Time Period: Industry & the Gilded Age (1878 - 1889)

Robert B. Ariail Collection of Historical Astronomy

In 2011 Robert B. Ariail donated an extraordinary collection of historical astronomy to the University of South Carolina and the South Carolina State Museum. Over the past half-century, Mr. Ariail built a collection that encompassed both historic telescopes and astronomical instruments, now at the State Museum, and more than 5,000 rare books and other published …


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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of South Carolina

Originally conceived in the late 18th Century, fire insurance maps provided structural and urban environmental information necessary for insurance underwriters. Founded in 1867 in the United States, the Sanborn National Insurance Diagram Bureau systematically produced ascetically appealing, but also efficient, maps nationwide. This New York firm expanded and grew immensely, finally emerging as the Sanborn …


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Samuel Lander Papers

Samuel Lander, Jr. was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, of Irish parents who had immigrated to America in 1818. He devoted his life to education and the ministry.  He graduated as valedictorian from Randolph-Macon College (then in Boydton, VA) in 1852. For a short time he practiced civil engineering and studied law. In December of …


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Samuel Hudson Collection

The Samuel Hudson Photograph Collection features photographs from the Hudson family. Samuel Hudson (1921-2006), a native of Georgetown County, was the son of Melvin and Wilhelmina Hudson. He served with the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII and returned to Georgetown to operate several prosperous businesses including Hudson’s Real Estate Agency. He served as the director …


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Russell Maxey Photograph Collection

The Russell Maxey Photograph Collection at Richland Library includes over 7000 negatives, including images taken by Maxey and earlier photographers. Russell Maxey’s photographs allow researchers a glimpse into a southern city undergoing dramatic shifts in its economic, physical and social landscape. The negatives are housed in the Walker Local and Family History Center.


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Scottish Literature Digital Projects

The University of South Carolina libraries have been acquiring works by Scottish authors since the early nineteenth century. With the addition of the extensive G. Ross Roy Collection in 1989, South Carolina now has major research holdings across a wide range of Scottish writing. Indeed, in the words of one recent visitor, it is “the …


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Thomas J. Blumer Collection on the Catawba Nation, 1756 – Present

The Catawba Indian collection was created using slides and photographs from the Native American Studies Archive at USC Lancaster. Many of the photographs and slides depict the Catawba reservation, pottery, people, and buildings.


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Standard Federal (Columbia S.C.) Photograph Collection

This comprehensive set of Columbia area images includes 146 prints from periods ranging from 1865 to 1980. The collection was amassed from various long time photographers in the community such as John A. Sargeant, Charles Old and Walter Blanchard. They operated studios in the city from the period c. 1915 through 1960. The images include …


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University of South Carolina Buildings and Grounds

These images, dating from the 1920s to the 1950s, document the evolution of the University’s physical structures.


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Topographical Maps of South Carolina, 1888-1975

Measuring 14 ½ x 20 inches the Polyconic Projections were first published in the late 19th Century. Some were produced by the Army, others by the Corps. of Engineers and the remainder were produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The scale is 1:62500. The contour intervals vary. Measurements are shown in miles, feet …


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