The Charleston Museum Newsletter - February 2023

Arts and Entertainment

February 1, 2023

February Calendar Of Events

Tours for both historic houses are on the half hour from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday and 12 to 5 pm Sunday. Last tour of the day begins at 4:15 pm at the Heyward-Washington House and 4:30 pm at the Joseph Manigault House.

February 1 - Kid Tours: Artic Animals

February 2 - At the Sign of the Pine Tree: Gunsmithing, Urban Slavery, and Archaeological Legacies at 87 Church Street Lecture with Dr. Sarah Platt of the College of Charleston

February 3 - Fossil Friday with the Natural History Department

February 4* - Sweetgrass Basket Weaving Workshop with Local Artisan Sarah Edwards-Hammond

February 9* - Fall in Love with The Charleston Museum: A Special After-Hours Valentine's Event

February 10 - Conversations with a Curator: Sea Grass Baskets with Curator of Archaeology Martha Zierden and Curator of History Chad Stewart

February 10 - Fossil Friday with the Natural History Department

February 11* - Valentine's Candle Making with Local Artist Daisy McClellan

February 16* - Homeschool History Day: 250th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibit

February 17 - Fossil Friday with the Natural History Department

February 20 - Presidents' Day: Museum and historic houses OPEN

February 24 - Fossil Friday with the Natural History Department

*Reservations Required

Events

Special Events

Fall in Love with The Charleston Museum:

A Special After-Hours Valentine's Event

Thursday, February 9 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Get struck by cupid’s arrow and fall in love with The Charleston Museum! Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special date night, a friends’ night, or treat yourself to a night out. Visit the Museum for special after-hours access to the galleries and enjoy small bites and refreshments in the Main Lobby. Reservations required. Admission included in ticket price.

$25 Museum Member | $40 Non-Member

$45 Museum Member Couple | $75 Non-Member Couple

Bourbon & Oysters

Friday, February 17 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM

at The Dewberry Charleston

Join The Dewberry for a celebration of art and nature in their private event space, Henrietta's with MacArthur award-winner & South Carolina author, poet, ornithologist, and hunter-conservationist - Dr. J. Drew Lanham. Gather around a fire to listen to the author’s “head and heart” approach to the Southeastern birds featured in John James Audubon’s The Birds of America. Libations and lite bites will complement this event. The Dewberry event coincides with the spotlight exhibition: J. Drew Lanham : A Feel Guide to John James Audubon’s The Birds of America (1827-1830), Volume 1 which runs February 17-April 28, 2023 at The Charleston Museum.

Youtube Channel

Discover the Revolutionary War cartridge box in the Museum's collection with Carl Borick, Director of The Charleston Museum. This artifact is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind. This pouch was carried by a soldier of the Royal Artillery and accommodates nine .69 caliber cartridges as well as accessories.

In conjunction with The Charleston Museum's 250th anniversary in 2023, the Museum will release a monthly video to highlight important objects in the collections. We invite you to check back with our channel monthly to explore each object with our curatorial staff.

Tours

Conversations with a Curator: Sea Grass Baskets with Curator of Archaeology Martha Zierden and Curator of History Chad Stewart

Friday, February 10 | 10:30 AM

Join Curator of History, Chad Stewart, and Curator of Historical Archaeology, Martha Zierden, in the Lowcountry History Hall as they discuss sea grass baskets in the collections of The Charleston Museum. Rooted in Africa, coiled baskets of rush, sweetgrass, palmetto, and other local materials have been produced by local African Americans since their first arrival in Carolina. The art form evolved from work baskets, principally fanners for threshing rice to an art form produced for sale. The craft endures as an icon of Gullah culture. The History collection includes baskets from the early 19th century, while archaeological excavations have produced the oldest known basket fragment, dating to the late 18th century. Together, they document the long history of this beautiful and durable craft.

This program is FREE for Members and FREE with admission.

For more information call 843.722.2996 ext. 235

Learn More

Special 250th Early Days Gallery Tour with Chief of Collections Jennifer McCormick

Thursday, March 2 | 3:30 PM

Celebrate the Charleston Museum's 250th anniversary with a tour of the Museum’s earliest collections in the Early Days gallery, which reflects the Museum’s long history from its founding before the American Revolution to the late twentieth century. Following the tour of Early Days, guests will be led through the Museum's special exhibit America's First Museum: 250 Years of Collecting, Preserving, and Educating, Part 1, highlighting objects from ancient Rome, a Chief’s helmet from the Sandwich Islands acquired in 1798 and Japanese Samurai armor. Join Chief of Collections, Jennifer McCormick, for the story of the Museum's institutional history and take a closer look at some of its earliest objects that have fascinated the public for years.

This program is FREE for Members and FREE with admission.

Reservations Preferred.

For more information call 843.722.2996 ext. 235

Workshops

Sweetgrass Basket Weaving Workshop with

Local Artisan Sarah Edwards-Hammond

Saturday, February 4 | 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Join local artisan, Sarah Edwards-Hammond, for in-depth instruction on sweetgrass basketry which has been an integral part of the Lowcountry’s Gullah Geechee community since the 17th century. Edwards-Hammond comes from a long line of basket makers and has passed down the tradition to her family and others in the community. She will share a brief history of the artisanal craft of basket making. Participants will then spend the remainder of the class making their own basket guided by Edwards-Hammond. Come learn about an extraordinary craft that has been a staple of culture, art, and history in Charleston for centuries. All materials and instruction will be provided.

All materials and instruction provided in this workshop.

Space is limited. Reservations required.

$75 Museum Members | $105 Non-Members

Valentine Candle Making Workshop with

Local Artist Daisy McClellan

Saturday, February 11 | 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Join local artist Daisy McClellan for a special Valentine's candle making workshop using vintage vessels. McClellan will instruct participants on the history of candle making and how to make candles from start to finish. Valentine themed teacups, glasses and tins locally sourced by the artist will be provided to make eco-friendly and unique candles. Participants will create two candles mixed with their individual scent combinations using a variety of fragrance oils and dried flowers. You'll also have the opportunity to dye your candles red! Grab your love or your bestie and join us for a fabulous time!

All materials and instruction provided in this workshop.

Space is limited. Reservations required.

$75 Museum Members | $105 Non-Members

Children's Programs

Kid Tours: Artic Animals

Wednesday, February 1 | 3:30 - 4:30 PM

How does a walrus stay warm in freezing waters? What makes a musk ox so musky? Come learn about these animals and their amazing adaptations to live in the coldest environments. Kid Tours is a series designed to highlight artifacts from our collection that have fascinated children for years. Kid Tours meet the first Wednesday during the months of August to May at 3:30 PM. This program includes a tour highlighting the weekly theme and an engaging craft project or educational activity.

FREE for Members and FREE with admission to The Charleston Museum.

Learn More

Homeschool History Day: 250th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibit

Thursday, February 16

10:00 - 11:00 AM & 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Explore the first part of our special exhibit highlighting 250 years of The Charleston Museum. Go on a guided tour of our temporary exhibit to see some of the oldest surviving items in our collections then take part in a special scavenger hunt through the Museum. Homeschool History Day programs feature a field trip experience, a chance to go through the Museum, and an educational activity.

Reservations required. Two sessions offered: 10 – 11 AM and 11 AM – 12 PM

$5 for Museum Member Students | $10 for Non-Member Students

Free for Museum Member Adults | $12 for Non-Member Adults

For more information: call 843-722-2996 ext. 236

Children Events

Museum Blog

Charleston Bricks and Fingerprints of the Enslaved

Once you see them, you can’t not see them. That is the case with fingerprints preserved in locally produced bricks, a signature of the people who made them from local clay, for houses, storefronts, and fortifications. Still other skilled artisans, often enslaved, constructed the houses, storefronts, and fortifications of Charleston from these bricks. It was Joe McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, that first raised awareness of this “signature” of the laborers, mostly enslaved Africans, who toiled in the clay pits and near the kilns on plantations, producing bricks as a winter product. This simple, inadvertent signature of unfree labor preserved in brick samples in the Museum’s history and archaeology collections and in the walls of its historic houses prompted Museum staff to name bricks with finger impressions among our top ten artifacts.

Current Exhibits

America’s First Museum: 250 Years of Collecting, Preserving, and Educating Part 1

December 17, 2022 - June 4, 2023

Historic Textiles Gallery

A Historical Timeline of America's First Museum: 1773 - 2023

Now On View

Lowcountry Image Gallery

Upcoming Exhibits

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

May 13 - July 9, 2023

Loeblein Gallery of Charleston Silver

America’s First Museum: 250 Years of Collecting, Preserving, and Educating Part 2