1886 Charleston Earthquake Photographs
This collection is comprised of 15 photographs documenting the destruction Charleston, South Carolina, suffered as a result of the August 1886 earthquake. Locations in the photos include King Street, Market Street, and Hibernian Hall. The massive earthquake occurred on August 31, 1886. Please, also visit the online exhibit, “Faults and Fractures: The Medical Response to …
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1920s Charleston Scenes
Sixteen ca. 1920s photographs of scenes in Charleston, South Carolina, affixed to pages removed from a photograph album, four photos on each side. Includes views of the Charleston waterfront, the Ashley River Bridge, Hampton Park, and aerial views across the Charleston peninsula. Note: Zoom in on the photographs to see the landscapes! The landmark buildings …
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1938 Tornado Photograph Collection
On September 29, 1938, five tornadoes swept through the South Carolina Lowcountry, two of which ravaged parts of downtown Charleston, causing several fatalities and injuries and two million dollars in damages. The tornadoes damaged or destroyed almost everything in its path, particularly on Market Street, Broad Street near Church Street, and State Street. As with …
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1967 King Street Survey Collection
In 1967, Historic Charleston Foundation was deeply concerned about the conditions of the downtown area, particularly the commercial blocks of King Street. Because the Foundation believed that the survival of King Street as a thriving retail shopping district was vital, it launched a feasibility study to determine the potential of the area. The study examined …
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2nd South Carolina Regiment Order Book and Related Records, 1777-ca. 1929
Authorized June 6, 1775, the Second South Carolina Regiment organized at Charleston, South Carolina during the summer of 1775. The Regiment consisted of ten companies from eastern South Carolina. Adopted into the Continental Army in November 1775, the Regiment was assigned to the Southern Department in February 1776. The Regiment was assigned to the 2nd …
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2nd South Carolina Regiment Records Book, 1778-1779
The 2nd South Carolina Regiment Records Book, 1778-1779, is a bound volume written for the 2nd South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army. The volume consists of four pages (with writing on the insides of the front and back covers) and contains “Roll of Non Commissioned Officers, and Soldiers in Capt. Blake’s Company 8th March …
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72/74 Tradd Street Ownership History Scrapbooks
This scrapbook features a compilation of original deeds, titles, and other documents related to the transfer, sale, and ownership of 72-74 Tradd Street, known now as the Fotheringham-McNeil Tenements. Documents span the years 1765 to 1961, and likely represent the entire history of the ownership of the double tenement throughout that time period. The scrapbook …
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A Collection of Historic Bulletins from Voorhees College
This collection of historic bulletins from Voorhees College includes curricula, handbooks and manuals published between 1920-1981. The collection also includes academic records recorded between 1910-1921.
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A Sanitary Survey of Rural Charleston County, 1921
The survey is a summary of public health conditions and challenges in Charleston County in the early 1920s. Areas addressed include child and maternal health; the condition of housing, schools, and jails; sanitation and water supply; communicable diseases such as typhoid, malaria, smallpox, venereal diseases, and others; and more. Statistical reports and observations are included.
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A. Wolfe Davidson, The Man Behind the Sculpture
A. Wolfe Davidson created the Thomas Green Clemson statue in front of Tillman Hall (twice!). This exhibit provides a brief look at his Davidson’s life and the other works he created for Clemson University and other clients. Davidson was born in Russia in 1903, arrived in Greenville, South Carolina in the 1920s and enrolled as …
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Abstract of Voter Registrations Reported to the Military Government, 1868
This abstract was created by order of the commander of the Second Military District in accord with 14 U.S. Stats. 429, 15 U.S. Stats.2, and 15 U.S. Stats. 14, which gave him ultimate responsibility for the registration of voters and the conduct of elections. The series was abstracted prior to 12 September 1868 from the …
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AccessAble Books, Print-on-Demand by USC Press
The University of South Carolina Press and the University of South Carolina Libraries are pleased to announce the launch of AccessAble Books. Titles published under this joint imprint are selected from the diverse collections of the Thomas Cooper Library and the South Caroliniana Library as a means to republish important out-of-print volumes of scholarship and …
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Account Books of Benjamin Perry’s Wards, 1841-1864
The Account Books of Benjamin Perry’s Wards, 1841-1864 Collection consists of two volumes kept by Benjamin Perry for John Allen Miles (Volume 1) and Jeremiah Jackson Miles (Volume 2). A South Carolina Plantation owner, Senator (1846-1850, 1856-1857) and Secretary of State (1850-1854), Benjamin Perry married widow Sarah Free Waring Miles and acted as guardian for …
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Accounts and Estate Administration Books, 1824-1852
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 newspaper clipping on the …
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Adger Family Papers, 1813-1932
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 …
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African American Social Clubs
Meeting minutes of African American women’s social clubs including lists of members, dues collected, and programs sponsored.
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After the Great Earthquake
Souvenir booklet containing photographs of the aftermath of the Charleston Earthquake of 1886, featuring the damage done to buildings. Published by Walker, Evans & Cogswell (Charleston, S.C.), 1886. Photographs by Heliotype Printing Co., Boston, Mass. [24] leaves of plates, 12 x 20 cm.
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Agatha Aimar Simmons Papers, 1903-1962
“Stories Collected from Slaves” by Leonarda J. Aimar is a bound volume from the Agatha Aimar Simmons Papers, 1903-1962. Agatha Aimar was a local historian of Charleston, South Carolina, where she married T. Ritchie Simmons. In 1926, her mother, Leonarda Jacques Aimar, collected stories and reminiscences from formerly enslaved people. In her transcription, she attempted …
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Agricultural Experiments and South Mulberry Plantation Journal, 1841-1907 (bulk 1841-1867)
The Agricultural Experiments and South Mulberry Plantation Journal, 1841-1907 (bulk 1841-1867) collection contains a bound journal kept by Sandford William Barker at South Mulberry Plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina, which Barker acquired through his marriage to Christiana Constantia Broughton in 1835. A graduate of the Medical College of South Carolina as well as a …
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Agricultural Society of South Carolina Visual Materials
Organized in Charleston, South Carolina as the South-Carolina Society for Promoting and Improving Agricultural, and Other Rural Concerns, the society was incorporated in 1795 as the Agricultural Society of South Carolina. Photographs in this collection depict meetings and officers of the Agricultural Society, exhibits, farm scenes, farmers’ markets, livestock, and other related subjects.
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Albert Simons Papers, 1908-1977
Sketches of buildings and architectural features in Europe, Maryland, Turkey, Italy, Greece, France, South Carolina, and Spain, by Charleston architect Albert Simons. Also included are sketches during his military service in Europe during World War I. The images depict buildings of France, and soldiers and civilians of many nationalities.
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Alexander Glennie Journal, 1831-1859
Journal kept by Alexander Glennie concerning his activities as rector of All Saints (Episcopal) Church, Waccamaw, South Carolina. Includes a list of plantation chapels (Woodbourne, Laurel Hill, Brookgreen, Oaks, Litchfield, Waverly, Midway, True Blue, Hagley, Fairfield, Sandy Knoll, Cedar Grove, and Mount Arena); the constitution (1832) and minutes (1832-1838) of All Saints Sunday School (an …
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Alexander Inglis Papers, 1782-1811 (bulk 1800-1802)
The digitized portion of the Alexander Inglis Papers, 1782-1811 (bulk 1800-1802) collection contains two documents concerning enslaved people owned by Inglis. The collection includes a medical bill for the treatment of two enslaved people named Dure and Mammute, and a note about fifteen enslaved people hired out by a “Mr. Wagner.” Alexander Inglis Jr. was …
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Alexander McBeth Store Ledger, 1794
A handmade ledger book from 1794 belonging to Alexander McBeth & Company, who began operations in Greenville County in the early 1790s. The store stood on the White Horse Road. This ledger is held by the Greenville County Library System’s South Carolina Room.
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Alice Ravenel Huger Smith Collection
The Alice Ravenel Huger Smith Collection contains the book, Twenty Drawings of the Pringle House (1917). This book was a collaboration with her father, D.E. Huger Smith. Alice R. Huger Smith (1876-1958), was part of the Charleston Renaissance and is remembered as a painter, printmaker, author, illustrator, historian and historic preservationist.
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Allen University Digital Collections
Allen University has a rich and distinguished history. Founded in 1870 by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the institution represents the dream of Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1883), an apostle of black education in the United States, who saw the need for such a school among African Americans. Payne’s dream was fulfilled by Richard Allen, …
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Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) records, 1998-2018
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 …
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Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Photograph collection of Epsilon Tau Omega chapter members. The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University by African-American women.
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Alston Wilkes Society Houses
Alston Wilkes Society provides services for homeless persons, veterans, ex-offenders, and at-risk youth. This collection includes photographs of the restoration of their 2 Greenville locations.
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American Spinning Company
Contains photographs of the mill, village, and people of the American Spinning Company from the private collection of Robert “Bob” H. Duke of Greenville. Organized in 1895 by Oscar Sampson, James Orr, and Jacob Cagle American Spinning Company began as a two-story wooden building, but grew rapidly adding a new brick building and other additions …
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Andrews Museum Collection
The Andrews Museum Collection features photographs taken of the century old town of Andrews, South Carolina. Founded in 1909, Andrews was formed when the towns of Rosemary and Harpers merged. Known for its railway lines and lumber mills, Andrews quickly became a town that had a lot to offer. Churches, retail stores, movie theaters and …
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Angelica Singleton Van Buren Collection
Sarah Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, South Carolina in 1818, the daughter of prominent South Carolina plantation owner, Richard Singleton, and his wife Rebecca Travis Coles. In 1838, Angelica would marry Abraham Van Buren, son of the 8th President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. During her father-in-law’s term of office, Angelica would …
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Anita Pollitzer Family Papers
The Anita Pollitzer Family Papers is comprised of documents and photographs gathered by multiple members of the Pollitzer family. The collection contains correspondence, funeral programs, an issue of The Jewish Women Quarterly, Gustave M. Pollitzer’s prayer book in the original Yiddish, marriage and birth certificates, tickets to events, and family photographs.
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Anna D. Kelly Papers, 1930s – 1999
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 …
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Anne Simons Deas Papers, ca. 1900
The Anne Simons Deas Papers, ca. 1900 Collection contains bound papers written by Anne Simons Deas, the daughter of Elias Deas and Ann Ball. A published author, Anne Deas wrote Points of Colonial Interest Around Summerville. Dorchester, Newington, Ingleside, St. James, Goose Creek (1905) and Recollections of the Ball Family of South Carolina and the …
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Ansonborough Rehabilitation Project
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 …
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Ansonborough Rehabilitation Project Photograph Survey
Since its founding, Historic Charleston Foundation had been nursing its interest in the rehabilitation of an entire neighborhood. However, a formal plan had not been devised until the late 1950s, a time when the historic Ansonborough neighborhood was in a state of decline, with many formerly grand houses in a state of severe disrepair and …
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Aquí Estamos (Here We Are) Digital Collection
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, …
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Architect – George E. Walker
Architect George E. Walker replaced dismissed architect Peter Hammarskold when the foundations of the SC State House were found crumbling. This handwritten diary covers construction on the SC State House from August to November 1854.
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Architecture Publications
About the Collection This collection features publications related to architecture, including Charleston architecture. Additional works may be added in the future. See also the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs Collection.
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Ariail-Kimball Genealogy
This collection contains genealogical information for the Ariail-Kimball and associated families including marriages, obituaries, military service, and family trees. These items are from the James and Lorraine Patterson Collection.
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Armstrong Family Papers, 1900 – 1930
One of America’s foremost early twentieth-century African-American magic acts. J. Hartford Armstrong, his wife, Lille Belle Armstrong, and eventually their daughter, Ellen Armstrong, performed feats that included mind reading, slight of hand, and card tricks. This collection of 127 items includes letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
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Art Work of Charleston: Published in Twelve Parts
A twelve-part, mostly pictorial publication about Charleston and the vicinity. Distributed throughout the parts is an essay describing Charleston’s history and development. The photographs feature buildings, residences, churches, street views, river views, historic gardens, cemeteries, railroad structures, phosphate mining activity, and wharves. Published in 1893 by W. H. Parish (Chicago, Illinois).
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Atheneum: Yearbook of Coastal Carolina University
Atheneum, the Coastal Carolina University yearbook, was published from 1969 to 1997. The yearbooks allow us to trace change in the culture and attitudes of students on the CCU campus throughout the years. The 1969 yearbook is considered to be the first volume because previous editions were included as part of Garnet and Black, the University …
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Avery Normal Institute
Founded in 1865, the Avery Normal Institute provided education and advocacy for the growing Charleston African American community and trained blacks for professional careers and leadership roles. Although the Institute closed its doors in 1954, it graduates preserved the legacy of their alma mater by establishing the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. This …
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Avery Research Center Oral History Collection
The Avery Research Center houses a variety of oral history interviews, largely documenting African American experiences in the Lowcountry. Oral history projects include the Avery Normal Institute documentation effort and the Sea Island Preservation Initiative.
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Avery Research Center Sweetgrass Basket Collection
The Avery Sweetgrass Basket Collection holds significant modern examples of a centuries-old craft. Following African traditions, baskets of coiled grasses were originally produced by slaves on Lowcountry plantations for agricultural use. Over time, sweetgrass baskets have become artistic expressions that retain the African aesthetic — a symbol of African American culture and a signature of …
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B. A. Rodrigues Ottolengui Collection
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 …
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Babcock Blueprints
The iconic Babcock Building, part of the campus of the South Carolina State Hospital on Bull Street, opened its doors in 1885. The design follows a modified “Kirkbride Plan” in which wards were staggered to allow for increased natural light and improved ventilation. The Babcock Building’s red cupola became a symbol of the mental health …