Aliene Humphries presents this program in 18th century attire and brings a mannequin and additional period clothing to the presentation. She invites volunteers to help dress Molly, the mannequin, in the many layers of traditional 18th century apparel. Humphries explains these layers and why women would wear them in the 18th century. This is a … Read more
The Cheraw Indians of the Carolinas were an important entity in the Colonial era. In this lecture, Judge will discuss an ethnohistoric process to identify the cultural affiliation of two individuals interred at the Johannes Kolb Site, in Darlington County, South Carolina. He traces the movement of the Cheraw across the Piedmont of North Carolina … Read more
This presentation will tell of the important roles that women played during the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina. They were quite helpful, and this presentation will help you understand how. Women weren’t allowed to vote—much less write the history books. This is why we know so little about their significance. Here you will learn … Read more
Develop a visual literacy of two-hundred years of building history through this survey of domestic forms and aesthetic movements.
This lecture considers ways that staff at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier have engaged with Descendants of those enslaved there in telling the stories of their ancestors.
Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768-1849) was the first wife of a U.S. President to occupy the role of First Lady in the way that we understand it today. This lecture discusses the life, achievements, and impact of one of the most important and interesting First Ladies.
James Madison (1751-1836), Father of the U.S. Constitution and Fourth President, and his wife Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768-1849), had a remarkable partnership. This lecture demonstrates how their complementary skills and abilities created the paradigm of the married couple that we still associate with a President and First Lady. This program is part of the … Read more
Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, governor of Virginia, first Secretary of State, third President, and founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was all these things and more. This lecture will look at Jefferson’s life and career through the lens of Monticello, his plantation home in … Read more
How did artists depict the American Revolution while it was happening and shortly after independence was won? What visual knowledge was available to newly minted Americans about the war and its heroes? How was the war remembered fifty and seventy-five years later, as the nation headed towards Civil War? This program is part of the “Revolutionary … Read more
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
“Swamp Fox, Swamp, tail in his hat. Nobody knows where the Swamp Fox’s at.” Sang Marion’s men in a 1959 miniseries produced by Walt Disney. But that is only one of dozens books, films and television productions devoted to the life of Marion since 1805. This takes a look at what these representations got right … Read more
The story of the Irish in the American Revolution has not gotten its proper due. Of the 29 men who represented SC in the Continental and Confederation Congresses, 8 were Irish-Americans, including two signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. 11% of veterans of the American Revolution from SC who applied for … Read more
Exploring Cherokee culture prior to European settlement is crucial to comprehending their values, gender roles, internal and external relationships, diplomacy, and conflict during this pivotal era in Cherokee history. The audience will learn how Cherokees dealt with European colonization, their relationships with South Carolinians and the British, and how they responded to the American Revolution … Read more
Exploring the worldview of the Cherokees provides insights into the events that occur as colonists of South Carolina begin to discuss grievances with the rule of Great Britain. Experiences in the French and Indian War (1754-63) had affected Cherokee diplomacy and their alliances. As some colonists begin to fight for their independence, some Cherokee leaders … Read more
George Washington promised to visit every state in the new union during his presidency, and in the spring 1791 he set off from his Mount Vernon, Virginia home and traveled all the way to Savannah, Georgia and back. In researching his journey for her book “Methodists and Moonshiners,” Smith followed the president’s tour, investigating not … Read more
Americans stand in a very peculiar relationship to their history. We are fond of evoking it with pride – as the inspiring story of the “City on the Hill,” or the “last best hope for democracy,” and as the “leader of the free world,” and so on. We Americans are also readily inspired by our … Read more
The Cherokee Trail of Tears story is one of political discord and ensuing tragedy as Cherokees faced removal from their homeland in the 1830s. However, the story begins with wars between South Carolina and the Cherokee Lower Towns in the 1700s. By examining the viewpoints of the Cherokee, the early British colonists, and then the … Read more
This presentation tells a story of international trade, natural history, and science from the days of exploration & colonization. This was a time of transfer, the movement of people, animals and plants; it is the Age of the Natural Historians who looked around the world and tried to understand what they saw. Carolina has an … Read more
Skulls and crossed bones. Weeping willows and rosebuds. Did you know Charleston has more 18th-century burial grounds than any city in the United States? Find out why on this visual stroll through historic colonial and antebellum cemeteries as we explore a religious diversity unknown in the other thirteen colonies. Moreover, Charleston’s ancient graveyards are art … Read more
Did you know the author of Amazing Grace sold a shipload of slaves here? Charleston was the center of the English slave trade. Estimates are over 40% of the Nameless Enslaved sold in all thirteen colonies were sold here. This presentation tells the story of historic Charleston from the perspective of the African-American experience. During the chronologically … Read more
Bringing a conference or organization to Charleston? Introduce our city and the Carolina LowCountry with this entertaining, educational talk. Ruth Miller’s program is not “What to see and do,” but rather, sets the historic scene, making your stay here both interesting and worthwhile. The presentation ties over 350 years of local history into the American … Read more
What role did black people play in the quest for liberty? This presentation and PowerPoints of period artwork, illustrations, and historical documentation addressing the little-known, yet significant impact African Americans made in US history during the period of 1763-1783. This program is part of the “Revolutionary Perspectives – Speaker Series” supported by the South Carolina American Revolution … Read more
Between 750-1890, Africans were forcefully removed from the continent to places throughout the Islamic world and the Americas. Donald West addresses this historical period with the support of a PowerPoint presentation.
As European colonists struggled to create a new nation in the late 1700s, Cherokee families dealt with intrusions into their territory, adaptation to new trade goods that changed their lifestyles, and shifting gender responsibilities and political power. Then they faced having to leave their homes for western territory. Cultural change can bring hardship and heartbreak, … Read more
An exploration of the lives of Cherokee women from the time before Europeans arrived in the Americas to the twenty-first century. Using Cherokee myths, visual images, and artifacts crafted by the hands of Cherokee women, the speaker will weave a story of some of the most powerful women who have walked the earth. Their bravery, … Read more
From its earliest inception as a European settlement, South Carolina has been a hotbed of both infectious disease and for innovative approaches to curbing disease and establishing public health. This lecture focuses on the fascinating history of medicine in South Carolina from the 17th to the 21st centuries.
This presentation places in historical context the long history of how pandemics and epidemics of infectious disease have shaped the American history and the history of the Atlantic World. We will highlight the role of transatlantic slavery, the establishment of the plantation economy, and the last social and political impacts of disease on our world … Read more
The Stono Rebellion on September 9, 1739, was the largest slave uprising in North America. Twenty-one whites and approximately 40 African slaves were killed in this bloody confrontation just twenty miles from Charleston. This presentation examines the social and political context of the South Carolina Lowcountry’s plantation system and the growth of slavery in the early Colonial … Read more
Talk about a hiking challenge! How about a 500 mile wilderness trek, without food, fire, or weapons, in early winter and while wearing a summer dress? Captured by a Shawnee war party in the French and Indian War and taken more than 450 miles from her home to what is now Cincinnati, Mary Ingles escaped … Read more
An in-depth look at the relationship between political structures and musical movements. Depending upon the interests of the group, this talk can include Beethoven’s Musical Treatment from Napoleon to Hitler, Baroque Music and Absolutism, Mozart and the Enlightenment, Jim Crow and Jazz, or many others.
