WWI Aviation and the Carolinians who Flew

This presentation gives an overview of aviation in the state before the war, how the nation slowly developed its air service for the war, and the key pilots who gained distinction, including Elliott White Springs, John O. Donaldson and Ervin Shaw.

The World of Dolley Madison

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 and Dolley Madison: The First American Power Couple

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.

Thomas Jefferson and Monticello

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

The Honorable Hastings Gantt and Robert Smalls: Servant Leaders of South Carolina

Explore the intertwined legacies of Hastings Gantt and Robert Smalls, two visionary leaders who shaped South Carolina’s political and social landscape. Both men rose from slavery to serve in the South Carolina Legislature, advocating for civil rights, land preservation, and education for African Americans. Discover how Gantt’s dedication made Penn School possible and how Smalls’ … Read more

The Women of the (Other) Civil War

The War of the Three Kingdoms – often referred to as the English “Civil War” – produced numerous well known characters such as Oliver Cromwell and Rupert of Bohemia. But many women, on both sides of the war, were instrumental in supporting the causes and sometimes even changing the game. Both royal ladies and ordinary … Read more

Dr. Matilda Evans: South Carolina’s Medical Pioneer 

Born four years after the end of slavery, Matilda Arabella Evans, who grew up on a family farm in eastern Aiken County, South Carolina, was the first African American and first woman in licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina and an advocate for improved health care for African Americans, including children. Matilda’schildhood experiences, educational background, … Read more

George Washington’s 1791 Tour of the South: Where He Went and What He Drank

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

Fashionable Beauty in Botticelli’s Paintings

This session provides a close look at Sandro Botticelli’s techniques for rendering enchanting fashions in his paintings and drawings. By folding and pleating fabric with light and shadow, simulating colorful dyes with rich pigments, and weaving complicated patterns into his garments, Botticelli captured the alluring beauty of the textile industry in fifteenth-century Florence. This talk examines examples of garments … Read more

Raphael’s Madonnas

Throughout his career, Raphael Sanzio created numerous sweet and beautiful Madonna and Child devotional paintings. This talk examines the development of devotional paintings in the Renaissance and their location within the domestic interior. It examines Raphael’s Madonna paintings in relation to devotional and artistic practices in Florence and Rome in the early sixteenth century.

Michelangelo and his Marbles

This talk explores Michelangelo’s use of marble throughout his career. It looks at obtaining marble from the mines in Carrara and the marble itself as an artistic material. The talk provides an overview of how Michelangelo sculpted bodies in marble, drawing attention to his manipulation of anatomical form in sculptures, such as the Bacchus, Pietà, … 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

Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker was a businesswoman and activist in the age of Booker T. Washington. This is my story of a self-made millionaire and her impact on black life and culture.

Running with Bulls and The Sun Also Rises

The key scenes in the novel that launched Hemingway’s career take place in Pamplona, Spain, which is world famous for the running of the bulls every morning of the week-long Fiesta of San Fermin. As a devoted fan who had taught The Sun Also Rises for twenty years, Deno Trakas went to Pamplona to run with the … Read more

How Shirley Temple Saved America

The little actress was the nation’s top box office draw during the worst years of the Great Depression and helped Americans forget their troubles as she sang and danced away the troubles of the characters she played. She worked through her childhood, while her parents spent her money, but went on to successful later careers … Read more

Baptists and Bootleggers: Prohibition in the South

Many years before the production and sale of alcohol was banned in the United States by the Eighteenth Amendment, the forces of temperance waged political warfare with the purveyors of alcohol. Most Southern states went dry long before the rest of the country did, and as a result, had a ready-made pipeline of moonshine-makers and … Read more

How FDR Vanquished Polio

Few Americans remember that FDR, besides leading our country through the Great Depression and World War II, was also the founder of the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis, better known as the March of Dimes. This charity fought the terrible scourge of polio with both assistance to the stricken and research to find a vaccine, … Read more

The Marriage of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

One of the first true “power couples,” the Roosevelts were leaders of tremendous influence in the twentieth century, leading America for 12 tumultuous years, from 1933 to 1945. Eleanor Roosevelt is usually credited with creating the role of the modern First Lady. However, their marriage was a difficult one, marked by betrayal, bitterness and anger—right … Read more

The Many Lives of Gertrude Sanford Legendre

Aiken County native and long-time Berkeley County resident Legendre lived a big life.  She was a New York rich girl and debutante, equestrienne and big-game hunter, flapper and party-goer, explorer and naturalist, society bride and socialite, South Carolina plantation owner and hostess, World War II spy and German prisoner of war, philanthropist and grande dame … Read more

Missy LeHand Tells All

Marguerite A. LeHand worked for President Roosevelt for more than 20 years as his private secretary, counselor, confidante and friend. In this presentation, Smith wears period costume and speaks with Missy’s Boston accent about her time with FDR. Mid-talk, she removes Missy’s hat, tells “the rest of the story,” and takes questions from the audience … Read more

Celebrating Carl Sandburg: Hands on Poetry Experience

(K-8)This workshop weaves together history and poetry to explore Southern themes through the poetry of Carl Sandburg. After introducing Carl Sandburg, Kimberly Simms will lead the group in a poetry writing AND/OR theater activity inspired by Carl Sandburg’s poetry. This experience can be tailored for different age groups and experience levels.  Kimberly Simms is the … Read more

Winnie-the-Pooh: The Bear Facts

Enjoy the fascinating back story of the Winnie the Pooh books and how they came to be written.  How a Canadian army officer found a baby bear in his home town of Winnipeg (hence the name Winnie), took him to London as his army unit’s mascot, donated him to the London Zoo where a young visitor named … Read more

The Art of Norman Rockwell

As the premiere illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post for nearly half a century, no other American artist was more popular with the public than Norman Rockwell. Americans saw in Rockwell’s art a reflection of their values, their strengths and their foibles. Despite his easy-going, pipe-smoking facade, he was a lonely man who suffered from … Read more

The Entrepreneurial Artist: John James Audubon in the Lowcountry

John James Audubon’s Birds of America ranks as one of the greatest achievements in American art. Its groundbreaking format depicting 435 of North America’s known bird species life-size and in habitat captured the imagination of the public and catapulted him into international fame.  This presentation provides audiences with insight into Audubon’s ambitious, self-styled role as adventurer, artist … 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.

Class, Inheritance and Society: The Economics of Love in Jane Austen

Jane Austen is all about numbers: how much per year is someone worth; how many suitors does a woman have; how many possible heirs might someone produce? These questions are not just for her female characters, as who you choose to marry in early 19th century England (as most places in most times) will affect the … Read more

The Shakespeare You Love to Hate

The expression “The Bard” does Shakespeare and playgoers a huge disservice. The guy with the ruff and the beard is “too highbrow,” “out of touch,” and “stuffy.” Sometimes, however, Shakespeare is raunchy, extraordinarily violent, and witty, as reflected in numerous phrases and concepts in our language. This session will explore some of the lesser produced … Read more

John Milton: Making and Destroying the World

Many of our contemporary notions of Heaven, Hell, and Eden come not just from the Bible, but from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Milton did not contradict anything in Genesis, but built from centuries of interpretation and synthesis to create the most powerful images in English literature. He is also not, contrary to popular opinion, misogynistic or … Read more

The Letters of Queen Elizabeth I: the Humility of Power

Elizabeth I was regarded with awe by her people in her own lifetime, but she frequently communicated with her subjects as well as her fellow monarchs and counselors. Her avenues of communication were much more limited than those used by most politicians nowadays; Elizabeth only had at her disposal official written communications and public appearances. … Read more

Henry Timrod: Poet, War Correspondent and Reluctant Soldier

Henry Timrod’s stint as a war correspondent for South Carolina’s Charleston Mercury was brief, but the Civil War and his experiences at the battlefront were the inspiration for poems that created his legacy as an important 19th century Southern poet. His poetry, which is usually included in Southern studies and most anthologies of American poetry, was “borrowed” … Read more