South Caroliniana Library

In Unison was an alternative lifestyle magazine published in Columbia, SC from 1994 to 1998 that focused on LGBTQ+ rights, news, politics and entertainment.

We have digitized our collection of In Unison as part of a larger collaborative effort with as part of their LGBTQ Columbia History Initiative. You can look through the digital collection at the link below!

https://digital.library.sc.edu/collections/in-unison-magazine/

Pictured is the cover of In Unison Magazine from February 1997.

Today is ! What better way to celebrate than remembering University of South Carolina President James Rion McKissick's famous tradition of riding his bike around campus!

Pictured is a photo from the 1963 Garnet and Black Yearbook of President McKissick on one of his famous campus bike rides. McKissick was president of the University from 1935 to 1944 and was most well-known for his attachment to and relationship with the students. His death in 1944 was a shock to the community and state. After a widespread demand, he was buried on the campus in front of the South Caroliniana Library.

During the night of June 1st, 1863, three federal gunboats, guided by Harriet Tubman, steamed upriver from Beaufort on a mission to free the enslaved people held on the rice plantations along the Combahee River. The raid, carried out by one of the earliest all-Black regiments, the U.S. 2nd Second South Carolina Volunteers, resulted in the liberation of more than 700 people.

When writing her book on the raid, Dr. Edda Fields-Black did a lot of research in our collections. Just one example of an item in our collection that contextualizes the raid, which can be found in her book, is from the Papers of the Kirkland, Withers, Snowden, and Trotter Families, 1790–1959.

"William Lennox Kirkland Jr. kept a list of the enslaved people who escaped enslavement on Rose Hill Plantation during the Civil War. On two sides of one sheet of paper, Kirkland recorded the names of enslaved people who liberated themselves in March 1862 and on June 2, 1863. The June 1863 list was likely written shortly after the Combahee River Raid, when the painful details were fresh in his mind." - Dr. Edda Fields-Black, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War

Last week we hosted the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Scholars for an instruction session! Instruction and Outreach Librarian Brittany Champion taught the group about primary source research in an archival setting before letting them get some hands-on experience with documents relating to their research interests.

The TRIO McNair Program helps eligible undergraduates pursue graduate degrees by offering expanded faculty mentoring, research experience and other academic opportunities with the goal of increasing the number of Ph.D. recipients who are first-generation or low-income students. Students enter the program during the spring, participate in the summer research component and, during the following academic year, continue their research projects and complete the requirements for graduate school enrollment by attending an online course.

We are rounding out with the launch of the Richard Samuel Roberts Digital Collection!

In 1920, Richard Samuel Roberts moved his family to Columbia, South Carolina, settling at a home on Wayne Street. From 4 a.m. until noon, he worked as a custodian at the US Post Office, earning a living to take care of his wife and five children. Once his shift was over, he would make his way to the photography studio space he rented on Washington Street in the heart of segregated Columbia’s Black commercial district to capture his community through glass plate negative photography.

Now, through the efforts of University of South Carolina Libraries and the University of South Carolina Center for Civil Rights History & Research , over 5,000 of Roberts’ glass plate negatives detailing African American life in some of Columbia’s oldest neighborhoods in the early 20th century have been made freely and digitally accessible to the public for the first time ever, giving the city back a piece of its history that had largely been lost.

Learn more about the digital collection at the link below!

https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/exhibits_events_news/news/2026/new_digitized_photo_collection.php

Earlier this month our Assistant Director, Heather Potter and our Instruction and Outreach Librarian, Brittany Champion, headed down to Kingstree, South Carolina with the University of South Carolina Center for Civil Rights History & Research remember Dr. King's visit to Tomlinson High School over 60 years ago. They showcased materials from the South Carolina Council on Human Relationsh and more to highlight King's speech, 'Let us March on Ballot Boxes.'

Looking to escape the heat? Grab some "Soda-lightful water" from W.E. Pelham in Newberry, S.C.! This broadside advertises "pure lake ice" being sold at the lowest prices around, as well as "mineral waters direct from the springs". While we can't know the exact date of this broadside, we can attest that it was definitely a hot summer in South Carolina. ☀️

This item is from our Broadsides from Colonial Era to Present digital collection, which can be found at the link below.

https://digital.library.sc.edu/collections/broadsides-from-the-colonial-era-to-the-present-at-the-south-caroliniana-library/

Andrea L'Hommedieu, Head of Oral History at the South Caroliniana Library at University of South Carolina Libraries, collaborated with the South Carolina Honors College this Spring to teach “Oral History Meets Pop Culture”, a class that invited students to gain hands-on oral history skills while analyzing and learning about the history of comic books.

Students got the opportunity to learn about the process by which oral histories are created, as well as the importance of oral history when it comes to the historic record, all while exploring their own interests in the special collections’ holdings. They then got the opportunity to present their finals projects to the community.

Learn more about the class at the link below!

https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/exhibits_events_news/news/2026/collecting_comic_book_history.php

The South Caroliniana Library will be closed on Thursday, May 21st and Friday, May 22nd to allow for the moving of collections.

If you have research inquiries during the closure, head to our website to put in a reference request.

https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/browse/south_caroliniana/index.php

We were thrilled to welcome Dr. Edda Fields-Black back to the Caroliniana when she visited Columbia last week! Dr. Fields-Black spoke at the University South Caroliniana Society 2026 Annual Meeting on her Pulitzer-Prize winning book "COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid and Black Freedom during the Civil War".

Dr. Fields-Black used many resources from our collections to research for her book, and we were delighted to pull out some of the items she used while writing this important book!