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, …
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.
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.
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.
Broadsides is a virtual collection of posters from many different collections at the South Caroliniana Library.
In 1923, the Greenville Public Library converted a Ford truck into a “Library Truck.” It began service to the textile mill communities in the Parker District in September of that year. The second bookmobile was built on a Dodge chassis and began serving rural areas in December 1924. After 90 years, the Greenville County Library …
Papers of Bonds Conway (1763-1843), a free African-American resident of Camden (Kershaw County, S.C.). This collection of family letters, land papers, and other items documents several generations of a free family of color from the 18th through the 20th centuries in South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, east Texas, and elsewhere. Topics discussed include social relations during …
In about 1937 Miss Beulah Glover (17 Aug. 1887 – 4 Jan. 1991) opened a photography studio in Walterboro, S.C. Being also an historian, Miss Glover shot many historical scenes in the Lowcountry. She converted some of these images to postcards and sold them in her studio, Foto-Nook. She also used images to illustrate her …
Originally a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Bettie La Barbe spent several years (approximately 1904 – 1923) in Charleston as a teacher and the directress of Kelly’s Kindergarten at Saint Andrews Episcopal Church (located at King and Poinsette Streets). She retired to Asheville, North Carolina and remained an active member in her community until her …
Once part of an album, the photographs (circa 1900) show plantations, African Americans, horses, hunting, rice threshing, wagons and carts, and churches in Berkeley County, S.C. Some featured landmarks are: Medway, Wappahoola, Mulberry Castle, Dean Hall (bulk of collection,) Dockon, Bushy Park, Exeter, Cote Bas, Bippy, Lewisfield, Strawberry Chapel, Strawberry ferry, and pine land house. …