The submarine H.L. Hunley represents one of the most complex composite structures ever recovered by an archaeological team. The exterior hull is comprised of wrought-iron plates of various sizes, several cast-iron fittings and glass view-ports. While the Hunley was lost at sea, it was going through a series of physical and chemical changes. Salts from the sea …
Conservation is extremely important in the field of underwater archaeology. The uncontrolled exposure to air of any material recovered from a marine environment can lead to irreversible damage and the disastrous loss of archaeological data. Organic materials such as leather, wood, textile, rope and plant remains, if allowed to dry without conservation treatment, they can …
The Medical Society of South Carolina Digital Collections includes the minutes of the Society for the years 1789-1986, as well as portraits of past presidents. Minutes for the years 1789-1924 are handwritten; 1925-1986 are typed. Minutes through 1945 are in bound volumes; 1946-1986 are loose-leaf. The bound volumes are presented here as complete volumes, while …
The Lawrence Layden Scrapbook contains photographs and papers documenting his wartime service. Lawrence Layden was a Captain in the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group during World War II. Personal papers consist of induction papers, forms listing the date for reverting to inactive service, military security passes, promotion papers, transfer papers, letters of recommendation to attend Officer Candidate …
Donated by Dr. Lois Fries, these artifacts were collected in the early 1920s by Reverend Robert and Jennie Oberly. The Reverend and his wife were missionaries to Liberia for the United Lutheran Church.
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, …
The Keith and Charlotte Otterbein collection contains straw objects obtained while doing ethnographic work in Nassau, Bahamas between 1959 and 1987. Many of the items in this collection were made by individual Bahamian craftswomen (also called “plaiters”) who maintained their independence in the straw industry, while four were sold in the Nassau straw market, thus …
The Katherine Nicklaus Collection contains two female carved wooden masks whose origin was the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire).
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 …
African American anthropologist Joseph Allen Towles (1937-1988) met British anthropologist Colin Macmillan Turnbull (1924-1994) in 1959. The two exchanged marriage vows in 1960 and they lived together in an interracial, homosexual relationship until Towles’ death in 1988. Towles and Turnbull spent various periods of time in Africa, conducting fieldwork on the Mbuti, Mbo, and Ik …