Exhibit: Making History to Preserve History

The histories of the College of Charleston Libraries and the South Carolina Historical Society are intricately interwoven. This exhibit commemorates that shared past and celebrates the bright future of our ongoing partnership.

Before the first class was held, before there was even a state of South Carolina, the College of Charleston had a library. In 1771, John Mackenzie, a stout defender of free thought and American independence, bequeathed to the College of Charleston a library that held, at its core, the summation of the accepted wisdom of the ages. From his gift, the College of Charleston’s library was born. In 1856, the college opened what is now known as the Towell Library – the oldest library building in Charleston. The collection has since moved twice, to the Robert Scott Small Library in 1972 and the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library in 2005.

The South Carolina Historical Society was founded in 1855 with a mission to “collect, preserve, and diffuse information   relating to the history of the state. Among the founders of the Historical Society were James Louis Petigru and Charles Fraser – members of the College of Charleston’s Board of Trustees. It was, therefore, fitting that the first public meeting of the South Carolina Historical Society was held at the college. The society moved a number of times before finding a permanent headquarters in Robert Mills’ landmark Fireproof Building in 1942.

The collections of both institutions grew through the donations of public-spirited citizens – the South Carolina Historical Society’s founding gift, the papers of Henry Laurens, serving as a benchmark for the acquisition of future noteworthy collections. Over time, the society’s collections have grown in size and significance.  It is now the largest private manuscript archive dedicated to the history of the Palmetto State. Likewise, the College of Charleston Libraries, which prospered through the beneficence of some of the best naturalists and intellectuals of the young republic, is committed to making accessible a premier library collection to our students and community.

In 2009, the College of Charleston and the South Carolina Historical Society connected once again, this time at the intersection of technology and cultural heritage, with the founding of the Lowcountry Digital Library and our first shared electronic catalog. Much like the city that surrounds us, this twenty-first century partnership is built on a strong and historically significant foundation.

It is with our shared legacy and bright future in mind that we celebrate the opening of the South Carolina Historical Society Archives at the College of Charleston with our “Making History to Preserve History” exhibit. From Greek coins to the papers of Greek revival architects, from medieval manuscripts, to prizewinning mid-twentieth century poets and playwrights, from plantation papers to planetary research, and from the most ephemeral items to the most iconic, our collections are a testament to times past and those to come. Together we provide information resources that range from introductory to in-depth and internationally significant, and we document the history and culture of our region and cultivate creative content and scholarly inquiry by making our resources and services available to our shared community.