic Catholic community, […]
The B. A. Rodrigues Ottolengui Collection consists of various newspaper clippings, theater programs and advertisements, as well as theater tickets which feature performances by a number of members of the Ottolengui family. Notable in this collection is a scrapbook given to Benjamin Adolf Rodrigues Ottolengui by his mother and father, Helen Rodriguez Ottolengui and Daniel […]
The Bacot Family Papers, 1752-1973, collection contains numerous bound receipt books, journals, diaries, correspondences, and financial documents kept by members of the Bacot and Bacot-Huger families. Two bound diaries in this collection were kept by Julia A. Bacot, 1825-1905, and Julius Motte Bacot, 1859-1899. The Julia A. Bacot Diary covers the year 1820 and contains […]
The Ball family was established in South Carolina in 1698 with the arrival of the English emigrant Elias Ball (1675-1751), often referred to as Elias “Red Cap” Ball in family histories. His first wife was Elizabeth Harleston (d.1720) and his second wife was Mary Delamare. His son, Elias Ball II (1709-1786), married Lydia Chicken (1721-1765), […]
The Bernice Robinson Papers, 1920-1989 provide information regarding Robinson’s role as a teacher and social activist for voter education, adult literacy, child development, and social work. Contents include biographical papers, writings and talks, correspondence, and affiliations. Biographical papers include transcripts of her oral history interview. Her correspondence includes letters from Guy and Candie Carawan, Andrew […]
The Berry Family Papers, 1767-1929, collection contains a loose paper written by or belonging to members of the Berry Family of Orangeburg County, S.C. John Wesley Bowman Berry (ca. 1850-1929) of Branchville (S.C.) married Martha McQuillan Bowman (1857-1933) in 1877. John Wesley Bowman Berry was the son of planter John P. Berry of Branchville (S.C.) […]
The Book Lover’s Club of Charleston was founded in 1927 by African American Women as a literary club with a purpose of establishing a high literary culture among its members as well as social improvement for Charleston African Americans. Legal documents, minutes, financial documents, and correspondence (1927-1969) document the activities of the Book Lovers’ Club […]
The Bowman Family Papers, 1835-1892, collection contains loose papers written by or belonging to members of the Bowman family of Orangeburg County, South Carolina. Loose papers consist of bills of sale for enslaved women and their children, a mortgage for enslaved persons and a document titled the “names and ages of the enslaved persons Reddick […]
The St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church Building and Property Records Collection consists of documents that capture the early history and transactions that helped shape the development of the church’s buildings and properties. It includes the legal history of properties eventually acquired by the church and early plans to form a religious society, the German Evangelical Lutheran […]
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was started on February 12, 1909, partly in response to the prevalence of lynching of African-Americans in America and the 1908 race riot that occurred in Springfield, Illinois. The Charleston Branch of the NAACP was founded in February 1917 by Edwin Harleston. The branch was […]
The Charleston Library Society’s copy of the City of Charleston’s 1931 Report of the City Planning and Zoning Commission Upon a Program for the Development of a City Plan with Specific Studies of Certain Features Thereof was prepared for the city by Morris Knowles, Inc. The report contributes to the growing work surrounding the acknowledgement of race-based […]
Newspaper printed for the civilian employees of the Charleston Naval Shipyard. This collection includes 20 volumes spanning the years 1943-1962.
The Edisto Island Presbyterian Church Register is found in the “Church Session books excerpts, 1816-1901” Collection. This collection contains administrative records taken from the unbound Presbyterian church session books between 1816-1901 on Edisto Island, South Carolina, revealing information on the churches’ history and membership prior to, during and following the American Civil War. Recorded by […]
This collection highlights historical City of Charleston records. The collection focuses on municipal government and includes records such as City authored and commissioned studies and reports, archival department records, and visual materials. More items will be added to this collection over time. All materials are available to visitors at the Records Management Division’s Records Center.
A pamphlet containing the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Adjustment Under the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Charleston; the 1921 Act of the General Assembly of South Carolina Providing for a Zoning Ordinance; and the 1931 Zoning Ordinance of the City of Charleston. On October 13, 1931, the City of Charleston, South […]
This collection of city year books (1880-1951) provides an overview of the city of Charleston’s annual status. Each year begins with an opening address by the mayor that is followed by data and reports from various municipal departments. Information in the year books includes: reports on Charleston’s economy, infrastructure, education, public health, census data, and […]
The Civic Services Committee (CSC) (1942-1946) was the predecessor body to Historic Charleston Foundation. It was formed by the Carolina Art Association to address the need for architectural preservation and to implement city planning in response to growth. The Committee received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, which were used to retain Frederick […]
Cleveland Sellers, Jr. (born 1944), an African American from Denmark, South Carolina, was a participant and leader of a variety of student, civil rights, leftist, and Pan African movements in the 1960s and 1970s. Sellers alone was indicted and convicted for inciting a riot during the Orangeburg Massacre, in which three students of South Carolina […]
The Colleton County Memorial Library has provided bookmobile service since 1937, started by Isabel Patterson Heaton and Elma S. Rogers. The library continues to provide bookmobile service to rural areas and child care centers throughout the county. This collection features photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper articles from The Press and Standard, and a Library Week guest book. […]
The Colleton County Memorial Library Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums Collection contains a sampling of images from the scrapbooks, photo albums and other image portfolios in the holdings of Colleton County Memorial Library. Included in this collection is the Future Farmers of America Scrapbook, which features newspaper clippings, photographs, postcards, and other documents related to the […]
The Cora Godfrey Justice Family Papers, 1816-1987 contain two loose papers kept by or for members of the family. Cora Page Godfrey Justice was a freelance writer and historiographer of St. David’s Church in Cheraw, S.C. She was the daughter of Cora Page and banker William Godfrey (b. 1870) and wife to John William […]
The Cote Bas and Mepkin Plantation Journals, 1865-1877 is comprised of four volumes written by Peter Gourdin that includes data for planting, personal information and clippings. The son of Samuel and Mary Gourdin, Peter Gourdin lived at Buck then Cote Bas Plantation and later settled at Mepkin Plantation with his wife, Constantia Harleston Moultrie Gourdin, […]
The Cranston Family Papers, 1822-1959, collection contains loose papers belonging to Harold Dener Cranston of Capers Island in Charleston County, South Carolina. Correspondence consists of letters (1850) from plantation owner James Vidal in Charleston (S.C.) to H. Cranston at Capers Island. Letters concern shipments of sugar and rice; repairs to boats; planting of corn; Vidal’s […]
This collection features a wide range of papers from the families of Charles Edmondston (1782-1861) and Charles Alston (1796-1881). This includes an extensive collection of family correspondence, especially during the Civil War years, which provides excellent insight into the wartime experience of the Alstons and those they enslaved, many of whom are mentioned by name. […]
Esau Jenkins (1910-1972) was born and raised on Johns Island, South Carolina. With very little formal education, he became a businessman and civil rights leader. Jenkins founded the Progressive Club in 1948, which encouraged local African Americans to register to vote, through the aid of Citizenship Schools, a topic he was educated in by his […]
Ethelyn Murray was a native of Charleston SC and attended Simonton School and the Avery Normal Institute, graduating in 1914. She taught in several counties in South Carolina before enrolling at Voorhees Institute in 1918, studying religious and elementary education. In 1920, she relocated to Mobile, AL, teaching for five years. She received a Rosenwald […]
Eugene C. Hunt graduated from the Avery Normal School and went on to Talladega College, where he received a Degree in English in 1940. He earned a Masters Degree in Theater from Northwestern University in 1954 and continued with postgraduate study in Speech and Education. Mr. Hunt taught English and Speech at Burke High School […]
This collection consists of plantation account books, medical journals, medical account books, a time book and letters for Dr. Arthur Belin Flagg and Dr. Joshua John Ward Flagg for plantations in Georgetown County, South Carolina between the years 1792-1926. The medical journals and medical account books had been used to record the medical treatment and […]
Gertrude Sanford Legendre (1902–2000) was an American socialite who served as an OSS operative during World War II. She was also a noted explorer, big-game hunter, environmentalist, and owner of Medway plantation in South Carolina. The collection includes scrapbooks of Gertrude’s travels and family life, loose photographs ranging in date from the mid to late […]
The Glover Family Papers, 1729-ca.1955, collection contains one bound volume and loose papers kept by the Glover family. The bound volume titled “General Work and Allowance List, 1840” records the tasks performed by enslaved people at Camp, West Bank, Forlorn Hope and Snug-it-is Plantations in Colleton, Charleston, Berkeley, and Orangeburg Counties in South Carolina. Tasks […]
The Gooch Family Papers, 1754-1947, collection contains loose papers written by or belonging to members of the Gooch family. John Gooch (1780-1840), a plantation owner of Chester District, S.C., was the father of Henry H. Gooch (1811-1883) of Lancaster District, S.C., who married Martha Trusdel Gooch (1812-1892) in 1832. Their son, Henry H. Gooch, Jr. […]
The Halley’s Comet Project is a collection of first hand accounts of the comet, answers to the attached questionnaire, and offers to help with the research projects. Questions on the questionnaire include: 1. What were the circumstances when you saw the comet? 2. Describe the appearance of the comet. 3. Did you experience any particular […]
The St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Hampstead and Bethany Cemeteries Collection consists of documents that relate to the church’s first cemetery, Hampstead, and the current, active cemetery, Bethany. The earliest record dates back to 1813 regarding land conveyance eventually becoming Bethany Cemetery in 1856. Also included is a booklet in German containing a list […]
Helen Evangeline Banks Harrison was born in Hampton, Virginia in 1898 and is the daughter of Issiah and Anna DeCosta Banks, came to Charleston, South Carolina as a child and spent most of her life there. She attended city schools, Avery Normal Institute, and Howard University. In 1935, she began working as a clerk in […]
The Henry Laurens Papers, 1747-1860 collection consists of correspondence, Congressional and military records, and other items. Henry Laurens was a Charleston, S.C. merchant, plantation owner, South Carolina state legislator, U.S. Continental Congressman, and U.S. diplomat. In June 1775, Laurens became president of the U.S. Continental Congress and served in that role when the first Articles […]
The St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church Historical and Governing Records Collection consists of documents and photographs that capture the early history of the church and congregation. It includes documents of historical and architectural significance, including the Church Constitution, a program about the 1925 reopening, and early members of the church. The collection also includes correspondence by […]
Isaiah Bennett (1926-2002) served as a union representative for tobacco workers at the American Tobacco Company’s “Cigar Factory” and as a leader and negotiator of the Charleston Hospital Workers’ Strike of 1969. Bennett also founded and was president of the Charleston chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, an umbrella organization for black trade unions. […]
J. Arthur Brown was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1914. After graduating from the Avery Institute in 1932 he continued his education at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, SC graduating in 1937. While at SCSC, Brown met his future wife MaeDe Esperanza Myers (1918-2012), marrying in 1940. The couple had three daughters: MaeDe […]
The digitized portion of the James E. Campbell papers consists of 107 posters that were collected by Campbell throughout his life. Campbell (1925-2021) was a native of Charleston, South Carolina and went on to become a revolutionary organizer, activist and educator. He worked alongside notable figures such as Amiri Baraka, Jack O’Dell, and Malcolm X, […]
The James Simons Papers, 1832-1879, collection contains one bound volume and loose papers pertaining to James Simons (1813-1879). A South Carolina attorney, military leader and legislator, James Simons was the son of James Simons (1761-1815), a Continental Army officer who practiced law in Charleston, South Carolina and was the commander (general) of the 4th Brigade […]
The John P. Berry Papers, 1844-1897, collection contains loose papers belonging to the family of John Parker Berry. A plantation owner of Branchville, S.C. he was the son of John Berry and Ann Berry (d. 1873). His wife was Margaret S. Berry, and his children included Alice Berry, M. Elizabeth Edwards, John Wesley Bowman Berry, […]
The Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Congregation Records collection consists of Board of Trustees meeting minutes, correspondence, and various documents encompassing all aspects of congregational life. Notable in this collection are the nineteenth-century meeting minute volumes which provide firsthand accounts of the many changes adopted by the congregation in their turn towards Reform Judaism. The minutes […]
Correspondence, speeches, memoranda, legislative files, political files, and committee files of L. Mendel Rivers (1905-1970), Democratic United States Representative from South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District from 1941 to 1970. Materials primarily relate to Rivers’ service in Congress from 1955 to 1962 with topics including the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs invasion, Civil […]
The Langdon Cheves Papers, 1777-1864, collection contains the personal, business, and legal papers of Langdon Cheves Sr., 1776-1857, a South Carolina attorney, judge, plantation owner, state legislator, U.S. Representative, and president of the Bank of the United States. In the collection are records of the Bank of the United States and other financial records, and […]
The Laura Bragg Papers collection at The Citadel Archives and Museum contain letters written to Miss Bragg from Chinese cadets before and after their graduation from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, from 1926 to 1948. Topics of the letters include career plans, The Citadel, political beliefs, Chinese culture, history, and military events. […]
The Lazarus and Hirsch Family Papers collection is comprised of correspondence, photographs, and documents created by and related to the Lazarus and Hirsch families, two prominent Jewish families in South Carolina. Notable from the collection are several letters between Jane Levy (Hart) and Mordecai M. Levy, grandparents of Jane Lazarus Raisin; a letter to Private […]
The Loose Papers of the Summerville Museum and Research Center collection consists of discrete manuscripts and documents from the museum’s archives. These papers include letters between Confederate officers during the Civil War, legal documents from the 1700s and 1800s, and a letter from a Confederate regiment officer to Governor Bonham arguing for allowing the soldiers […]
Mamie Elizabeth Garvin (1888-1987) was born to Rebecca Mary Logan Bellinger and George Washington Garvin, in Charleston, South Carolina. Garvin became one of the first African American teachers hired to teach in the county’s public schools. In addition to teaching children, Fields was a pioneer in concept of children’s daycare facilities, adult education, organizing classes […]
Selections from the McLeod Family Papers include photographs and a “Crop Memoranda” book for McLeod Plantation on James Island in South Carolina. The visual images are comprised of various structures located on the property as well as the residents of McLeod Plantation. The “Crop Memoranda” book lists names and accounts of workers (1910-1921), notes on crops (1926-1944), […]
Millicent Ellison Brown (b. 1948) is an educator and civil rights activist. Born in Charleston to MaeDe and J. Arthur Brown, local and state president of NAACP (1955-1965), Brown, in 1963, replaced her older sister Minerva as the primary plaintiff in a NAACP-sponsored lawsuit (Millicent Brown vs. Charleston County School District #20). The collection consists […]
The Moses Family Papers collection is composed of photographs and narratives related to and created by members of the Moses Family, a prominent Jewish family in South Carolina. Notable in the collection is a typescript narrative given by Octavia Harby Moses, daughter of the prominent Jewish reformer and founder of Harby’s Academy, Isaac Harby, which […]
Philip Simmons (1912-2009) was an African American blacksmith and artisan specializing in the craft of ironwork in Charleston, South Carolina. Simmons spent seventy-seven years crafting utilitarian and ornamental ironwork. His work is recognized within the state of South Carolina, nationally, and internationally. This collection, donated by the Philip Simmons Foundation, holds personal papers with photographs […]
The Phillips Family Papers collection is comprised of typescripts and manuscripts created by members of the Phillips family, prominent members of Charleston’s Jewish community in the Antebellum period. The collection contains recollections and a memoir, both serving as accounts of the family’s daily activities prior to and during the Civil War. Notable from the collection is a typescript copy […]
The Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club was formed in 1916 under the direction of Jeannette Cox, wife of Avery Normal Institute principal Benjamin Cox. The club consisted of nineteen women members meeting to discuss literary works by such authors as W.E.B DuBois, Carter G. Woodson and others. The club women also helped fulfill their […]
The Pinckney Family Papers, 1703-1847, collection consists of two bound volumes kept by members or for members of the Pinckney family. Several members of the Pinckney family have been distinguished for service to South Carolina and the United States. Eliza Lucas Pinckney helped make indigo a major cash crop; she was the mother of two […]
The Rabbi Jacob S. Raisin Papers digital collection is comprised of correspondence, writings, records, and photographs encapsulating the life and work of Rabbi Jacob Salmon Raisin and his family. A prolific writer and supporter of the Reform, Jacob Raisin served as rabbi of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) in Charleston, South Carolina from 1915 to […]
The Ravenel Family Papers, 1695-1925, collection contains financial, estate, enslaved persons, and property records for the Ravenel family. Miss Emily Guerard Ravenel and Mrs. Mary Ravenel Gignilliat inherited these papers from their father, Thomas Porcher Ravenel (1850-1936), and donated them to the South Carolina Historical Society through Henry R. Dwight. A Berkeley County, S.C. family, […]
This document is an example of an American Seaman’s Protection Certificate. In 1796, the Fourth U.S. Congress authorized Seamen’s Protection Certificates (SPCs) to protect American merchant seamen from impressment into the British Navy. The British believed that they could force British seamen in port or on the high seas into service and it was common […]
Legislative files, correspondence, printed material, voting records, and personal papers of Burnet Rhett Maybank (1899-1954), United States Senator from 1941 to 1954. Materials primarily relate to Maybank’s professional life as a United States Senator and include his legislative working files and constituent correspondence. The collection also includes a small amount of personal papers concerning Maybank […]
This collection contains material relating to the life and work of Septima P. Clark. The biographical papers include tributes, clippings, certificates, awards, family correspondence and transcripts of various oral history interviews in which Clark discusses her parents; husband; growing up and race relations in Charleston, South Carolina; her work in Citizenship Schools; her work at […]
This collection includes various bills and receipts from the last thirty years of Susan Alston’s (1832-1921) life. This encompasses her purchases of groceries, building materials, hair products, and more; in addition, this includes payments for utilities such as telephone, water, and gas. Finally, this collection contains the tax records for both the Edmondston-Alston House and […]
The Temple Sinai (Sumter, S.C.) Records collection is comprised of various records regarding Temple Sinai, a Reform Judaism synagogue in Sumter, South Carolina. The digitized portion of this collection are the scrapbooks, correspondence, and several published poems written by Penina Moise, a prominent American poet and hymnist; and a scrapbook compiled by Abraham Moise. The […]
In 1944, the Civil Services Committee—a committee organized by the Carolina Arts Association—was tasked with conducting a survey of the architecture in the city of Charleston, with the survey project called This is Charleston. This collection contains the This is Charleston’s nearly 900 survey cards and photographs of structures in the city. The front of […]
This collection includes pamphlets, brochures, and souvenir booklets that feature historic buildings, landmarks, historic sites, and other points of interest. Many include Charleston history, narrative descriptions properties, photographs, and other illustrations. The collection spans 1890-1940.
The Town of Sullivan’s Island Historic Meeting Minutes consists of three bound volumes of handwritten and typed minutes dating from 1895 – 1936, and loose papers from the same time period. The loose papers mostly consist of documents and notes, and were stored in the pages of Volume 3 (1919 – 1936). The collection begins […]
The Walter Pantovic Slavery and African American History Collection contains documents and images that reflect African American history primarily in the United States. Walter Pantovic was a Yugoslavian immigrant with an interest in Black history, in particular the history of Slavery and the Civil War. Highlights from this collection include slave bills of sale, glass […]
William (“Bill”) Saunders, a community and Civil Rights activist in Charleston, South Carolina, was an organizer and lead negotiator of the Charleston Hospital Strike of 1969. In 1970, Saunders established the Committee on Better Racial Assurance (COBRA) to address race-related community problems and provide assistance to community members in need. He also operated the AM […]
The Woodward Manning Papers, 1771-1906, collection contains loose papers belonging to planter, store owner, and hotelkeeper Woodward Manning (1808-1881). Papers consist of an agreement to hire an enslaved woman and her child, a deed of gift for a plantation and correspondence between Manning and family members in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana. Topics discussed include yellow […]
The Young Women’s Christian Association of Greater Charleston, which originated in 1907, has served communities in Charleston and the Lowcountry area of South Carolina for over a century. Currently, the YWCA of Greater Charleston, Inc., strives to provide programs and services for all people and holds a mission to eliminate racism and to empower women. […]