Henry Laurens and the American Revolution
A wealthy merchant involved in the slave trade, this South Carolinian quickly emerged as a leader in pre-revolutionary Charleston. He was President of the Continental Congress in 1777 and 1778 when it met in York, Pa. during the British occupation of Philadelphia. This patriot was the only American ever to have been imprisoned in the Tower […]
A Fight for Recognition: The Catawba Nation’s Rise to Federal Recognition
Detail the long and determined journey of the Catawba Nation toward federal recognition, emphasizing legal battles, community activism, and the significance of this milestone for tribal identity and rights.
Revolutionary War Stories in South Carolina
Uncover the often overlooked stories of Native American involvement during the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, highlighting their strategic roles and impact on the war effort. This program is part of the “Revolutionary Perspectives – Speaker Series” supported by the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission
Discovering the Tribes of South Carolina and Recognition
An overview of the recognized tribes in South Carolina, the history of their state and federal recognition efforts, and the importance of official recognition for tribal sovereignty and cultural preservation.
Discovering Native Americans of the Lowcountry
Explore the rich history and culture of the Native American tribes native to South Carolina’s Lowcountry region. This talk highlights their traditions, resilience, and ongoing contributions to the cultural fabric of the area.
South Carolina Lower Town Cherokees: Their History and Fate?
The lecture explores the history of the Lower Town Cherokees in Upstate South Carolina as one of five regions of the Cherokee Nation. It details how they lost their territory in the 1700s and explores where the people went thereafter. The complex nature of Cherokee culture and government lay the foundation for the talk. When […]
The Great Pee Dee River is Named for an Indian Tribe
The State of South Carolina recognizes several Pee Dee Tribal entities in Eastern South Carolina. Since Colonial times, the name Pee Dee has appeared in numerous historical records, but we know so little about them. This lecture illustrates what is known historically and archaeologically regarding the Pee Dee Indians.
Are the Congaree Indians Descendants of Cofitachequi
Named for a Native American group who appear in colonial records for the first time in 1691, generations of historians, ethnohistorians, and archaeologists have lamented the meager data that exist regarding the Congaree Indians. This lecture provides an overview of the Congaree, addressing the possibility they are descendants of the Chiefdom of Cofitachequi, visited by […]
The Elusive Cheraw Indians of South Carolina
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 […]
Native American Archaeology in South Carolina
This lecture presents archaeological data on Native American cultures since the last Ice Age. From the coast to the mountains, archaeological evidence abounds in our state. This lecture looks at the sites and artifacts that tell the history of the state’s Indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of Europeans. The lecture can be tailored to […]
South Carolina Women in the American Revolution
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 […]
South Carolina’s Queer History: 7 Events that Shaped LGBTQ Lives and the Culture of South Carolina
Queer history is part of South Carolina’s history. What 7 events have shaped LGBTQ lives in South Carolina and the history of South Carolina, from the 1958 Candlestick Murders in Charleston, through the interracial marriage of groundbreaking trans author Dawn Langley Simmons and the first Pride, from the first ACT-Up demonstrations in South Carolina to […]
Learning Your Three “R”s: Readin’, ‘Riting, & Racism: The Role of Equalization Schools in South Carolina’s Quest for Segregated Education
Erected between 1952 and 1961, these architecturally austere additions to the Palmetto State’s landscape remain as a tangible legacy of resistance to Brown v. Board and the march toward civil rights equity.
History of Moonshine and the Dark Corner
While most may attribute moonshine to places like Kentucky and Tennessee, western South Carolina become a dominant producer of moonshine after the Civil War up through the 20th century. This presentation not only explains how homemade legal whiskey became illegal moonshine, but also tells the history of the notorious figures involved in its production and […]
Henry Hammett and Piedmont Manufacturing
How did South Carolina become the number one producer of textiles in the world by the 20th century? This presentation highlights textiles’ earliest beginnings in the Palmetto State and Henry Hammett’s contributions that transformed small textile operations that led to South Carolina becoming the textile center of the world in 1962.
Vietnam and South Carolina
This presentation examines the origins of the Vietnam War and how the US became so involved. It will highlight some of the South Carolinians who served in the conflict and the eight medals of honor recipients from South Carolina. The presentation will use some of the oral histories collected from veterans since 2016. In addition […]
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 Great War in the South Carolina Home Front
This presentation will review South Carolina’s economic and social conditions on the eve of the United States entering the war in 1917 and then review the economic and social changes that the war brought the state, from three new military training bases, political opposition by its former governor in going to war, and changes to […]
The American Revolution in South Carolina
This presentation will review the origins of South Carolina’s break with England, its key leaders on both the Patriot and Loyalist sides, and how the events transpired to the fall of Charleston in May 1780. This topic can be refocused on single campaign and battles in the state, such as the Battle of Camden and […]
Clemson vs. Carolina Rivalry
This presentation looks at how the rivalry began and how the early decades of the annual game was marred by illegal players, reluctant administrators and the general dominance of the Tigers through the 1930s. During the presentation, key players and coaches in this rivalry will be highlighted.
College Football History in South Carolina
This presentations focuses on the early decades of the game with its evolving rules along with the origins of the first college game in the state, Furman vs. Wofford. It will then review the founding of football at Clemson and Carolina to Erskine and the College of Charleston, highlighting some of the early stars and […]
Prisoners of War in the United States with a focus on South Carolina
This presentation begins with how the first German POWs were brought to the US, what they experienced when they first arrived and how the US Army housed and fed them and gave them jobs that provided crucial labor for the nation’s crops and timber in a labor-starved war economy.
World War II and the South Carolina Home Front
This presentation reviews the conditions of South Carolina prior to Pearl Harbor and how the war brought change to society. Topics that will be discussed include rationing, population increase, housing problems, volunteers, and enemy prisoners of war. It will conclude by considering how the war changed society for the future, politically, racially, and economically.
South Carolina History is American History
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 […]
Slavery in the North v. Slavery in the South and the Common Connection
Myra Davis-Branic discusses how slavery was taught in Public Schools based on region. Myra Davis-Branic, a native New Yorker and a product of the Great Migration, was taught in NYC Public Schools that slavery was a “Down South Phenomenon”. When she migrated south and started teaching Black History to at-risk youth to increase self-esteem and […]
Legacies of Slavery and the Shared History of the South
Myra Davis-Branic discusses how writing a book about her family’s history led to a chance meeting which grew into a friendship with Frye Gaillard, 6th X Great-grandson of the man who enslaved her family on a South Carolina plantation. The discussion includes a video presentation of our conversations in Mobile Alabama at the University of […]
Cornbread My Soul: The Davis Family of Eutawville, South Carolina
Myra Davis-Branic discusses the steps she took in writing a book that traced her family back to the 1700s to a South Carolina Plantation and finding a connection to Sierra Leone through the name of an ancestor, Teneba, which is a name from Sierra Leone’s Mende or Temne tribe. The writing of the book was […]
Recovering Lost Histories: Using Genealogy & History to Restore Forgotten SC Communities
In this presentation SC Historian Elizabeth Laney will discuss strategies for combining genealogical and historical research to recover local histories and restore knowledge of South Carolina communities. The presentation will explore local and state records accessible by the public (digital and analog), how to read local histories for clues to marginalized communities and surprising sources […]
Grave Tales: Tragic Deaths from Walterboro’s Live Oak and Live Oak African American Cemeteries
Discover the history of two of the Lowcountry’s most beautiful and historic cemeteries. The tales of tragic deaths – murders, suicides, freak accidents – form a compelling tale of the challenges and triumphs of a Lowcountry community moving from the Reconstruction era into the 20th century.
Walterboro’s “A Christmas Carol” & Reconstruction in the SC Lowcountry
Just a few days before Christmas on Wednesday, December 22, 1880 in the town of Walterboro, South Carolina, a local newspaper published a unique 14-stanza holiday poem about the town, its local businesses and personalities. Aptly entitled “A Christmas Carol,” the poem is a fascinating glimpse into a southern town on the brink of change, […]