Henry Timrod: Poet, War Correspondent and Reluctant Soldier Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe in South Carolina Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Lincoln’s Assassination and the Escape of John Wilkes Booth Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun and The Petticoat Affair Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Eyewitnesses to General Sherman’s campaign and the burning of Columbia Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Lincoln, Sherman and Davis and the Lost Confederate Gold Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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 … Read more
Sherman’s Flame and Blame Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas Presented by Patricia McNeely. 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, … Read more
Slave Dwellings of South Carolina and the Slave Dwelling Project Presented by Joseph McGill, Jr. **Joseph McGill requests an additional honorarium to the $250 contributed by SC Humanities. Joseph McGill will chronicle nights spent in several slave dwellings throughout the United States. Click here for the Speakers Bureau Application.
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & Africans in the Civil War Presented by Joseph McGill, Jr. **Joseph McGill requests an additional honorarium to the $250 contributed by SC Humanities. 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 … Read more
PO Box 5287
Columbia SC 29250
2711 Middleburg Drive
Suite 203
Columbia SC 29204
803-771-2477
