View All Reconstruction (1866 - 1877) Items in Discovery
This abstract was created by order of the commander of the Second Military District in accord with 14 U.S. Stats. 429, 15 U.S. Stats.2, and 15 U.S. Stats. 14, which gave him ultimate responsibility for the registration of voters and the conduct of elections. The series was abstracted prior to 12 September 1868 from the […]
This collection of photographs was donated to Richland Library in 1987 in honor of the bicentennial of the founding of the city of Columbia in 1786. The collection was created from copies of photographs, programs and lithographs of historic images of Columbia, S.C. Due to copyright restrictions, some images in the Bicentennial Collection are not […]
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 […]
Broadsides is a virtual collection of posters from many different collections at the South Caroliniana Library.
The C. Wayne Weart Apothecary Trade Cards collection includes late-19th century advertising cards from the private collection of Dr. C. Wayne Weart. The cards advertise pharmaceutical products, and typically feature colorful artwork on the front. The back of the cards usually had information about the product advertised and where it could be purchased. Some cards […]
Camilla Urso was one of the leading violinists of the 19th century. She accomplished this at a time when the violin was not considered to be a suitable instrument for a woman to play. Furthermore, she made the difficult transition from child prodigy to mature artist with a career that spanned more than fifty years […]
Richard T. Brumby began to keep a catalogue of the mineral specimens during the 1840s. He never finished it and between 1856 and 1903, no formal record of new or existing specimens was kept. As a result, the only surviving information on the collection was contained in Brumby’s partial catalogue and the hastily scrawled paper […]
The papers of the Rev. Charles Stuart Vedder (1826–1917) consist primarily of letters as well as diaries spanning a period of over sixty years. Vedder moved from Schenectady, New York, to Columbia, South Carolina, to study at Columbia Theological Seminary. He was called upon to become pastor of the Summerville Presbyterian Church in June 1861. […]
The main line of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad Company, which began operations in 1861, ran between Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, with service to other locations south and west of Charleston. In January 1867 under pressure from the bondholders, the Board of Directors agreed to transfer property rights and privileges of the Charleston […]
These images are from the collection of photographs relating to Charleston area forts, specifically Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Fort Johnson.
These images are from the collection of illustrated newspapers, primarily Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s, housed in the archives at the Charleston Museum.
Chesterfield County Library has digitized a collection of family papers from the Spencer Family circa 1780s-1910s.
The Clariosophic Literary Society was one of two original student organizations established at South Carolina College in 1806. The Clariosophic and Euphradian Literary Societies sought to prepare their members for future leadership roles by strengthening their oratorical skills. This collection comes from USC’s South Caroliniana Library and comprises 132 volumes of society records, spanning the […]
A collection of personal and commercial documents created by or on behalf of members of the Holland family of Greenville. Includes eleven letters written during the Civil War, most of them from Confederate soldier Robert Holland to various family members.
William Butler [1790-1850] moved to Greenville from Edgefield in 1825 where he began to practice as a country doctor. He was educated at the University of South Carolina and served as a surgeon during the War of 1812. In 1841, he was elected from Greenville District as a Whig to the twenty-seventh Congress, and eight […]
This collection consists of typed College of Charleston board meeting minutes from 1791 to 2007.
The College of Charleston Pamphlets collection is a growing collection of pamphlets digitized from the College of Charleston archive. The pamphlets originate from a selection of collections, including the Thomas Smith Grimke pamphlet collection.
This searchable collection of Columbia City Directories from 1859 is an invaluable source for historians and genealogists. City directories offer an alphabetized listing of residents and businesses as well as a street-by-street listing of occupants.
The collection of artifacts pertaining tot he Craft and Crum families of the Lowcountry includes a myriad of materials; photo albums, letters, account books, and land deeds. The Craft Family Photo Album includes images of Craft family members, famous abolitionists, and other family friends, many of international historical significance. Also included in the collection are legal […]
This collection contains letters and other materials surrounding the life of five-term U.S. congressman David Wyatt Aiken, who biographers have styled “South Carolina’s Militant Agrarian.” Born in 1828 in Winnsboro (Fairfield County, S.C.), Aiken served as a colonel in the Confederate Army and later went on to serve in the S.C. House of Representatives. He […]
The images in this collection have been created from a portfolio of book and manuscript leaves that was compiled and sold by The Society of Foliophiles in 1964. The collection was released in an edition of 20 sets that each contained 135 examples, and was titled “The History of the Written Word.” By using actual […]
A collection of 19th and early 20th century diaries written by the following women: Caroline Crane Marsh, Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle, Cloe Tyler Whittle Greene, and Grace (Gay) Latimer Whittle Sams.
Papers consist of correspondence, writings, military records, accounts, plats, and other items. Included are the papers of James Shoolbred Drayton (1820-1867) and John Drayton (1831-1912).
This collection contains diaries, travelogues, ledgers, correspondence, inventories, plats, sketches, architectural drawings of Charles Drayton III and others, relating mainly to affairs at Drayton Hall and other family plantations. Collection also includes artwork, reflections on eighteenth century literature, deeds, newspaper clippings and photographs.
These digital collections include diplomas, literary society membership certificates, class rings, and jewelry. Columbia College was founded in 1854 in Columbia, SC, by the United Methodist Church as a liberal arts college for women. Columbia College currently offers evening, graduate, and online programs serving both women and men in addition to the Women’s College. Established […]
Late 19th and early 20th century photographic images of students and campus life at Erskine College in Due West, S.C. Erskine College was founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
About The Winns of Fairfield County: Brothers William, Col. John, and General Richard Winn migrated from Fauquier County, Virginia to Fairfield County in the years just preceding the Revolutionary War. All three, along with several sons, fought for the Patriot’s cause with the local militias. In 1785 the brothers petitionedfor a charter and laid out the town […]
The Fall Line is a geographic region within South Carolina where the rivers are no longer navigable from the Low Country. This area, which stretches from Cheraw on the Pee Dee River to Hamburg (present day North Augusta) on the Savannah River, yielded experiences and material culture that were characteristic of its peoples. The goods […]
This collection contains Bible records for a number of South Carolina families. They date from the late 1700s to the late 1900s. The Bible records contain information on births, marriages, deaths, and other notable events that occurred within the families. Read more…
Contents include Furman University catalogs from 1852 through 2013 and Greenville Woman’s College catalogs from 1857 through 1937. Furman University catalogs Greenville Woman’s College catalogs
This collection contains over 2,000 historical images of Furman University including photographs and glass plate negatives from Furman University (both the downtown Greenville campus and the current campus) and Greenville Woman’s College. The images from this collection date from 1865 through 1989 with the majority of the images from the 1930s – 1960s. […]
Georgetown County Historical Newspapers Collection consists of newspapers dating from the early 1800s to 1899 from the Winyah Observer, the Pee Dee Times, the True Republican, the South Carolinian, the Winyah Intelligencer, the Georgetown American and the Georgetown Union.
This photograph collection is a small portion of USC Aiken’s historical Gregg-Graniteville Archive of documents and memorabilia of the Graniteville Company, a major Southern textile manufacturing firm founded in 1845 by William Gregg. The archive represents the only collection in existence devoted to William Gregg and the Graniteville Company. It was developed over the years […]
Donated in 2010 by Hemrick Nathan Salley Jr., the Salley Family Sheet Music includes music from the 19th and 20th Centuries. These two bound volumes from the collection each have a distinct focus: one on popular piano music from the mid-1800s, and the other on popular songs for piano and voice from 1899 to 1902 […]
Correspondences between Henry William Ravenel and fellow botanist, family, and others. 1844-1887
The collection consists of business correspondence, plantation records, slave lists, military documents, accounting records, legal documents and Civil War letters of the Heyward and Ferguson families of the Combahee, Savannah, and Cooper Rivers in the Low Country near Charleston, South Carolina. The letters date between 1806 and 1923, but the bulk of the correspondence is […]
The Historical Commission of South Carolina pamphlet collection is comprised of 45 artificially bound volumes of separately published South Carolina imprints from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Topics covered include: agriculture, Civil War regimental histories, education and schools, geology, industry, medicine, Native American tribes, nature, nullification, the Revolutionary War, the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877), and […]
View selected issues of the Greenville Daily Herald, The Charleston Courier, The Carolina News and Guide, Cohen’s Weekly, the Illinois State Register, and other historical newspapers dating from 1851 – 1963.
This collection of textbooks and printed works on nineteenth century American education had its impetus in a request from our colleague, Professor Susan Schramm-Pate, of the College of Education here at the University of South Carolina. She was interested in supplementing the core group of texts for her doctoral seminar “Curriculum Classics: Trends and Issues” […]
This scrapbook, compiled by James H. Holloway (1849-1913), contains legal documents, personal and business correspondence, receipts, ephemera, clippings and photographs pertaining to the Holloway family, a prominent free family of color in Charleston, SC. Legal documents include deeds (1806, 1821, 1871), a conveyance (1811), slave bills of sale including one for the slave “Betty” (1829), […]
This collection includes indexes and finding aids for historical and genealogical information pertaining to Columbia, Richland County, and the Midlands. In addition, Local History staff maintain a guide to relevant subject indexes and finding aids available both from Richland Library as well as from other institutions focusing on local history and genealogy in the area. […]
The Joel Myerson Collection of Nineteenth-Century American Manuscripts, Images, and Ephemera is a part of the larger Joel Myerson Collection of Nineteenth-Century American Literature. The collection contains letters, manuscripts, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, and a variety of other ephemeral material relating to nineteenth-century American authors, especially those associated with the Transcendentalist movement. The bulk […]
The series of photograph albums document the time that John Shaw Billings (1898-1975) and his extended family spent at the Redcliffe plantation in Aiken County, South Carolina. Known for his position as the first managing editor of Life Magazine, Billings purchased Redcliffe in 1935 from his uncle Henry Cumming Hammond (1868-1961) for $15,000. Even before […]
This collection consists of parish registers, with records of baptisms, marriages, burials, and communions, in addition to lists of members, pastors, and church officers. The originals, most of which reside at the individual churches, were microfilmed and now digitized to extend easier access to these valuable records. Currently, only records from Lexington County are available. We […]
From the Catholic Diocese of Charleston Archives comes this collection of correspondence to Bishop Patrick N. Lynch, Bishop of Charleston from 1858-1882. Spanning the years 1858-1866, theses letters to the Bishop from his family touch on a variety of topics including Catholicism and convent life, the Civil War and slavery, and Southern life in the […]
The papers of the Malloy family of Cheraw, South Carolina, chiefly comprise wartime letters from George Archibald Malloy (1843–1923), who served with the Confederate Army in the Ashley Dragoons, Company H, 3rd S.C. Cavalry. George’s letters record the tedium of camp life amid reports of troop movements, rumors about Union and Confederate officers, and travel notes. […]
This book describes the history of Bamberg, South Carolina, with maps, photographs, and text regarding the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras; more specific chapters discuss the buildings, businesses, schools, churches, occupations and people of the 1890s. Genealogical charts and other information document the Copeland and various other families of Bamberg County, South Carolina, through […]
The Mayors of Columbia collection consists of portraits of the mayors and intendants of Columbia from John Taylor, the first intendant in 1806 to Bob Coble, mayor from 1990-2010. The original portraits are on display in the Columbia City Hall at 1737 Main Street. Portraits of some former mayors are not included in this collection. […]
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 […]
A ten-set collection containing 37 items of measured drawings, ink sketches, pencil drawings and watercolors representing several generations of the Middleton family of South Carolina from 1803-1867. Sets 1-6 contain measured architectural drawings attributed to John Izard Middleton with dates and watermarks ranging from 1808-1813. Five country houses and one greenhouse are depicted in these […]
This digital collection from the USC’s South Caroliniana Library comprises nearly 400 volumes of Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian Churches in South Carolina between 1785 and 1920. This collection will enable researchers to examine the activities of the Baptist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian Churches in South […]
Browse selected newsletters and pamphlets scanned from microfilm. The current contents of the collection include the full run of the Macedonian Call and Spiritual Call, as well as pamphlets from South Carolina. Browse by Topic Macedonian Call and Spiritual Call South Carolina Pamphlets
This collection details the inner workings of Newton Plantation in the 1800s and contains several account and transaction ledgers. Specifically, this collection includes several day books (including the Newton Day Book or the Newton Plantation Day Book) originating between 1854-1872. These books provide records of monetary transactions on the plantation, including accounts payable and accounts […]
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 […]
The Pawleys Island Civic Association Collection features many of the historic photographs from Pawleys Island: A Century of History and Photographs. First settled by rice planters who looked for an escape from the deadly malaria that plagued the inland areas, the island continues to bring in both returning vacationers as well as first-timers who long to […]
During the late 19th century the discovery of phosphate deposits in the Charleston and Florence areas marked the beginning of a rapidly growing industry in South Carolina. Phosphates are rocks formed from the fossilized remains of sea creatures found in areas once covered by oceans. In South Carolina, phosphates were used as fertilizers to extend […]
This collection of pamphlets is from the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections includes three pamphlets ranging in date from 1838-1927. The topics include an oration on sexual ethics, athletic dance for men and boys and the Proceedings of the Mississippi State Colonization Society.
Bound volumes containing charts (graphs and tables) pertaining to weather and the meteorological observations of Alexander Glennie taken in All Saints Parish and at Georgetown, South Carolina. Glennie’s records include thermographic, hygrometric, and barometric readings, as well as the number of inches of rainfall each day. Charts note the wind direction and velocity and include […]
The Richard Furman and James C. Furman collection contains over 750 letters and 18 sermons of Richard Furman (1755-1825), the namesake of Furman University and his son, James Clement Furman (1809-1891), the University’s first president who served from 1859-1879. Richard Furman Items Browse letters Browse sermons James Clement Furman Items Browse letters Browse sermons
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 […]
The Roper Hospital Digital Collections consist of archival records documenting the construction, management, and administration of Roper Hospital. Roper Hospital was established by the Medical Society of South Carolina “to treat all sick and injured people without regard to complexion, religion, or nation.” In 1856 the first Roper Hospital building, located adjacent to the Medical College of South Carolina building on Queen S...
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A collection of photographs, manuscripts, books, and maps from the Civil War era from the University of South Carolina Libraries with essays from Dr. Thomas J. Brown and Dr. Dorothy Pratt. This collection will continue to have materials added to it.
Divers have been exploring the rivers and coastal waters of South Carolina since the early 1960’s when SCUBA as a sport was in its infancy. The South Carolina State Legislature first enacted an Underwater Antiquities Bill in 1968 which was intended to protect historic shipwrecks and other submerged cultural resources. In 1974 a Hobby Diver […]
The South Carolina State Library maintains an extensive print collection of materials published about South Carolina. The South Carolina Book Collection provides access to digitized copies of selected books in the public domain, including the Annual Reports of the Charleston Orphan House, Annual Reports of the Audubon Society of South Carolina, and published political speeches.
This is an electronic resource from the Gregg-Graniteville Library at University of South Carolina, Aiken
The South Carolina Historical Cookbooks collection consists of publications from 1832 to 1921. Many of these “receipt” books provide insight into 19th-century and early 20th-century South Carolina foodways. Geographically, the collection covers many parts of the state, including Kingstree (Kingstree Cook Book 1921), Spartanburg (Spartanburg Cook Book 1917), Sumter (Best War Recipes 1917), and, of […]
The map collection of the South Caroliniana Library has always been a significant resource for geographers, historians, and genealogists. In the past two hundred years, technological changes have substantially altered the landscape of South Carolina, and the library’s map collection visually documents these transformations. The maps show airports, battlefields, cemeteries, churches, cities, highways, Native American […]
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 […]
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 […]
This group of 74 stereographs contains images of the damage to Charleston during the Civil War, along with images of Folly and Port Royal Islands. Forts, churches, hospitals and headquarters come to life in these photographs taken by war photographers such as Samuel A. Cooley and John P. Soule. Spanning both the period of the […]
Union postmaster Joseph H. Sears published the New South newspaper out of the post office building on Union Square in Port Royal, S.C., on a weekly basis beginning in March 1862. The paper was moved to the town of Beaufort sometime in 1865 and remained there until it ceased in 1867. The New South offers […]
The Thomas Family and Muller Family papers along with related personal collections housed at the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina total approximately 32 linear feet. There are an additional 219 volumes of business ledgers from the Sandy Run Store and Thomas Store (Ridgeway, S.C.). All of these materials span 1702 through […]
Thomas Green Clemson demonstrated the versatility which gifted people often possess in his varied activities as a mining engineer, government official, plantation owner, scientist, proponent of higher education, artist and art collector, and supporter of scientific farming. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Clemson adopted South Carolina as his home after marrying Anna Maria Calhoun, the oldest […]
From its beginnings as a country church of fewer than twenty-five communicants, Trinity has grown to an urban parish numbering more than 3,600 baptized members. Throughout its history the parish has played a leading role in the affairs of the city, the state, and the church. Six of her rectors have become bishops, and she […]
These images, dating from the 1920s to the 1950s, document the evolution of the University’s physical structures.
In 1873, the University of South Carolina became the only state-supported Southern university to fully integrate during the Reconstruction Era that followed the Civil War. By 1876, the student body was predominately African-American. After Wade Hampton was elected governor and whites regained control of state government, the University was closed for reorganization in 1877, and […]
These student examinations date largely from the second half of the 19th century, a period in which the University of South Carolina underwent significant changes not only in its curriculum but also in its student body, its faculty and its educational goals. The exams in this collection that date prior to 1873 reflect the South […]
This collection gives an indication of the kinds and numbers of medical books in the hands of physicians in South Carolina and reflects the education and training of doctors during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Vera Nathans Semel Papers consist of photographs of family members before and after World War II and Paerl family papers. Paerl papers contain birth certificates, a synagogue certificate, marriage certificates, a militia certificate, and a false identification card.
This digital collection brings together photographs of Columbia, S.C. from many different collections in the South Caroliniana Library. Dating from the 1880s through the 20th century, these photographs provide a visual record of the changes seen in the city. This collection will continue to grow and is not exhaustive of all of the Columbia images […]
Historically known as “The Walter Pantovic Slavery Collection,” these artifacts span the African American experience from slavery to the Civil Rights era to the rise of African Americans in popular culture. Walter Pantovic was born in Yugoslavia in 1965 and immigrated to the United States at the age of two. He became interested in African-American […]
Selected items from The Ware Family Collection housed in the Furman University Special Collections and Archives. The materials primarily represent Thomas Edwin Ware’s business interests in the 19th century. The collection includes land grants, deeds, receipts, estate documents, slave documents, and letters.
A collection of colorful illustrations satirizing both doctor and patient, illness and treatment. Notable artists represented in the collection include Louis Crusius, M.D., James Gillray, and Louis Boilly.
The Wilkinson-Keith Family Papers consist of correspondence and other documents among the Wilkinson, Keith, Siegling, Haskell, and Marshall families and their friends dating from 1785 to 1920. The bulk of the correspondence dates from 1820 to 1890, a large portion of which chronicles Willis Keith’s experiences as a Confederate soldier in 1862-1863. Antebellum correspondence discusses […]
This collection of one hundred fifty-three manuscripts begins in 1858 when Rutherford was courting Sallie Fair, the daughter of Simeon Fair, of Newberry, S.C. The courtship of William (“Drate”) Rutherford and Sallie Fair was interrupted in 1861 by secession and war.
The postcard collection was started by Bill and Judy Lynch over 30 years ago. Both daughter, Tracie and granddaughter, Halie have been active participants as well. The collection is being shared with the Spartanburg County Public Libraries, to allow anyone with an interest in Spartanburg’s history access to these postcard images. In its entirety the […]
Early 20th century photographic images from the Woman’s College of Due West (SC), including class pictures. In 1904, the Due West Female College (founded in 1859) came under the control of the Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the school’s name was changed to the Woman’s College of Due West. There was the […]
