South Carolina History is American History

This lecture shows how the story of South Carolina deeply impacted the story of the United States. Using numerous examples from the 16th century onwards, this lecture demonstrates how the actions of South Carolinians and events in South Carolina contributed to the success of the British colonies in North America, the colonial rebellion and the … Read more

North Carolina’s Black Union Veterans in the South Carolina Lowcountry

Dive into the history of the 35th US Colored Troops as they overcome the deprivations of slavery, the challenges of freedom and the struggles of Reconstruction. The presentation looks at the regiment’s service in South Carolina during the Civil War, as well as the Reconstruction history of communities throughout Colleton, Dorchester, Beaufort and Charleston counties … Read more

Potters Raid 

While Lee was surrendering at Appomattox, the last military campaign in SC was taking place.  Brig. Gen. Edward Potter was leading a force of 2500 men in a march from Georgetown to Manning to Sumter to Camden in search of railroad equipment they had been ordered to destroy. Especially noteworthy is that the African-American regiment, … Read more

The “Lost” Treasure of the Confederacy

For decades fortune hunters have been searching for a large cache of gold and silver coins taken out of Richmond, VA when it was evacuated on April 2, 1865. Tales of the Confederate treasure’s fate has become legendary, with different people searching for it in dozens of places across the United States, including SC. Are … Read more

Fifty Shades of Blue & Gray

The Kardashians have nothing on Amelia Feaster, who was a widow three times before her 35th birthday and was the subject of malicious (and sometimes true) gossip. Her daughter, Marie Boozer, was the subject of tabloid stories throughout the 1800s and two romance novels in the 1950s. This is the only Civil War era story … Read more

The Confederacy’s New Mexico Campaign of 1862

Did you know that the Clint Eastwood western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, was inspired by an actual event? In 1862 a brigade of Confederate soldiers set out from Texas to conquer New Mexico and then go on to California. This is the story of that failed invasion and its aftermath.

The Burning of Columbia, February 17, 1865

For 160 years there has been a raging controversy over who is to blame for the Burning of Columbia. Confederate and Union soldiers blamed each other for the inferno that destroyed a third of the city. Come watch this program and hear about the events leading up to and during the fire and decide for … Read more

Reconsidering James Petigru: Unionist and Civic Reformer in a Radical Age

Few sarcastic quips in all of southern history remain as famous as James Petigru’s reported comment upon receiving the news that South Carolina had seceded from the Union. South Carolina, Petigru mused sarcastically, was “too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.” Petigru died in 1863, a devoted Unionist and southern … Read more

The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from the Past (1830 – 1960)

Through the stories of enslaved ancestors and notable relatives, The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from The Past (1830-1960), chronicles the rich history of a prominent African American family from Salley, South Carolina features stories of individuals who were enslaved, a woman served as an enslaved cook during the Civil War, and agricultural life.

Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison

Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison was born enslaved on November 20, 1849, in Aiken County, South Carolina. This presentation tells the contextualized story of her life, featuring local history of the antebellum period and Civil War in South Carolina during Martha’s enslavement; a historical account of Martha’s life during the Reconstruction Era; the circumstances that involved … Read more

South Carolina African American Confederate Pensioners

This presentation explores the reasons why South Carolina used African American labor during the war; the diverse roles of African American labor during the war; SC approval of Confederate pensions for African Americans; notable features of the pension application; and notable South Carolina African American Confederate Pensioners.

The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice

Counter to the national narrative which championed the patriotic manhood of soldiering from the Civil War through the 1920s, Dr. Pinheiro, Jr.’s research reveals that African American veterans and their families’ military experience were much more fraught. Economic and social instability introduced by military service resonated for years and even generations after soldiers left the … Read more

African Americans and the Civil War

What role did black people play in preserving the Union and ending slavery? With (or without) a period uniform, including a Springfield rifle, Donald West will present a brief history of African Americans and the Civil War which includes data, facts, figures, and key people (men and women).

Robert Smalls “Rising to the Occasion”

This is a stage reenactment which is approximately 35 minutes long in which Donald Sweeper portrays Robert Smalls Chautauqua-style, as if the current year is 1895. Donald Sweeper dramatizes the commandeering of the Planter boat on the early morning of May 13, 1862 as Robert Smalls piloted through the Charleston Harbor undetected by the Confederates … Read more

A Landscape Aflame: The Art Of The American Civil War

The art of leading American artists and photographers of the American Civil War era provides unique and compelling images of the experiences of soldiers, civilians and slaves. From the battlefield to the home front, this art includes insights into the viewpoints that motivated both sides of the conflict and eloquent depictions of the human face … Read more

Undaunted Valor: The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery in the Civil War

The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery is one of the longest-serving military units in the history of the United States.  Its service includes the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II.  This presentation will focus on its Civil War exploits in over a dozen … Read more

The Classroom Civil War Museum

A traveling display of Lincoln and Civil War memorabilia and artifacts is available as a separate program. It requires a dedicated classroom for the day and at least six folding or library size tables. One or more classes can be rotated through the exhibit during a period of perhaps four repetitions; commentary and historical explanation … Read more

An Afternoon with Abraham Lincoln

Gerald Y. Pitts performs an original one-act play as Abraham Lincoln. You will hear Abe recount stories of his life from boyhood to presidency. Programs are available for any grade level and of any length.

Eyewitnesses to General Sherman’s campaign and the burning of Columbia

General Sherman went to great lengths during the burning of Columbia, South Carolina to protect a friend whose family he had visited frequently while he was a bachelor stationed at Fort Moultrie between 1842 and 1846. The book and letters that Sherman sent to his friend along with an eyewitness account of his visits, finally … Read more

Lincoln, Sherman and Davis and the Lost Confederate Gold

Sherman’s brilliant campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas ended in political turmoil with public insinuations from President Andrew Johnson’s administration that Confederate President Jefferson Davis had bought his freedom from Sherman with gold from the Confederate treasury.  Sherman was accused by high government officials of being “a common traitor and a public enemy” while subordinates … Read more

Sherman’s Flame and Blame Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas

General William T. Sherman created a new form of physical, economic, and psychological “total warfare” against civilians and private property in Georgia and the Carolinas that he readily admitted would be violent and cruel. In addition to physical and economic assaults, he designed a massive psychological strategy of disinformation, deception, and blame designed to cripple … Read more

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & Africans in the Civil War

A brief history of the approximately 180,000 African Americans that served in the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War, with a focus on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the regiment that was portrayed in the award-winning movie, Glory. This presentation is given in a Civil War uniform and includes a first-person characterization.

Who Knew? Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman in South Carolina during The Civil War

In 1863, both women were in South Carolina’s Lowcountry—Barton provided supplies and medical care for Union and Confederate soldiers at the Battle of Fort Waggoner with Massachusetts’s 54th Regiment. Tubman, a formerly enslaved woman, ran reconnaissance and led Union forces up the Combahee River to free more than 700 enslaved persons. This presentation recognizes two … Read more

The Legacy Of A Common Civil War Soldier: Private T. M. Shields

Humphries authored a book using the letters her great grandfather wrote back home to his beloved wife during 1861-1865. Based on the book The Legacy of A Common Civil War Soldier, this program offers a rare glimpse of what life was really like for a Confederate soldier and his wife.

Margaret Mitchell, Author of Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell was the author of Gone With the Wind, a book that has influenced the way Americans view the Civil War.  Mitchell was a reluctant celebrity and a brilliant storyteller.  Few people know that her gifts to Atlanta’s historically black college, Morehouse, still fund scholarships for medical students there.