February Calendar of Events
February 3* – Sweetgrass Basket Weaving Workshop, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm.
Sold out! Stay tuned for future program dates.
February 7 – Kid Tours: Bones, 3:30 pm.
February 9* – Home School History Day: Geology Rocks!, 10:00 – 11:00 am.
February 9 – Conversations with a Curator: Hammered: Charleston Silver and Its Silversmiths with Chief Curator Grahame Long, 10:30 am.
February 14* – Toddler Day: Sweet Valentine, 10:00 – 11:00 am.
February 24* – Annual Oyster Roast at the Dill Sanctuary, 12:00 – 3:00 pm.
February 28* – Toddler Day: A Cat Named Pete, 10:00 – 11:00 am.
*Indicates that reservations are required; fees may apply to these programs.
Dont Miss!
Join us for our Annual Oyster Roast! Enjoy an incredible view of the Stono River at the Dill Sanctuary while you listen to live music, shuck oysters, and eat delicious barbecue from Sticky Fingers and a doughnut from Diggity Doughnuts! Attendees are also invited to join Museum Archaeologist Ron Anthony as he leads a discussion of archaeological work that has taken place at Stono Plantation, one of four plantation sites within the Dill Sanctuary. Bring your appetites, your coolers, and your chairs and blankets, and join us for a day of Lowcountry fun!
Please note that this year’s Oyster Roast is BYOB. Tickets are all-inclusive and cover admission to the Dill Sanctuary, BBQ, oysters, an archaeology talk with Archaeologist Ron Anthony, and one gourmet Diggity Doughnut. No pets please, as this event is held at a wildlife reservation.
What We’re Excited About..
Calligraphy Workshops
March 10, 2018
On Saturday, March 10, join instructor Leaha Gathings for Calligraphy for Beginners from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and Intermediate Calligraphy from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm at The Charleston Museum! Sign up for one class or for both. All materials will be supplied.
Bragg Boxes
The Charleston Museum is proud to introduce its new Bragg Box program. Bragg Boxes are traveling trunks that can be sent out to schools to be used in classrooms and are designed to expand the educational outreach of the Museum’s collections. Bragg Boxes feature artifacts, replicas, images, documents, lesson plans, and activities which are combined to offer arts-infused, curriculum-based programming for students.
This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. This grant has allowed trunks to be distributed to schools for free during the 2017-2018 school year. So far, over 2,000 students have benefited from the Bragg Boxes, including students from four Title I schools in just over a month since the program launched.
To learn more about Bragg Boxes, read our full blog post.
Board of Trustees News
The Board of Trustees of The Charleston Museum is pleased to announce the election of new Board officers and Trustees for 2018. Mrs. Margaret Garrett has completed her second term as President of the Board. She will be succeeded by Mr. Douglas H. Sass, who previously served terms as both Vice President and Treasurer. Mrs. Anne Moise has been elected Vice President, and Ms. English Purcell has been named Secretary. Mr. Horry Parker is in the middle of his term as Treasurer.
In addition to Mrs. Garrett, Mr. Hugh C. Lane, Jr., Mr. John C. von Lehe, Jr., Mrs. Julie Armstrong and Mrs. Laura Gruber have completed their terms on the Board of Trustees. The Board and staff are so grateful to all of them for their distinguished and dedicated service to America’s First Museum. Mr. Lane and Mr. von Lehe have been named as Trustees Emeritus for their extraordinary contributions to the Museum over several decades.
New Trustees elected to the Board for 2018 include Mrs. Betsy Carroll, Ms. Juliana Falk, Mr. Robbie Hollings, Mr. Roy Maybank and Mr. Clements Ripley.
Click here to view full board of trustees
Our Blog
Tobias and Christiana Scott: The Road to Freedom
Researching the family history of former slaves can be a daunting task. Oftentimes, genealogists, museum curators and family members have only ancestral stories and hearsay to fill in family trees until forgotten manuscripts are discovered and brought to light. Fortunately for the Museum, sometimes those forgotten records do make their way to us.
For many years, the Museum had two handmade fans made around 1880 by Tobias Scott in the Textile Collection, and although some information had been given with the donation, not much was known about Scott’s life. The Charleston City Directories listed his employment as first a “laborer” and then as a “fan maker” who resided on Water Street with wife, Christiana. Later, they moved to 57 St. Philip Street where he continued to make and sell fans. Clearly a master at his trade, a News and Courier article related that Scott sold one of those fans to President Roosevelt during The South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition.
For years, absolutely nothing was known of Christiana and very little was known of their children until recently when a great-great-great granddaughter of Tobias and Christiana discovered his fans featured on our website. She generously disclosed more of her family’s wonderful history as written down in their family bible, including the first ever known images of them. Combining the transcribed writings with the information already known, we are able to piece together more of Tobias and Christiana’s early life.
To learn more about Christiana and Tobias Scott, read the full blog post.
Save the Dates
Conversations With a Curator
Conversations with a Curator programs allow visitors a chance to have an intimate look at an exhibit in The Charleston Museum, hear stories, ask questions and spark conversations. The Museum’s collections are both extraordinary and diverse, and each Curator-led talk and tour allows participants to immerse themselves in different areas of Charleston’s history. These programs begin at 10:30 am and are typically held on the second Friday of each month.
All Conversations with a Curator programs are open to the public and free with admission and free for Members.
The schedule for upcoming Conversations with a Curator Programs is as follows:
February 9
Hammered: Charleston Silver and Its Silversmiths with Chief Curator Grahame Long
March 9
Rice Plantations and Archaeology with Curator of Historical Archaeology Martha Zierden
Click here to view all events.
–Tidelines Editor