Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Congregation Records

The Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Congregation Records collection consists of Board of Trustees meeting minutes, correspondence, and various documents encompassing all aspects of congregational life. Notable in this collection are the nineteenth-century meeting minute volumes which provide firsthand accounts of the many changes adopted by the congregation in their turn towards Reform Judaism. The minutes …


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Journal of Robert Barnwell Plantations, 1838-1859

The Robert Woodward Barnwell Plantations collection contains a plantation book (1838-1859) created by Robert Woodward Barnwell (1801-1882) listing the names of enslaved men, women and children as well as clothing and blankets given to slaves at Cotton Hope, Bull’s Point, Woodward and the Briars Plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Loose papers in this collection …


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John F. Riley Papers, 1849-1855

Collection consists of papers, including a handwritten “Journal” [diary], exercises, and lecture notes written by physician, J.F.R. The diary commences at New Orleans, Louisiana and includes entries about classes, students, and faculty at the medical department of the University of Louisiana. In May 1853 the author became the medical officer on the steamer Falcon and …


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James E. Campbell Papers, 1930-2009

The digitized portion of the James E. Campbell papers consists of 107 posters that were collected by Campbell throughout his life. Campbell (1925-2021) was a native of Charleston, South Carolina and went on to become a revolutionary organizer, activist and educator.  He worked alongside notable figures such as Amiri Baraka, Jack O’Dell, and Malcolm X, …


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Isaac Harby Family Papers

The Isaac Harby Family Papers collection consists of correspondence and manuscripts regarding Isaac Harby and the Harby family. Notable from this collection are a letter from Isaac Harby to John C. Calhoun, Isaac Harby’s Copybook, and Isaac Harby’s prayer book manuscript. Harby’s prayer book contains the Reform Society’s “Articles of Faith,” which introduced several elements of …


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Images from the Records of the Charleston County Public Library

This collection consists of photographs and slides from the institutional records of the Charleston County Public Library. These images span the first four decades of the history of the institution, from its founding in 1931 as the Charleston Free Library, through 1969. The collection contains images from various library branches and service points, including the …


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Historical and Governing Records, 1841-1925

The St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church Historical and Governing Records Collection consists of documents and photographs that capture the early history of the church and congregation. It includes documents of historical and architectural significance, including the Church Constitution, a program about the 1925 reopening, and early members of the church. The collection also includes correspondence by …


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Historic Charleston Foundation Oral History Project

Historic Charleston Foundation’s Oral History Project began in 2003 as a staff initiative which grew from the realization that Charleston was rapidly losing members of the generation involved with the founding of Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF).  At that time, the decision was made to videotape hour-long interviews with former trustees and other pioneers in the …


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Henry Mouzon Plat Book, 1769-1819

This item is a surveyor’s duplicate book of plats attributed to noted surveyor, civil engineer, and map maker Henry Mouzon. Mouzon conducted surveys for the first map drawn to scale of North and South Carolina, which was published in London in 1775. This book includes an index to the names of property owners and the …


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Helen Evangeline Banks Harrison Papers, Circa 1850-1985

Helen Evangeline Banks Harrison was born in Hampton, Virginia in 1898 and is the daughter of Issiah and Anna DeCosta Banks, came to Charleston, South Carolina as a child and spent most of her life there. She attended city schools, Avery Normal Institute, and Howard University. In 1935, she began working as a clerk in …


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