A Columbia civil rights activist, Simkins served as the South Carolina State Secretary for the NAACP, 1941 to 1957. She also had leadership roles in the renovation of Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital and the Richland County Citizens Committee. Simkins was a founder, in 1921, of the Victory Savings Bank of Columbia. Now called South Carolina Community …
The historical minutes of Columbia’s City Council, spanning January 1883 to December 1907. Through the efforts of volunteers at Richland Library’s Walker Local History Center the handwritten entries are in the process of being transcribed to allow for full-text searching. Please check back frequently as we are constantly adding to this collection.
The 1825 publication of Robert Mills’ Atlas of the State of South Carolina marked an American cartographic first. This volume is the first systematic atlas of any state in the union. Remarkably, too, no other state atlas of South Carolina was published for the next century and a half.
Maxcy Gregg’s Sporting Journal (1839-1860) describes hunting and fishing expeditions, a record of game animals taken, weather conditions and Fisher’s Pond. Other entries discuss a trip to the mountains (17 July – 12 August 1843), attending “the Washingtonian lecture” in Winnsboro, South Carolina, a mention of David Johnson (1782-1855), who served as governor of South …
The poems of Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) are read and studied by students and scholars in a variety of disciplines (American literature, African-American Studies, African Studies, and Women’s Studies), but the first edition has not previously been freely accessible in a digital facsimile without a fee or subscription. Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral …
This small collection of letters written by U.S. Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton (1762-1816) documents concerns and developments during the months preceding the War of 1812.
This collection from the South Caroliniana Library consists primarily of the Civil War letters of Edward Laight Wells, discussing the mood in Charleston during the secession crisis in 1860, fighting with the Hampton’s Legion 1864-1865, and the immediate aftermath of the war. Other letters are from Eliza Carolina Middleton Huger Smith discussing the health and …
This item documents the 1923 meeting in Columbia, S.C., of the Bishops’ Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The session convened at Bethel A.M.E. Church, the impressive, masonry structure built in 1921 at the corner of Sumter and Taylor Streets. This publication is significant for its portraits and biographical sketches of African American ministers …
The Negro Travelers’ Green Book was a travel guide series published from 1936 to 1964 by Victor H. Green. It was intended to provide African American motorists and tourists with the information necessary to board, dine, and sightsee comfortably and safely during the era of segregation.
Over the course of his twenty year career in South Carolina politics, including an unprecedented six years as governor, Robert McNair led South Carolina in an era of prosperity and carefully guided the Palmetto State through the turbulent 1960s, a period of profound social upheaval and change. Digitized here are speeches, correspondence, clippings, and photographs …