View All Natural History and Science Items in Discovery
The Black and White Negatives of South Carolina State Parks is primarily composed of images taken by the State Forestry Commission, the agency which operated the parks from 1934-67. Additional black and white negatives in this collection were produced by the State Park Service in the 1970s. This collection documents the administration and public use […]
This collection contains earthquake photographs held by the Charleston Museum, America’s first museum. Currently the collection features 204 photographs documenting the damage inflicted on Charleston by the earthquake of August 31, 1886. Primarily professional photographs, these images were sold as souvenirs of the devastating quake.
The Color Slides of South Carolina State Parks Collection is composed of images taken by staff of the South Carolina State Park Service from 1969 to 2007. This collection documents the administration and public use of the parks. It includes photographs of park scenery, recreational activities, historic sites, interpretive programs, maintenance work, natural and cultural […]
This collection is comprised of 32 opaque watercolors, or gouaches, on paper created in the late 1700s. Each depicts at least one species of flora and fauna (primarily birds, trees, and flowering plants) found in the American Southeast.
Frank R. Fisher’s notes contain observations, drawings, and photographs relating to scientific studies, particularly astronomical observations made while Fisher was a resident in Charleston, S.C., during the 1880s. Fisher, a cashier at the South Carolina Railroad Company in Charleston, was an amateur scientist and inventor who occasionally worked in consultation with longtime College of Charleston […]
The Frederick E. Kredel, M.D. Papers document the professional life of Dr. Kredel, MUSC’s first full-time professor of surgery. The collection includes awards, certificates, and honors received by Dr. Kredel, correspondence, and speeches given by Dr. Kredel. The highlight of the collection is Dr. Kredel’s scrapbook of his 1925 zoological research trip to Kartabo, British […]
The Furman Cougar Project began in 2008 as an effort to monitor and research cougars in south-central New Mexico. Each summer Furman University Biology professor, Dr. Travis Perry, and his students travel to Sierra County New Mexico to photograph and track the large wild cats. The research team sets up a grid of cameras in […]
The Georgetown County Hurricane Collection exhibits photographs that record the many hurricanes that have impacted coastal South Carolina. Hurricane Hazel (1954) and Hurricane Hugo (1989) were two of the most powerful storms that impacted South Carolina. These photographs document the devastation and the impact of these two hurricanes that will never be forgotten by the […]
The Gordon R. Hennigar Pathology Museum Collection features photographs of gross pathology specimens from the Museum’s holdings. The photograph collection is the result of a collaboration between the Waring Historical Library and MUSC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (DPLM) to preserve, document, and make the wet specimen collection more accessible. Dr. Erin Presnell of […]
Correspondences between Henry William Ravenel and fellow botanist, family, and others. 1844-1887
This collection of one hundred ten manuscripts, thirteen fully transcribed journals, and thirty-nine photographs, as well as his five Fungi Caroliniani Exsicatti Century books now available online, documents the family life, business pursuits, and natural history interests of South Carolina planter, botanist, and agricultural writer Henry William Ravenel (1814-1887). In addition, Ravenel’s plant specimens from […]
This series of 31 maps of the South Carolina coastline depicts water-surface elevations, high water marks, and landward extent of storm-tide inundation caused by Hurricane Hugo, September 21-22, 1989.
This series of 31 maps of the South Carolina coastline depicts water-surface elevations, high water marks, and landward extent of storm-tide inundation caused by Hurricane Hugo, September 21-22, 1989.
The J. Marion Sims Letters, 1858-59 and 1880-1881, consist of four original letters from J. Marion Sims to Gen. Waddy Thompson of Greenville, South Carolina (1858-1859); to O.B. Mayer (1880); and Tom Taylor (1881). His letters refer to patients suffering with fibrous tumors of the uterus and ovarian cysts or tumors. He also inquires of […]
The Menu Project is the beginning of a community wide effort to record the contemporary culinary history of the Southeast, in particular that of South Carolina. This collection has been created from donations of menus from local citizens and will continue to grow over the years. While the majority of the menus come from the southeast, […]
The Oconee County Public Library, with the help of the State Library’s Digitization in a Box Initiative, is currently digitizing books, pamphlets and other documents which deal with some aspect of the history of Oconee County. Most are works by local authors which were originally published in very small editions and are no longer […]
Bound volumes containing charts (graphs and tables) pertaining to weather and the meteorological observations of Alexander Glennie taken in All Saints Parish and at Georgetown, South Carolina. Glennie’s records include thermographic, hygrometric, and barometric readings, as well as the number of inches of rainfall each day. Charts note the wind direction and velocity and include […]
In 2011 Robert B. Ariail donated an extraordinary collection of historical astronomy to the University of South Carolina and the South Carolina State Museum. Over the past half-century, Mr. Ariail built a collection that encompassed both historic telescopes and astronomical instruments, now at the State Museum, and more than 5,000 rare books and other published […]
Roman Vishniac’s corpus is truly diverse and reflects the workings of a complex human being who saw the world in ways not typical of his peers. Born in Pavlavosk Russia in 1897, Vishniac pursued studies in biology, zoology and oriental art. As a young man his interest in microscopes and photography led to his contributions […]
Sandlapper, the Magazine of South Carolina, was established in 1968 by the Lexington lawyer Robert P. Wilkins, Sr. and his wife Rose. Concerned about South Carolina’s image, Wilkins began promoting the state’s beauty, citizens, and history through the magazine. The first issue appeared in January 1968 with a portrait of Governor James F. Byrnes on […]
The South Carolina State Library maintains an extensive print collection of materials published about South Carolina. The South Carolina Book Collection provides access to digitized copies of selected books in the public domain, including the Annual Reports of the Charleston Orphan House, Annual Reports of the Audubon Society of South Carolina, and published political speeches.
The South Carolina Historical Cookbooks collection consists of publications from 1832 to 1921. Many of these “receipt” books provide insight into 19th-century and early 20th-century South Carolina foodways. Geographically, the collection covers many parts of the state, including Kingstree (Kingstree Cook Book 1921), Spartanburg (Spartanburg Cook Book 1917), Sumter (Best War Recipes 1917), and, of […]
The bulletins published in these volumes exhibit the record of simultaneious observations, taken daily, at 7:35 a.m., 4:35 p.m., and 11 p.m., Washington time. The observations are given as copied from the original reports of the observers. See the catalog record for more information.
This collection contains five maps of the Waccamaw River in Horry County, S.C. from Conway to Bull Creek dated November 1903. The surveys were performed under the direction of Captain G. P. Howell, Corps of Engineers U.S.A. and Reid Whitford, U.S. Assistant Engineer. The surveyor was William H. Johnstone. These five maps show the soundings […]
As part of a grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Waring Historical Library photographed 500 objects from its collection of medical artifacts. The artifacts date to the 18th century, and include pharmacy containers, surgical instruments, and bleeding apparatus. One hundred of the objects will be presented as “3D” videos that offer a 360 […]
