Sermons, addresses, photographs, publications, and other papers of Burton L. Padoll, rabbi and civil rights activist. The bulk of the collection consists of Padoll’s typed and handwritten sermons and addresses from his various rabbinates, including at Charleston’s Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim. Topics include the Sabbath and High Holy Days celebrations as well as civil rights …
Cast net fishing is a significant part of history in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Africans transported to the Lowcountry, later known as the Gullah people, brought with them skills in boating and fishing. Seafood was plentiful on the South Carolina coast and barrier islands (sea islands) and made up a large part of the diet, …
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 …
The Leah Greenberg Postcard Collection is comprised of over 900 postcards of historic houses, parks, forts, landmarks and more in and around Charleston, South Carolina. Postcards available for viewing online depict houses on South Battery and other buildings in downtown Charleston, Magnolia Cemetery, Cypress Gardens, Hampton Park, and various wrought iron gates.
The Leo S. Carty Watercolor Print collection contains nine signed and number prints by Leo S. Carty (1931-2010). The primary focus of Carty’s paintings are the daily life of blacks in the Virgin Islands at the turn of the 20th century. Leo S. Carty (1931-2010) was born in Harlem, New York on April 17, 1931. …
The Coards Studio was a photography studio owned and operated by Joseph and Rachel Coards in Charleston, South Carolina. Coards photographed African American families and individuals in the studio and various events and groups outside of the studio, such as graduations, weddings, and other ceremonies. The studio, located at 78 Line Street, closed in the …
The Johannah Gold collection contains objects from Mrs. Gold’s family relating to the history of farming in the Lowcountry.
The collection contains, primarily, the correspondence of Isaiah Bennett, President of the Charleston Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. 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 …
The Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. Papers include materials related to the professional and personal life of Herbert DeCosta, Jr., his wife Emily, and numerous Craft, Crum, and DeCosta family members. Namely, the walking cane of Dr. William Crum.
In 2008, Curtis J. Franks travelled to West Africa as a participant in the Fulbright-Hays program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education to explore historical and cultural connections between people of African descent in the Lowcountry and Africans in the Mano River Region (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast), where …