Phone: (843) 723-3225
Museum: 100 Meeting St.
Archives: 205 Calhoun St.
Adopt A Collection
The South Carolina Historical Society has many collections that need description, reorganization, and preservation in order to ensure they are accessible and receive proper care.
The SCHS proposes to digitize over 8,000 pages of 18th and 19th century manuscripts that describe the experiences of enslaved persons in South Carolina.
Using the Society's publication "Slave Records in the Manuscript Collection of the South Carolina Historical Society: A Catalog", the Society plans to digitize eighteenth and nineteenth century manuscripts materials that bear witness to the lives and experiences of enslaved persons in South Carolina. Through this project, scholars, genealogists, students, and educators will have unlimited access to letters, diaries, ledgers, images, and ephemeral objects through the College of Charleston’s Lowcountry Digital Library (LCDL), a branch of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).
Estimated total: $20,000
Adopt Collection
This ship’s log, 1812-1816, from the James Smith Colburn papers, documents voyages between major United States ports, such as Boston and Charleston, and European ports. It also records a voyage from “Rochelles” to Norfolk by the brig Apollo, possibly a former British privateer captured during the War of 1812.
The binding is missing and the pages have surface dirt, embedded grime, staining, and losses throughout. Pages are brittle and are severely water damaged, mold damaged, and pest damaged. Some pages have shattered, and numerous fragments break off when pages are turned. Safe handling is impossible. Treatment will include surface cleaning pages to reduce surface dirt, mending pages as necessary, rebinding, and digitization.
Estimated total: $10,000
Adopt Collection
A Charleston watercolor artist and miniaturist, Mary Wilson Ball (1892–1984) was a member of the Carolina Art Association and studied under Alice R. Huger Smith. She also trained as a topographical draftsman in Atlanta and worked with the Army and the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in Washington, DC.
Ball frequently painted in the Plein Air style. Due to this and other unknown storage conditions before arriving at the Historical Society, the paintings were exposed to excessive moisture, heat, and organic elements. Conservation would allow the true vibrancy and depth of the colors of her paintings to be as she intended and ensure the continued existence of her beautiful and underappreciated works for future generations.
Estimated total: $1,500 per painting
Adopt Collection
This indenture, lease and release with plat pertains to North Santee River land, in former Craven County, conveyed by Jonathan and Jepthah (or Jephthah) DuBose to Andrew Rembert.
The pages of this document have surface dirt, embedded grime, tears, losses, creases, and possible water damage. Treatment will include surface cleaning pages to reduce surface dirt and mending pages as necessary.
Estimated total: $3,000
Adopt Collection
Kept by Thomas L. Horry of Camp Main Plantation, this journal lists the names of freed persons and records their working hours on this Georgetown County plantation in the years directly following the Civil War.
Greater access to the rich information contained in this journal, which is part of the Doar-Middleton families papers, will be possible once it undergoes conservation treatment for extensive pest, water, and mold damage.
Estimated total: $45,000
Adopt Collection
The papers, artwork, and photographs of prolific Charleston Renaissance artist, author, and poet John Bennett span from 1876 to 1967 and are among the largest and most valuable collections housed at the South Carolina Historical Society.
Greater access to the rich information contained in these letters, diaries, and works of art will be possible once the collection is rehoused and more comprehensively arranged and described. Preservation of fragile photographs, silhouettes, sketches, and scrapbooks will allow researchers and scholars to expand what is known about Bennett as well as other Charleston Renaissance artists and writers, including Dubose Heyward, Josephine Pinckney, and Laura Bragg.
Our estimated total includes time and supplies for re-housing and describing the contents.
Estimated total: $10,500
Adopt Collection
Support the South Carolina Historical Society's archives by shopping our Amazon Wish List! These materials, including archival boxes, photo pages, and file preservers, play an important role in our mission to "expand, preserve and make accessible our collection; to improve knowledge of and encourage focus, interest and pride in the history of our state." Additionally, several of these items are disaster recovery supplies in case of a hurricane or other emergency situation.
Click the link below to view our Wish List and thank you for your continued support of our collections!
Adopt Collection