South Caroliniana Library

06/24/2026

The countdown to Independence Day is on! 🦅 🇺🇸

Every day we will be highlighting one item from our current exhibit, "Echoes of Independence: 250 Years of Revolution and Memorialization" which will be up for the rest of the year.

What better place to start than the beginning? The oldest item on display is the "Original Land Grant under Great Seal of Province and the Office of Landgrave" from 1699 gifted to the Libraries by James Barrow. The grant, which is printed in Latin on vellum fastened by Royal Seal, is dated on or about March 4th, 1699, by the Lord Proprietors of the Province of Carolina and grants John Wych 48,000 acres of land between Cape Fear and the River Savannah.

The Lords Proprietors were created in 1663 during the reign of Charles II to organize the laws and society of the Carolinas. According to the history of colonial government in the Carolinas at the time, landgravesships were granted in order to populate the area so that it would be a profitable enterprise for the eight Lords Proprietors.

06/22/2026

Did you know we have an interview with the grandson of Buffalo Bill Cody? He served as a posse man during the Wild West story of Earl Durand, written by Columbia SC writer Jerred Metz.

Check out all the interviews here: https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/metzoralhistorycollection/

06/19/2026

When was the last time a photograph changed the way you see history?

This Juneteenth, University of South Carolina Libraries released more than 5,000 images from Columbia photographer Richard Samuel Roberts, capturing Black life in South Carolina during the early 20th century.

The images are stunning. The stories are even more powerful.

On this Juneteenth, we honor that legacy — and the generations of Gamecock alumni who carry it forward.

Read more and view the full Roberts collection at https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/exhibits_events_news/news/2026/new_digitized_photo_collection.php

06/19/2026

We commemorate Juneteenth today!

in 1865, over 250,000 formerly enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay, Texas, were freed when US Army troops arrived two years after the Emancipation Proclamation to enforce their freedom. The end of slavery was now in effect throughout the country. We celebrate Juneteenth as a reminder of the resilience, unity, and endurance in the pursuit of equality and justice for all.

Image: "Emancipation Day in South Carolina" (1863), depicting members of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers and a gathering of African Americans celebrating the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at Smith's Plantation, Port Royal Island. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

06/16/2026

“We didn’t take this black guy who was running for student body president out, we took our campaign out,” says Walker. “And we began to see the stickers we gave out on books and saw a lot of students were carrying them, not just black students but white students too. And white students were saying they wanted to work on the campaign because of the proposed strategies.”

Meet Harry Walker, first Black student body president at the University of South Carolina. When Walker first started at Carolina in 1968, the student body was made up of about 14,000 students. Out of that 14,000, only a little over 300 were Black. In Walker’s class, there were only about 70. Learn more about Walker, his time at USC, and the Civil Rights work he continues to do during his retirement on our blog!

https://digital.library.sc.edu/blogs/caroliniana/2026/06/09/a-conversation-with-uscs-first-black-student-body-president/

06/15/2026

Schools out for the summer! Where will you be traveling? But more importantly, how will you be getting there?

This broadside from 1890 is promoting Sullivans Island as a destination for day trips and extended visits at the New Brighton Hotel, with transport service by the Mt. Pleasant and Sullivan's Island Ferry Company and by South Carolina Railway Company, with provided service to Charleston from Columbia, S.C., and Augusta, Ga.

06/10/2026

“To bring the Pride [parade] … to Main Street, and telling everybody we had to go out of the park … we did need to fix it. The parade needs to come down Main Street, it needs to come straight down Main Street to the Capital. It doesn’t need to do this weird route around the park. It needs to come straight down Main Street. If we’re going to be visible, we need to be visible.” - Jeff March, LGBTQ Columbia Oral History

Jeff March is a local business owner and former president of Famously Hot South Carolina Pride. March led the effort to have South Carolina Pride moved from Finley Park to Main Street in downtown Columbia. In 2021, he participated in an Oral History as part of the LGBTQ Columbia History Initiative. The South Caroliniana Library holds these Oral Histories in our online collection.

Hear March's interview at the link below.
https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/LGBTQ-Columbia/interviews/jeff-march/

Photograph: Pride Marchers stand on the steps of the South Carolina State House, 1990

06/10/2026

06/09/2026

The recently digitized Richard Samuel Roberts Photograph Collection is a great resource for remembering passed family members and historic figures. However, it is also a vital repository for the geographic history of Black communities in Columbia. Roberts' photos of Booker T. Washington High School provide tangible memories of a significant institution that hasn't existed in its entirety since the 1970s.

Booker T. Washington High School opened in 1916 and became a high school in 1918. As the only high school for African Americans in Columbia, Booker T. Washington attracted students from all over the state who were in search of educational opportunities. The school produced thousands of graduates who led distinguished careers all over the country.

The school closed in 1974 and was sold to the University of South Carolina. University expansion led to the demolition of all of the school's buildings except its auditorium, which still stands.

06/04/2026

In Unison was an alternative lifestyle magazine published in Columbia, SC from 1994 to 1998 that focused on LGBTQ+ rights, news, politics and entertainment.

We have digitized our collection of In Unison as part of a larger collaborative effort with as part of their LGBTQ Columbia History Initiative. You can look through the digital collection at the link below!

https://digital.library.sc.edu/collections/in-unison-magazine/

Pictured is the cover of In Unison Magazine from February 1997.