The Story of Us: Sharing Our Past, Building Our Future

Colored Man is No Slacker, 1918
E.G. Renesch (dates unknown)
Museum Purchase
SC75.29.2
Midlands
 

Rudy Mancke collected objects from art, cultural history, science and technology, and natural history. His efforts laid the foundation for the museum’s expansive collection today.
Among the first objects added to the collection in 1975, this World War I era poster recognizes the contributions of African Americans to our nation. Inspired by such advertisements, thousands of Black men from South Carolina enlisted in the 371st Infantry, a segregated unit trained at Spartanburg’s Camp Wadsworth who served with distinction on the battlefields of Europe.

Beginning, 1992
Guy F. Lipscomb (1917 - 2009)
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Marshall L. Foster
SC2010.14.24
Upstate

Guy Lipscomb, Jr. served as the first chairman of the South Carolina Museum Commission, which built the South Carolina State Museum. Lipscomb was also a prominent artist. During his lifetime, he had more than 35 one-person exhibitions and received the prestigious American Watercolor Society Award. In 1982 he was awarded the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner award, the highest honor for art in the state. He also co-founded the South Carolina Watercolor Society.
Lipscomb was one of the first major donors to the State Museum, supporting the establishment of the Lipscomb Gallery on the first floor. The gallery is named for his mother, artist Adelin Schroder Lipscomb and features rotating exhibitions highlighting the work of South Carolina artists.

Omen with Cow, 2001
Dr. Leo Twiggs (1934 -)
Batik painting
Museum Purchase
SC2006.28.51
Lowcountry

Dr. Leo Twiggs was one of the first Museum Commissioners, serving from 1975 to 1997. After earning his doctorate in Art Education at the University of Georgia, Dr. Twiggs became one of South Carolina’s most distinguished artists and taught future artists at Claflin University until his retirement in 1998. His many awards include the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for the Arts (2017), for lifetime achievement; and the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership from the Virginia Theological Seminary (2023). His artwork has been exhibited at the State Museum, most recently being his solo exhibition Requiem for Mother Emmanuel in 2018. Twiggs’ batik fabric artworks feature shadowy and ominous elements, created through the careful use of wax resists and dye.
The original Museum Commission was formed in 1973 and was appointed by Governor John West. In addition to the previously mentioned Guy Lipscomb and Leo Twiggs, there were 6 additional members. This included Dr. Ambrose Hamton, Emily Jeffries, Lucy Hall, Charles Coker, Marvin Trapp and Arthur Magill.

SC81.155.3, Letter of invitation to State Museum Director David C.
Sennema from Governor Richard Riley for a luncheon honoring
Mr. Vernon Mills and to review plans for the State Museum, 1981
Field Collection by David C. Sennema
Midlands

Museum director, David C. Sennema (1935 - ), was invaluable in keeping the planning of the museum on track despite funding and building setbacks and served from 1976 to 1985. Before joining the museum, he was the first director of the S.C. Arts Commission and General Manager of the Columbia Music Festival. He later served as interim Director at the Florence Museum and became a published author.

SC92.64.8, Friends of the State Museum Annual Meeting program, 1992
Field Collection by Winina Darr, Lise Swensson, Rodger Stroup, Fritz Hamer,
and Michelle Baker
Midlands

Over the last 50 years, thousands of museum members have generously devoted their time and resources to support the museum. The Friends of the Museum membership organization formed before the museum opened and evolved into our current membership program. Today, members participate in museum programs and exhibitions and enjoy special members-only events and discounts included with their membership benefits. If you would like to receive the benefits of a membership and help the museum Reimagine the Experience, stop by the admission desk or find more information about membership on the museum’s website.

SC90.145.4, Membership Card for United Textile Workers of America for
Lester David Weaver
Gift of Hildred Q. Altman
Midlands

Before this building was filled with museum guests, it was filled with the hum of machinery and workers manufacturing a durable cotton fabric called duck. Workers at the “duck” mill lived across the river in New Brookland. The museum acquired many artifacts from the mill, including this spool and these badges and cards. You can see more objects from the mill and learn about its history on the 3rd floor.

SC81.155.1, Deed conveying Mt. Vernon Mills to the state of
South Carolina, 1981
Field Collected by Fritz P. Hamer
Midlands

As the mill was preparing to close in 1980, workers realized the building might serve as a home for the State Museum, which had been looking for a location for over a decade. At one point, the Museum Commission had a plan for a 53-acre museum complex near Riverbanks Zoo & Garden but it was determined to be too expensive. The Commission, the State and Mt. Vernon Mills, Inc. worked together to donate the mill building and use tax credits to help fund the extensive renovation that turned the mill into the museum. On Dec. 7, 1981, Governor Riley used this pen to sign the deed for the building.

“Palmetto State Quilt,” 2017
Marilyn Schulz
SC2019.27.1
Donation of artist
Upstate

While not geographically large, South Carolina is a diverse place. Each square in this quilt of the state represents a unique story of that area. The museum is always searching for objects which tell the stories of the state and its people. Staff travel across South Carolina meeting with people, crawling under buildings, excavating riverbanks and fields, and scouring shops and auctions. What object best tells your story?

Maxie M. Eades, Woodworker, 2008
Blake Praytor (1943 - 2002), Palmetto Portraits Project
Silver Gelatin Print
Gift of the Medical University of South Carolina
SC2009.31.30
Upstate

The Palmetto Portraits Project was a multi-year partnership between the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston intended to capture the stories of South Carolina through photography. Copies of these portraits were gifted to the State Museum. Through this portrait, museum curators were introduced to South Carolina artist Maxie Eades and subsequently acquired pieces of her artwork. You can view one of her pieces, Congaree Burl Bowl, on the 2nd Floor.

March and April, c.1975
Dan Robert Miller (1918 - 1991)
Mixed media (walnut, metal)
Museum Purchase
SC87.140.1
Midlands

The museum collaborates regularly with other institutions. When artist Dan Robert Miller passed away, no single institution was able to purchase the Miller Collection. Therefore, the museum worked with the Columbia Museum of Art and the South Carolina Arts Commission to each purchase a third of this unique estate collection and preserve it for future generations.

Total Solar Eclipse (1/1000), 2017
Designed and printed by The Half and Half
Screenprint
Field Collection by South Carolina State Museum Staff
SC2017.37.1
Midlands

The museum hosted a three-day event to mark the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, welcoming more than 8,000 guests from all over the country and the world. Activities included exhibition tours, a new planetarium show, as well as the eclipse viewing on August 21, which brought regional and national media coverage.
This first-edition print was created by The Half and Half, a Columbia print and design shop, for the museum and was signed by South Carolina astronaut Charles Duke during the eclipse celebration.

SC88.264.15 First teacher’s booklet for the museum, 1988
Field Collection by Rodger Stroup
Midlands

On average, nearly 60,000 students visit the museum each year. Thanks to generous support from legislators and donors, the museum provides free admission to all South Carolina students. Perhaps you came to the museum on a field trip- what do you
remember most?

SC2025.31.1, Decorated Lab Coat
Midlands

Museum staff visits schools and conducts outreach programming in all of South Carolina’s 46 counties. This lab coat represents Audience Engagement Director Tom Falvey’s nearly 30-year career as an educator. Decorated with 250 donated pins and signed by famous South Carolinians such as Charles Bolden, Jr., NASA’s first Black administrator, and other celebrities, it is tangible evidence of a community that extends beyond the museum’s walls.

Exterior Decoration, 1982
James Edwards (dates unknown)
Digital print (xerography)
Museum Purchase
SC82.115.1-3
Midlands

Although not technically accessioned into the collection, the Columbia Mills Building is considered the museum’s largest object. Before becoming the State Museum, the building housed the world’s first fully electric textile mill, which was completed in 1893. The Columbia Mills building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can learn more about the building and the mill on the third floor.

SC98.77.3, Western Barbie Happy Meal Toy, 1998
Donated by Elaine Nichols
Midlands

The museum looks for objects that help tell South Carolina’s stories, especially those that highlight the lives of everyday South Carolinians as well as things created and built in the state. The museum has policies and procedures to ensure it follows best practices, as well as a Collecting Plan that guides what museum staff collect. How do you think these objects tell South Carolina stories?

SC2023.23.1, Black Barbie, 1979
Upstate

The Reimagine the Experience project aims to expand the museum’s cultural history galleries and explore South Carolina’s story during the late 20th century and beyond.
This African American doll was the first named “Barbie” and mass produced by Mattel.
It represents a career milestone for trailblazing designer “Kitty” Black Perkins, a Spartanburg native, and symbolizes how African Americans transformed American popular culture
after desegregation.

Isle of Palms, 1901
Edward Gay (1837 - 1928)
Oil on canvas
Gift of Coker University
SC91.155.1
Lowcountry

Museum conservation is a field of study that focuses on the care and preservation of objects. This may include cleaning, repair or stabilization. Conservation is built on the principles of doing no harm and performing reversible work in case of future repair needs.
Professional conservators possess a deep knowledge of chemistry and have excellent fine motor skills to carry out delicate work. They typically have earned a graduate-level degree, followed by years of study and experience in specialized areas such as painting, paper, ceramics or metalwork.
This 1901 painting experienced difficult circumstances before coming into the museum’s collection. Recently, a highly specialized art conservator repaired a hole, re-stretched the canvas and cleaned the painting to show its original coloration. The conservation of this painting was made possible through a generous project grant from the South Carolina
Arts Commission.

Notre Dame Cathedral (Concrete City), c. 1975
L.C. Carson (1913 - 1998)
Concrete and cultured marble
Gift of Sue Carson Chasteen
SC96.45.19
Midlands

The museum collects art that is created in the state, made by a past or present resident of the state or is in some way representative of the state. L.C. Carson was a folk artist residing in Orangeburg, SC. In the 1970s, he began using his construction skills to create replicas of famous buildings. The buildings of Concrete City, which were originally displayed in his backyard, are now a part of the museum’s collection and include his versions of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Parthenon and an Aztec Pyramid. These unique sculptures capture the life of one of South Carolina’s artists and offer a unique outlook on
a globalized world.

Pearl Fryar, 2008
Milton Morris (dates unknown), Palmetto Portraits Project
Silver Gelatin Print
Gift of the Medical University of South Carolina
SC2008.7.27
Midlands

The museum’s collection includes the multi-tier topiaries located outside the museum’s entrance. These living sculptures, created by topiary artist Pearl Fryar (pictured here), are the only living items in the collection. The collection typically includes only inanimate objects (artwork, artifacts) or dead items (fossils, specimens).
The portrait here is from the Palmetto Portraits Project, a collaboration with MUSC and the College of Charleston.

Catawba Wedding Vase, 1992
Earl Robbins (1922 - 2010)
Pit-fired earthenware
Gift of Tom and Kathe Stanley
SC2016.9.8
Upstate

SC2023.18.1a, Religious Text, The Holy Bible, 1815
Lowcountry

This 1815 Bible lists 31 enslaved people freed by William Turpin, a Charleston merchant, politician and enslaver turned abolitionist. Turpin granted each person land, tools and placed them under the protection of the Bush River Quakers, a religious sect who opposed slavery. This object gives names and power to those recorded and deepens our understanding of slavery and freedom in South Carolina.

Untitled Pitcher (Generations Series), 2022
Rosa and Winton Eugene (dates unknown)
Glazed stoneware
Gift of the Folk Art Society of America
SC2023.16.1
Upstate

This pitcher was made by Rosa and Winston Eugene, a husband-and-wife self-taught pottery team, which depicts a family lineage. By overlaying their faces, you can see their likeness and gain a sense of their relationship.
The museum seeks to build and expand its collection by showing the relationships between objects, history and the people which represent the many stories present in South Carolina.