#CofCLibraries

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Shakespeare Memorial Building, Stratford-on-Avon

Photograph is taken from across the River Avon between 1892-1912. Title and “356 (3010)” on label. It is alleged that William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, was born in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 on St. George’s Day (April 23rd) and died on the same day in 1616.

Image from the Keystone View Company Lantern Slides, held by the College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Sweetgrass rice fanner with pine knots

Multiple views of a circular, flat sweetgrass basket with a handle made of pine needles wrapped in palmetto leaves; basket contains accents of pine needles throughout and artist has incorporated decorative pine knots; center of basket contains a combination of sweetgrass, pine needles, and bulrush, sewn with palmetto leaf; label on back reads "HAND MADE BY Ida Mae Bennett." 

The Avery Sweetgrass Basket Collection holds significant modern examples of a centuries-old craft. Following African traditions, baskets of coiled grasses were originally produced by slaves on Lowcountry plantations for agricultural use. Over time, sweetgrass baskets have become artistic expressions that retain the African aesthetic -- a symbol of African American culture and a signature of the Lowcountry region. Alongside the baskets, the Avery Research Center has gathered visual and oral histories of the modern basketmakers and their families. 

Image from The Avery Sweetgrass Basket Collection, held by The Avery Research Center.

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Fertility doll

A black wooden fertility doll carried by expectant mothers; origin Ashanti people of Ghana.

Object from the Joseph A. Towles Artifact Collection, held by the Avery Research Center.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Congolese wooden mask

Carved wooden mask with female features. Origin Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

Object from the Katherine Nicklaus Collection, held by the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

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Mast and sail of the Westward

Image taken by John Henry Dick in the Galapagos Islands in June 1962. John Henry dick, a self-described “Artist Naturalist,” established a reputation as a leading bird painter in the United States. He took approximately 8,000 photographs of professional quality while travelling in more than 50 countries to study and photograph birds and other animals in wilderness settings. He made two trips to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador in 1962 and 1973.

Image from the John Henry Dick Collection, held by the College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

“Moon at Age of Seventeen Days. Copyright Yerkes Observatory”

Photograph of a waxing gibbous moon, 1892-1912. Title and “595 (16646)” on label.

Image from Keystone View Company Lantern Slides, 1892-1912, held by College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Four people next to a bird bath

Black and white photograph of three women and one man arranged around a bird bath, four women in background. Inscription on back of photograph: “Geneva in college.”

Image from the Septima P. Clark Papers, ca. 1910-1990, held by the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Crevasse Formation in Illecillewaet Glacier, Selkirk Mountains

William Henry Jackson, in partnership with the Detroit Photographic Company, reproduced black and white photographs into color photochroms through what Jackson described as a "photo-lithographic process for reproducing pictures in color.” They were sold as postcards or prints. This postcard is embossed on front: "54069 Crevasse Formation in Illecillewaet Glacier, Selkirk Mountains. Copyright, 1902, by Detroit Photographic Co." 

Image from the William Henry Jackson Photochrom Collection, 1898-1905, held by College of Charleston Libraries. 

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Solar eclipse diagram from the Frank Fisher Notes, 1882-1902

An index diagram from the Lick Observatory Photographs of the Solar Eclipse of January 1st 1889, drawn on July 1st 1892. The totality of this eclipse was visible across the western United States and central Canada. The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California and situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California. 

Frank R. Fisher’s notes contain observations, drawings, and photographs relating to scientific studies, particularly astronomical observations made while Fisher was a resident in Charleston, SC during the 1880s. Fisher’s astronomical observations begin in Charleston in 1882 with the sighting of a comet. He also records his observations of the transit of Venus (1883), an aurora and sun spots (1892), and discusses new theories concerning Jupiter (1894) and the nature of the sun’s corona (1892).

Image from the Frank Fisher Notes, 1882-1902, held by the College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Sketches -- William Martin Aiken Sketchbook, 1878-1885

Two pencil sketches from portraits by Charleston-born architect William Martin Aiken. The left sketch is drawn from The Butterfly Catcher by William Stephen Coleman (1829-1904), and the right is drawn from Fresh Air by Winslow Homer (1821-1896).

Sketchbook from  William Martin Aiken Papers, 1878-1956, held by College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Cleveland Sellers and Stokely Carmichael March at Anti-War Rally

Photograph of Cleveland Sellers and Stokely Carmichael marching at an anti-war (presumably Vietnam) rally amongst a crowd of both white and black protesters. Carmichael holds a sign that reads "Bring The Troops Home Now!" Inscription on the back reads, "Stokly [sic] Carmichael- dark glasses. Cleveland Sellers to his right." 

Photograph from the Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr. Papers, 1934-2003, held by the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Esau Jenkins

Black and white photograph of Esau Jenkins speaking. Esau Jenkins (1910-1972) was born and raised on Johns Island, South Carolina. With very little formal education, he became a businessman and civil rights leader. In 1959, he organized the Citizens’ Committee of Charleston County dedicated to the economic, cultural and political improvement of local African Americans. 

Photograph from the  Esau Jenkins Papers, 1963-2003, held by the Avery Research Center.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Photograph of Cleveland Sellers and Willie Ricks

Photograph of Cleveland Sellers and associate Willie Ricks standing in a yard in front of a home. This photo may have been taken in the 1970s upon Sellers' release from prison. Cleveland Sellers, Jr. (born 1944), an African American from Denmark, South Carolina, was a participant and leader of a variety of student, civil rights, leftist, and Pan African movements in the 1960s and 1970s. Sellers alone was indicted and convicted for inciting a riot during the Orangeburg Massacre, in which three students of South Carolina State University died and many others were wounded; Sellers was later pardoned. 

Photograph from Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr. Papers, 1934-2003, held by the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

“Morehouse’s Comet. Copyright Yerkes Observatory”

Photograph of Morehouse’s Comet with title and “600 (16645)” printed on label.

Image from Keystone View Company Lantern Slides, 1892-1912, held by College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Kaufm. a. Kaluga, dessen Frau im Sommerkleide u. Winterkl. Russischer Bauer

Hand-colored lithograph of a merchant from Kaluga with his wife shown in both summer and winter clothes. From Vollständige Völkergallerie in getreuen Abbildungen aller Nationen by Friedrich Wilhelm Goedsche.

Image from William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection - Prints and Photographs, held by College of Charleston Libraries.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Photograph of Isaiah Bennett

Early black and white photograph of Isaiah Bennett (right) and two other gentlemen in an office setting. Isaiah Bennett (1926-2002) served as a union representative for tobacco workers at the American Tobacco Company's "Cigar Factory" and as a leader and negotiator of the Charleston Hospital Workers' Strike of 1969. Bennett also founded and was president of the Charleston chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, an umbrella organization for black trade unions. 

Photograph from the Isaiah Bennett Papers, ca. 1932-2002, held by the Avery Research Center.