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

Edgar Allan Poe in South Carolina

Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie in 1827 and 1828 under the assumed name of Edgar Perry. While there, Poe was gathering material for the first detective stories in the English language, including The Goldbug, which was set on Sullivan’s Island. He also created the first American detective—C. Auguste Dupin, who was the … Read more

Lincoln’s Assassination and the Escape of John Wilkes Booth

Even though President Lincoln had premonitions that he was going to be assassinated, he was sitting in the unguarded President’s Box at Ford’s Theatre when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Controversy erupted in 1907 when witnesses said that the man who was shot in the Garrett barn was not Booth and that he … Read more

Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun and The Petticoat Affair

After the election of President Andrew Jackson, the ladies of Washington were horrified by the dubious reputation of Peggy Eaton, the wife of the newly appointed secretary of war. After trying for 2 ½ years to have her included in the social life in Washington, Jackson fired his cabinet and destroyed Vice President John C. … Read more