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
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.
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).
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.
This presentation begins with late 19th century Negro children’s literature to the evolution of the present-day Black children’s literature and features a colorful Power Point.
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
Donald Sweeper brings to life professor Richard T. Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard University and the first African American faculty to teach at the University of South Carolina during Reconstruction from 1873-1877. At the University of South Carolina, Greener reorganized and cataloged the library holdings which were in disarray after the … Read more
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
This lecture tells the story of the largest medical school in the south, M.U.S.C., whose 19th century origins played a significant role in the history of Charleston, the U.S. South, and American medical education. The rich history of the medical school touches on matters of race, medical experimentation, innovative surgery, nursing, and public health.
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 COVID-19 pandemic has left us with a lot of questions about the role, the place, and repeated occurrence of new diseases. This lecture considers COVID-19 in light of several past pandemics, starting with the global spread of disease in the 19th century, turning to the decline of infectious diseases in the 20th century, and finally, the … Read more
In the aftermath of a brutal Civil War, many southerners justified their sacrifice by creating a romanticized version of the War. Prominent people like South Carolina’s Wade Hampton and LaSalle Corbell Pickett, widow of the famed Confederate General, promoted a version of the War that justified the South’s secession, casting doubt on the real causes … Read more
One can hardly think of a more revolutionary and significant art movement than that of 19th century Impressionism, a style so influential and popular it continues to flourish today. This presentation examines the American Impressionist movement, its leading artists, and their transformation of the American art scene.
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
The Hudson River School artists were a group of 19th Century American Artists who painted primarily in the Hudson River Valley of New York in the Catskills and Adirondack mountains. Their work transformed American landscape art by depicting nature realistically, while endowing it with spiritual meaning. This introduction to the Hudson River School artists includes … Read more
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
The battlefield monuments at the Gettysburg National Military Park that were sculpted and dedicated in the decades following the Civil War include some of the most powerful and expressive works of 19th and 20th Century American sculpture. The work of some of America’s leading sculptors is represented on the battlefield including Augustus St. Gaudens and … Read more
The story of the Underground Railroad is one of the most epic in American History. This presentation describes the heroic efforts of African Americans and whites to hide and guide runaway slaves in their desperate journeys to freedom in the north and in Canada. Highlights of the presentation include first person narratives of escaping runaway … Read more
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
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.
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
Dozens of tales of ghosts and haunted places have found their way into South Carolina’s mainstream media. Many have their origins in the 19th century and most in historic places. Some places have only one or two supernatural stories while others like Charleston, Columbia, Beaufort, Chester, Darlington and Edgefield have numerous sightings and unexplained phenomena. … Read more
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 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
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
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
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
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
