Another Year, Another Page: Looking Back on Gabriel Manigault’s Contributions

The Charleston Museum has had many curators in its long history, each one contributing to our prestigious assemblage of objects and institutional history. Over the years, the collection focal point has shifted from one of a Lowcountry focus, to a more global one, and back again, resulting in the Museum we recognize today.

Professor Francis Holmes, curator of the Museum from 1850-1869, had a particular interest in the geology and paleontology of the Lowcountry, paying specific attention to shelled sea creatures. These research interests resulted in a continued growth of the Museum’s paleontological acquisitions through his tenure. However, despite being a prolific researcher of ancient animals, his critics noted his inattentiveness to other aspects of the Museum.

One of those critics, Professor Gabriel E. Manigault officially took up the mantle of curator after Holmes’ departure in 1873. In his writings, Manigault made clear his thoughts on the Museum being in a poor state, specifically with the taxidermy specimens and cabinetry that had been under Holmes’ care. As curator, Manigault not only worked to improve the condition of the objects, but to diversify the Museum’s collections. He shifted the focus to a more global selection of artifacts, such as the Egyptian statuary casts made from the originals housed in the British Museum, and numerous taxidermy animal mounts from all over.

Manigault was personally interested in vertebrate anatomy and the Museum still houses many of his anatomical reconstructions. Manigualt acquired various skeletons of birds, mammals, and reptiles from around the world and personally built armatures to display them as they would have been as living organisms. Today, the Museum has over 120 of these original mounts with many of them on display in the Bunting Natural History Gallery and the Early Days Gallery.

The Museum still maintains the objects Professor Manigault acquired all those years ago, as they have become not only a part of our institutional history, but their contributions continue to shape our story through exhibitions and research.

Matthew Gibson
Curator of Natural History