Past Events
The Beaufort County Historical Society has a long tradition of celebrating and sharing subjects of historical significance.
2025
Beaufort District Militia in the Revolutionary War
February 13, 2025
Presented by Richard Thomas
Beyond Robert Smalls; The Untold Stories of the Freedom Seekers on ‘The Planter’
December 12, 2024 & April 10, 2025
Presented by Reconstruction Era National Park Ranger Chris Barr
Somewhere Toward Freedom; Sherman’s March to the Sea
December 5, 2024
Presented by Dr. Bennett Parton
Sheriff Matty White; Legendary Lawman
November 14, 2024
Presented by Col. Neil Baxley
Jacques Lemoyne; the First European Artist to Visually Document the New World
September 5, 2024
Presented by Larry Koolkin
Shoals & Shipwrecks; Underwater Archaeological Exploration off Port Royal Sound/ BCHS Annual Meeting
May 16, 2024
Presented by James Spirek, State Underwater Archaeologist for SC
Freedom Eddy: To beaufort and Battle by boat
April 18, 2024
Presented by Wyatt Erchak, Carnegie Mellon PhD Candidate
Revolutionary war battle of beaufort, 1779
February 1, 2024
Presented by Colonel Neil Baxley
Tom Austin, Lazarus & the Resurrection of Sea Island Cotton
January 18, 2024
Presented by Tom Austin, Edisto Island Open Land Trust Land Protection Specialist
2023
Plantation Profiles;
Beaufort County
October 17 & 19, 2023
Presented by Kayleigh Vaughn, Director of Exhibitions and Programs at the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage
September 21 & October 5, 2023
Presented by Dr. Larry Rowland & Col. Chris Allen
Waving the Red Shirts of Redemption; Reconstruction Era Politics & the SC Election of 1876
July 12, 2023
Presented by Nathan Betcher, National Park Service Historian
Liberty Trail in Beaufort District/BCHS Annual Meeting
May 18, 2023
Presented by Bill Davies, Chair, SC 250th Revolutionary War Committee,
President, SC Historical Society
Stuarts Town Community Conference
February 4, 2023
Presented by Dr. Chester B. DePratter, Dr. Charles R. Cobb, Dr. Larry Rowland, Dr. Peter N. Moore, Dr. Denise I. Bossy, Hannah G. Hoover, MA
Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779
February 2, 2023
Presented by Col. Neil Baxley
January 19 & 24, 2023
Presented by Dr. Michael Johns
2022
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION from the city of beaufort for establishing markers commemorating the history of beaufort county
October 26, 2022
Presentation by Mayor Stephen Murray to BCHS President Larry Rowland (center) and Board Members (L) Ray Morin, Alvesta Robertson, Lillian Haist & Larry Koolkin
Beaufort County’s Middle Passage- History & Legacy
September 15, 2022
Presented by Ann L. Chinn, Founder of the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project
Installation of Carnegie Building Marker, corner of Carteret& Craven Sts., Beaufort
July 7, 2022
Sponsored jointly by the Beaufort County Historical Society, The Clover Club, Friends of the Beaufort County Public Library & the City of Beaufort
“CAROLINA DAY” Presentation
June 28, 2022
Presented by Doug Bostick, Executive Director of the SC Battleground Preservation Trust
"Search for Stuarts Town" Kick-Off Event--June 6, 2022
"Search for Stuarts Town" Kick-Off Event--June 6, 2022
"Beaufort's Response to Alternative Facts in the Civil War; First, Second and Third Reconstructions" /BCHS Annual Meeting
May 19, 2022
Presented by Dr. Vernon Burton, Clemson History professor, Director of the Clemson CyberInstitute and nationally-recognized author
Members-Only “Revelry on the River” Party
May 19, 2022
Celebrating our 83rd Anniversary! Thank you to Phil & Amelie Cromer for their Lowcountry hospitality!
The GREAT FIRE OF 1907 MARKER INSTALLATION, CORNER OF BAY & CARTERET STS.in Elliott Park, Beaufort
April 21, 2022
Remarks by BCHS President Dr. Laurence Rowland
History of the grand army of the republic
February 17, 2022
Presented by Rev. Doc. Elijah Washington, current Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic
World War II P.O.W. Camp marker Installation, Pigeon Point Park
January 20, 2022
Remarks by BCHS President Lawrence Rowland & Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray
2021
Means of GracE; A History of the Robertville Baptist Church
November 15, 2021
Presented by Dr. Eric W. Plaag, author and historian
October 14, 2021
Presented by Mollie Barnes, Ph.D, Associate Professor of American Literature, USCB
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Presented by Lt.Gen. Ben Hodges (Ret) and Col. Christopher Allen (Ret) West Point classmates, lifelong friends & history buffs.
WATCH “Prequel to Glory” presentation here (Audio normal @ 5:30 min)
Blue Channel Corporation Marker Installation
June 21, 2021
Our speakers included Dr. Larry Rowland, President, Beaufort County Historical Society, Julie Zachowski, Advisory Board Member of the Society, Joe Devito, Town of Port Royal Mayor, & Eileen Newton, President, Historic Port Royal Foundation.
The Hidden Senator: The Untold Story of Senator Niels Christensen, 1876-1939
March 25-April 22, 2021
By Ann Pollitzer
Founder of the Eleanor Christensen Montessori School & Lifelong Educator
Jan 21, 2021- Feb 25, 2021
By J. Brent Morris, Ph. D
Professor of History & Humanities Department Chair, USCB
Director, USCB Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era
2020
Women in Reconstruction: The Lives of Susie King Taylor, Charlotte Forten & Laura Towne
October 22-November 16, 2020
By Suzie Parker Devoe, performer, speaker & writer, specializing in the roles of women in American history.
Kate Gleason, Libby Rowland, and Beaufort in the 1920’s
March 12, 2020
By Dr. Lawrence Rowland, noted historian and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina Beaufort.
The New Face of African American Public History in Charleston: the International African American Museum-
January 23, 2020
By Dr. Bernard Powers, Professor Emeritus History Department, College of Charleston
2019
Not Just Gossip: Who Dwelt in Beaufort’s Historic Homes?
November, 21, 2019
By Maxine Lutz, Former Director of the Historic Beaufort Foundation
Members-Only trip to historic bluffton, SC-
November 7, 2019
Civil War Views of Beaufort-
October 17, 2019
By Dr. Stephen Wise, noted historian & Director of the Parris Island Museum
2018-19 Lectures
BCHS Records in the District Collection of the Beaufort County Library
by Grace Cordial
The Blue Channel Canning Company
by Larry Rowland and Julie Zachowski
All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868-1968
by W. Lewis Burke
Strangers in that Strange Southern Land
by Amy McCandless
More Featured Events
In 2013, the Society presented Jubilee of Freedom, a dramatic reenactment of the 1863 reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in what is now Port Royal
In 2016, the Beaufort County Historical Society served as the host site for the statewide Conference of the Confederation of South Carolina Local Historical Societies.
More Past Events
Click each image to enlarge.
