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July Issue 2008
South Carolina State Museum in Columbia,
SC, Features Exhibit Celebrating the Museum's First 20 Years
To continue the yearlong celebration of the South Carolina State Museum's 20th anniversary in 2008, the Museum has opened a special exhibit dedicated to objects that it has collected over the past two decades.
The South Carolina State Museum: 20 Years of Treasures will be on view through Jan. 4, 2009, with more than 100 artifacts representing all 46 of South Carolina's counties.
"This is really unique because it's the first time we've had an exhibit where every county in the state is represented," said Registrar Michelle Baker, who co-curated the show with Curator of History Elaine Nichols. "That's why we're doing it. It's been interesting to put together this particular exhibit, too, because the process showed us in which counties we were 'thin' in artifacts, and where we need to collect more, as well as areas in which we are rich. We wanted to be all-inclusive with this one, and I think we've done a good job of it."
Of the many fascinating artifacts contained in the show, perhaps the most unusual - at least to Baker - is a belt buckle that contains a gun. She picked it as part of a "curators' choice" section in which each curator chose something unique that has never been exhibited before. "It's never been shown and I think it's so unique and I believe people will find it interesting," she says of the buckle/gun. The trick weapon was made in the mid-1850s as an "anti-garrotting" device, that is, a weapon to protect a person from being attacked or choked from behind.
Jim Knight, chief curator of natural history, chose a piece of fulgurite, a tube of very impure glass formed when lightning strikes loose sand. The walls of this electro-formed tube are only a few grains of sand thick.
A grandfather clock made from wood from the Columbia Mill, which now houses the State Museum, was the choice of Chief Curator of History Fritz Hamer. It's a recent acquisition for the Museum's collection.
Curator of Art Paul Matheny selected a face jug by Columbia artist Peter Lenzo. Why? "Because in addition to his skill making jugs, it will be displayed with a jug made by Lenzo's young son, Joe," said Matheny.
Elaine Nichols, curator of history, chose a nursing uniform worn in the 1960s by an African American nurse. "Hospitals and nursing schools were still separate for the races in the 1960s," she said. "Young people won't know much about that aspect of desegregation," but they can learn from this display, Nichols said.
The imposing 1926 Alvan Clark telescope that will be the main feature in the Museum's upcoming observatory was the choice of Tom Falvey, curator of science and technology. "It signifies the past as well as the Museum's future," said Falvey, referring to the historic instrument's major role in the planned expansion of the Museum to include an observatory, planetarium and 4-D theater. "So, fittingly, it's also an icon of the next 20 years. Plus, it represents a nice collection of Clark telescopes we already have."
Many more captivating artifacts will be seen in the exhibit, including artifacts from the grand opening of the Museum on Oct. 29, 1988. In addition, one icon from the collection representing the anniversary can be seen on each floor for the rest of the year.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Museum at 803/898-4921 or visit (www.museum.state.sc.us).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.