PAST EXHIBIT Long before we knew the dangers of sun exposure and skin cancer, women were intent on protecting their fair skin from the ravages of sunlight and keeping their complexion fair. It was not fashionable in the mid 19th century, and indeed until the 1920s, for a woman of…
Read MoreFashion and Function: Bonnets On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the British-built luxury liner Lusitania killing more than 1,100 civilian passengers. Claiming the ship was carrying weapons for World War I’s allied forces and was therefore justified in destroying it, German sculptor Karl Goetz set…
Read MoreHave you ever wondered why downtown Charleston can sometimes get such horrendous flooding? Anyone who has had to drive through deep ponding on downtown streets surely has. A Museum staff member’s minivan literally floated in one of these floods! The answer lies in the natural history of the area. Long…
Read MoreFashion and Function: Bonnets Souvenir spoon and machine dies James Allan & Company Charleston, 1900-1905 On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after surrendering Fort Sumter to the Confederacy, Union General Robert Anderson was back in Charleston reclaiming what was left of it for the United States. For…
Read MoreCharlotte Drayton Manigault was born to Charles Drayton and Hester (or Ester) Middleton in 1781 on their plantation in Goose Creek. Hester Middleton Drayton was the sister of Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and died when Charlotte was eight years old. By all accounts Charles Drayton was…
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