The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is a state-funded museum dedicated to the preservation of the military history of the State of South Carolina. Founded in 1896, the museum features exhibits covering the state's role in the&nbsp;Revolutionary War, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War,&nbsp;World War I, World War II, the War on Terror and other American conflicts.One special exhibit cover's the museum's "Write the Front" program. The program collects letters, e-mails, photos, artifacts and other communications and tangible things from South Carolina residents who have served or are serving in war conditions. The museum also features an archives which is available to researchers by appointment.The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Adults 61 and under pay an admission fee of $5. Adults 62 and over, active duty military and veterans&nbsp;are admitted with a $4 fee. Children 13-17 and pay $2 and&nbsp;children 12 and under are admitted free of charge. The museum is open on the first Sunday of each month from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and everyone 13 and over is admitted for $1.

South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum

South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military

Website

The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum is dedicated to the military history of South Carolina dating from the present day back to the Revolutionary War. It is located adjacent to the University of South Carolina in Columbia.  

South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum 

This walking tour begins at the McKissick Museum and concludes at the South Carolina State Museum. The tour includes a variety of monuments and landmarks around the state capitol complex as well as historic buildings and sites related to the city's unique history as the epicenter of secession. The tour incorporates a variety of landmarks related to African American history, as well as buildings and landmarks related to architecture, commerce, political history, and art as it winds its way throughout the heart of downtown Columbia.

Downtown Walking Tour Columbia, South Carolina

Thomas Taylor, Jr. was born to a distinguished family. He was the great-grandson of Colonel Thomas Taylor, who served in the Revolutionary War and owned a plantation that was chosen in the 1790s to be the site of the City of Columbia. Taylor was a prominent and influential figure in Columbia in the early 1900s, serving in a number of roles including as the president of the Taylor Manufacturing Company, vice president and secretary of the Carolina Glass Company, and the second vice president of the Palmetto National Bank and Trust Company. The family donated the house to the Columbia Art Association in 1949, which was established that year. The Association converted the Taylor House into the Columbia Museum of Art, which opened the next year. The museum remained here until it moved to its current location in 1998. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is a designated as a Grade 1 Local Landmark.

This historic house was built by businessman Thomas Taylor, Jr. in 1908. Now owned by the University of South Carolina, it is the only turn-of-the-century mansion in Columbia still standing. The L-shaped home features a Neoclassical design with a two-story projecting portico supported by fluted Corinthian columns, a main entrance surrounded with stone columns and a broken pediment, and a Flemish bond brick exterior. For many years the Taylor House was the location of the Columbia Museum of Art. The current use of the house as of 2021 is unclear.

Taylor House

The university received its first collection (of minerals) in 1823. In the following decades the university acquired the wide variety of collections that constitute the museum's collection today.&nbsp;

The McKissick Museum, located in the building after which it is named, celebrates Southern history and culture through changing and traveling exhibitions, educational programs, and research. Particular emphasis is placed on Southern folkways and traditions. The university established it in 1976, consolidating the various collections dispersed in different departments around campus into one location. As a result, the museum contains a wide variety of artifacts, various specimens, decorative and fine artwork. These include gemstones and minerals, moths and butterflies, quilts and other household textiles, art glass, alkaline-glazed stoneware, and Catawba pottery. Also included are materials relating to the university itself.

McKissick Museum

South Caroliniana Library, constructed in 1840 and located on USC's historic Horseshoe, is the nation's oldest freestanding academic library and one of the premier research archives and special collections repositories in the state and Southeast. Its collections include rare diaries, maps, books, pamphlets, and newspapers; records of churches, plantations, and businesses; early photographs, postcards, and engravings; oral histories that document our state's business, educational, social and cultural past. 

South Caroliniana Library

John C. Calhoun State Office BuildingIn the early 1920s, it became clear that a new government building was needed to house the state's departments, including the State Highway Department, bureaus, and courts. While many of these were located in the nearby State House, others were located in rented spaces throughout the city. Noted South Carolina architect Harold Tatum, who was living in Columbia at the time, was hired to design the new building. Another architect, Milton Medary, was hired as a consultant. Construction began in 1925 and the building was completed the year. It is named after South Carolina politician John C. Calhoun, who served as Vice President under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson."Olin-Ben War"The Highway Department, which was already becoming powerful in the early 1920s, didn't want to move into the new building. In fact, it wanted its own new building but this request was denied and, in response, initially refused to help pay for the proposed building. Eventually it agreed to contribute to the project.Between 1926 and 1940, the Highway Department grew significantly under the leadership of Ben Sawyer, who became Chief Highway Commissioner in 1926 (the commission oversaw the Department). Sawyer was determined to improve the state's roads, which were mostly unpaved and in poor shape. In order to pay for the work, a bond bill was proposed in 1929 and Sawyer supported it. The bill eventually passed and by 1932 the Department had sold $50 million in bonds which was much larger than the state's $8 million dollar budget. Olin Johnston, who served as a state representative before he became governor in 1935 (he served until 1939; he also served a second term from 1943-1945), opposed the bill from the start, believing that the Department would become even more powerful. The rivalry between he and Sawyer began.When Sawyer campaigned for governor in 1934, he pledged to fire Sawyer and restructure the Highway Commission. Johnston called for Sawyer and other commissioners to resign in his inaugural address but they did not. Sawyer's allies in the State House also defeated an attempt to reorganize the Department through legislation. Johnston even vetoed Sawyer's salary as part of the appropriations bill but the Commission found another source from which to pay Sawyer. Then in September and October, Johnston replaced three of commissioners with allies, declaring that the three previous commissioners' terms had expired (he also charged three others with illegal behavior). However, the state Supreme Court ruled that the new commissioners could only be approved after a hearing.Finally on October 28th, Johnston activated the Columbia National Guard to occupy the building and remove and replace the Highway Commission. He justified this move by arguing that the Highway Commission was causing a "rebellion" against the state. In response, the federal government stated it would freeze all highway funds for the state until the situation was resolved. In addition, the state Supreme Court froze all Department funds while it determined whether the new appointments were legal. The state Supreme Court ruled on December 5 that the appointments, including the new Chief Commissioner, were indeed invalid and ordered the reinstatement of Sawyer and the previous commissioners.However, Johnston did not give up. He didn't order to National Guard to leave and suspended the commissioners again. He called a special session of the legislature and a compromise was reached. A temporary commission was established and the troops finally left on December 20th. Sawyer became Chief Commissioner again by February 1936 and the in April, the state Supreme Court nullified Johnston's removal of the commissioners.The event had ramifications for the rest of the country. It established the legal precedent that elected officials are not allowed to resolve political or civil disputes using military force.

The John C. Calhoun State Office Building is notable for its architecture and association with one of the most dramatic events in the state's political history. In the fall of 1935, Governor Olin D. Johnston ordered the South Carolina National Guard to occupy the building, which housed the State Highway Department. The Department became one of the most powerful state departments in the 1920s and 1930s. After failing for months to remove the department's Chief Highway Commissioner, Ben Sawyer, and the other commissioners, Johnston decided to use the National Guard to forcibly remove them. In the end, however, Johnston lost what had become known as the "Olin-Ben War" and the Department gained even more power. In terms of design, the five-story, I-shaped building, which was erected in 1926, is a fine excellent example of Renaissance Revival architecture. It features a limestone exterior, Doric pilasters (columns), a cornice with roaring lion heads, and a two-story brick and limestone rooftop pavilion with Ionic pilasters and brick arches. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. 

John C. Calhoun State Office Building

The African American History Monument in Columbia, South Carolina, was erected in 2001 and is the first of its kind on any statehouse grounds in the United States, depicting over 300 years of Black history. The first proposal for the monument was written by Republican State Senator John Courson in 1994 as part of the state's "Heritage Act," which was intended by its sponsors to offer a compromise related to the use of Confederate imagery at the state capitol. The process of approving this law and then later building the monument took seven years. Although the initial proposal passed in the Senate, the measure failed in the House. Two years later, the Senate once again passed a bill for the creation of a monument, but the House did not consider the bill. Plans for the design of the monument were finally set into motion via two state senators, African American Democrat Darrell Jackson, and white Republican Glenn McConnell. Together, they tied the bill to an economic development proposal favored by Governor Beasley, who then called the legislature into a special session in which the House passed both bills. Once the monument was approved, a legislative commission was formed to oversee the design and fundraising, which raised $1.2 million in private donations. The commission was assisted by public residents on the volunteer Citizens’ Advisory Committee, chaired by art educator Mac Arthur Goodwin, as well as the South Carolina Arts Commission. After over 40 artists submitted proposals to design the monument, sculptor Ed Dwight of Colorado was chosen to carry out his plans. Construction on the African American History Monument, however, did not begin immediately. Under Chairman of the Monument Commission, then-Senator Glenn McConnell, and Vice Chairman Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter, members’ views varied on how to proceed. Arguments arose concerning the content of some of the monument’s panels, which were originally meant to depict controversial figures in history. Some examples included hooded Klansmen, Black men being lynched, and Denmark Vessey, the leader of a deadly revolt by enslaved persons in 1822. In response to concerns from a variety of groups, the monument was carefully crafted to depict historic events, but not include specific people. Rather than graphic images depicting the violence that of enslavement and lynching, words were used to describing those histories in hopes of acknowledging this past while making the monument more accessible to families with small children. On March 29, 2001, a dedication ceremony for the monument was attended by four hundred people. The African American History Monument is 25 feet long and two stories high, constructed of gray granite walls inlaid with 12 bronze panels. The panels are in chronological order, beginning in 1619 and spanning to the present day. Scenes depict a family on an auction block, enslaved people working in a rice field, a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Jim Crow era, the Northern migration, and images of Black men and women pioneering modern fields such as engineering, law, education, sports, politics, and space exploration. The semi-circular shape, according to the sculptor, Dwight, is meant to represent an African American village. The monument also contains an obelisk, with its form said to have originated in Africa. At the base are four rubbing stones from African regions in which enslaved people were captured: Sierra Leone, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Ghana. Additionally, a terrazzo engraving on the ground represents the Middle Passage in the slave ship Brookes, which began appearing in abolitionist literature in the 1780s, with human bodies packed into it. Until 2005 and 2006 with the constructions of the South Carolina Armed Forces Monument and South Carolina Law Enforcement Memorial, the African American History Monument was the largest monument on State House grounds.

Dedicated in 2001, South Carolina's African American History Monument depicts centuries of Black history and was dedicated at the state capitol as part of an agreement related to demands to remove the Confederate flag from the State House dome. The monument was the first of its kind to be dedicated at a state capitol in the United States. The monument was designed by Ed Dwight and consists of twelve panels representing historical events such as the Emancipation Proclamation along with the achievements of Black men and women in fields such as law, education, politics, and engineering. Controversy arose during the planning and design stages concerning the incorporation of figures such as Klansmen and images of lynchings. In response to concerns about graphic images, the monument uses words to describe those events. The monument stands two stories high and spans twenty-five feet and was officially dedicated on March 29, 2001, with over 400 people attending the ceremony.

African American History Monument

Columbia, South Carolina’s Palmetto Regiment Monument was moved to its present location in 1969 as a way to recognize over 400 men from the Palmetto State who died fighting during the Mexican-American War. The war began as a result of the United States' attempt to annex Texas, a decision that divided Congress but was supported by President James K. Polk who won the election of 1844. Polk campaigned for Texas to be “re-annexed,” despite previous warnings from the Mexican government that any attempt of annexation would lead to war. Polk also campaigned to “re-occupy” Oregon Territory, as well as was interested in California, New Mexico, and the rest of what is now the U.S. Southwest. However, his offer to purchase those lands was rejected and his administration concentrated their plans for expansion on lands controlled by Mexico to the dismay of many Northerners. Because of the rejection, Polk moved troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River, which both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. As a result, Mexican cavalry attacked a group of United States soldiers in the disputed zone under the command of General Zachary Taylor on April 25, 1849, killing around 12 people. They then surrounded and forced soldiers out of an American fort along the Rio Grande. When Taylor called in reinforcements, he defeated the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma with better rifles and artillery than the Mexican soldiers possessed. Following the battles, Polk reported to the U.S. Congress that America’s patience had run out even before Mexico crossed the U.S. boundary. On May 13, just two days later, Congress declared war, despite opposition from Northern lawmakers, although no official declaration ever came from Mexico. On June 29, 1846 South Carolina’s Palmetto Regiment was formed and former Governor Pierce Mason Butler was elected as colonel. While the War Department initially told the regiment they were not needed, on November 16, they were requested for immediate service. By then, the regiment had to be rebuilt due to the term of enlistment changing from one year to the duration of the war. The regiment reported to Camp Magnolia near Charleston, South Carolina, before departing for Mobile, Alabama December 27-28. From there, they sailed to Lobos Island, trained, and landed below Vera Cruz March 8, 1847, where they assisted in establishing siege lines. The Palmetto Regiment led an expedition to Alvarado from March 30 to April 6; afterward, they traveled through Jalapa to Puebla and remained there until August 7, when they departed for the Valley of Mexico. On August 20, they were involved in both the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, in which Butler was killed during heavy fighting. 11 others in the regiment were killed and 126 were wounded. Then, after a brief armistice, the regiment attacked Chapultepec and Mexico City on September 12. The Palmetto Regiment was the first regiment to enter Mexico City at the Garita de Belen. On May 29, 1848 the regiment finally left for home, arriving in Mobile, Alabama from June 24-29, left to find their own way home afterward. Of the 1,048 men who enrolled in the regiment, 441 did not return. The Palmetto Regiment Monument was installed on the south side of the State House in 1854, then purchased by the General Assembly around 1856-1858. Designed by Charleston artist Christopher Werner, it is one of the country’s few monuments to the Mexican-American War. The monument features a 20-foot-tall bronze, copper, and cast iron palmetto tree in a combination of Greek Revival and Romantic styles. Enslaved craftsmen were likely responsible for the construction of the tree, which is standing on a base and inscribed with the names of around 450 men who died in the war. The monument is also surrounded by four low, decorative posts, which Werner originally created ornate arches to connect, but were later replaced by the chains that connect them today. The monument remained in its south side location throughout the Civil War, including after some branches were lost when Columbia was burned in 1865. Around 1874-1875, it was relocated north of the western wing of the State House, where it was repeatedly damaged and repaired by storms and tornadoes. It was officially moved to its present location in 1969. The inscription on the monument reads: <blockquote>South Carolina</blockquote><blockquote>To</blockquote><blockquote>Her Sons</blockquote><blockquote>Of The</blockquote><blockquote>Palmetto Regiment</blockquote><blockquote>Who Fell</blockquote><blockquote>In The</blockquote><blockquote>War With Mexico</blockquote><blockquote>Anno Domino</blockquote><blockquote>1847</blockquote>

The Palmetto Regiment Monument in Columbia, South Carolina was dedicated in 1854 and moved to its present location in 1969, and stands as a memorial for the men who fought in the regiment during the Mexican-American War. Of 1,048 men enrolled, 441 did not return home. The war began as Southern states supported settlers of American origin who crossed into Mexico in their conflict with the Mexican government as part of their attempt to expand the nation westward and southward in ways they believed would protect the institution of slavery. The war began when Mexican cavalry crossed into disputed territory and attacked U.S. soldiers in that disputed borderland. The monument is a bronze, copper, and cast iron palmetto tree that was likely constructed by enslaved men. The monument was initially installed on State House grounds in 1854, relocated in 1874, and then moved to its present location in 1969.

Palmetto Regiment Monument

Captain Swanson Lunsford was buried on State House grounds in Columbia, South Carolina in 1799, although his present tombstone was placed on the site in 1953. Lunsford was born in 1754 in Dinwiddie, Virginia, but later moved to Columbia, South Carolina. During the Revolutionary War, he served under Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III, known to be one of the best guerilla fighters during the war. After the war, Lunsford worked both as a merchant and civic leader in Columbia. However, traveling to Charleston, South Carolina for those positions is what ultimately led to his untimely death due to yellow fever in 1799. Yellow fever was initially introduced into South Carolina via the African slave trade, with the first major epidemic in Charleston in 1699. Although the illness is transmitted by mosquitoes, it was largely restricted to seaports where the specific strain of the disease-carrying mosquitoes lived. The virus caused a variety of severe illnesses, such as high fever, vomiting, exhaustion, convulsions, delirium, severe body aches, bleeding from the skin, nose, and mouth, liver disease, stomach blood being turned Black, and more. However, for those who survived yellow fever, they were then immune. When enslaved African Americans began arriving on ships, those who had immunity exposed the disease to those who never experienced it, leading to the death of around 15 percent of the population during the Charleston outbreak in 1699. Between 1706 and 1748, there were between five and eight major epidemics, with cases appearing sporadically in the years after. Although, from the 1790s to the 1850s, cases again reemerged in Charleston, with a majority of the victims “strangers” who never had yellow fever in the past, such as immigrants and travelers. One of those travelers was Lunsford, who contracted yellow fever while on a business trip to Charleston and died August 7, 1799. After his death, Lunsford was buried on a piece of property that was near his Columbia home, although there is speculation that Lunsford might have owned the property. Later, that property was purchased by the state of South Carolina to construct the State House. Lunsford is the only person to be buried on State House grounds, likely because there was worry of spreading yellow fever if he was interred in a public or church cemetery. While he was buried upon his death in 1799, the first marker for his grave was not placed until 1837 by his only daughter, Mary Lunsford Douglass and his son-in-law, Dr. John Douglass. In 1927, the marker was reported stolen when Lunsford’s great-grandson temporarily removed it to have it cleaned by Bruns &amp; Davis. It was not until 1953 that the current marker was installed by Lunsford’s great-great-granddaughter, Mary Craig Lorick Baker. The original marker had a seal of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The present tombstone is nearly identical and even has the same inscription, with one slight altercation changing “aged four and forty years” to “about forty years.” The current inscription reads: <blockquote>Cap. Swanson Lunsford</blockquote><blockquote>a native of Va. and for many</blockquote><blockquote>years a resident of Columbia,</blockquote><blockquote>Died August 7th, 1799.</blockquote><blockquote>Aged about forty years.</blockquote><blockquote>He was a member of Lee’s Legion</blockquote><blockquote>in the eventful period of 76.</blockquote><blockquote>This humble tribute to his</blockquote><blockquote>memory has been placed</blockquote><blockquote>by his only child,</blockquote><blockquote>Mrs. M. L. and her husband,</blockquote><blockquote>Dr. John Douglass of Chester, S. C.</blockquote><blockquote>---------------</blockquote><blockquote>This memorial erected by</blockquote><blockquote>Mary Craig Lorick Baker</blockquote><blockquote>Great, great, granddaughter April 1953</blockquote>

Swanson Lunsford was buried in Columbia, South Carolina in 1799 after dying during a yellow fever epidemic in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the only person to be buried on the State House grounds, and is said to be the only person in Columbia who died due to the yellow fever outbreaks in Charleston, which began in 1699. Lunsford served as a captain under Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III in the Revolutionary War before becoming a merchant and civic leader. After contracting yellow fever in Charleston on a business trip, he was buried on a plot of land near his Columbia home rather than in a cemetery, likely to prevent spreading the disease any further. The first grave marker was placed in 1837, then later replaced with a nearly identical one in 1953.

Grave of Swanson Lunsford

The granite mount that was installed on State House ground in Columbia, South Carolina in 1900 once held a cannon captured in Santiago, Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The cannon, which was removed in 1942 to be made into weapons during World War II, was taken from the Battle of Santiago, which marked the end of the Spanish-American War and secured American victory. On May 19, 1898, a month after the outbreak of the war, a Spanish fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera arrived in Santiago harbor on the southern coast of Cuba, but was immediately blockaded by U.S. warships from squadrons in the Atlantic under Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and Commodore Winfield S. Schley. The Spanish fleet remained protected within the mines and shore batteries of the harbor, but were also unable to challenge the blockade. By July, however, progress of U.S. land forces in Cuba put Cervera’s ships at risk and forced movement on part of the Spanish. During land operations, U.S. troops, including Theodore Roosevelt’s volunteer cavalry regiment Rough Riders, disembarked east of the city and broke through outer defenses. From July 1 to July 3, the village of El Caney was captured along with San Juan Ridge’s highest point, San Juan Hill, beginning the siege of Santiago de Cuba the same day Cervera made the decision to move his fleet out of the harbor. From Havana, Governor-General Ramon Blanco had ordered Cervera to break through the blockade and save his ships, an order which was protested by Cervera several times. While both Blanco and Cervera were aware that the Spanish fleet was outgunned, Blanco wanted to preserve the honor of the Spanish navy by having the flotilla go down fighting rather than surrender in Santiago harbor. However, after the U.S. captured San Juan Hill, Blanco ordered Cervera to depart immediately on July 2. Because the entrance to the harbor was difficult to navigate at night and the American fleet was spread over a wider area during the day, Cervera decided to wait until first light on July 3 to depart. Blockaders were formed in a semicircle around the mouth of the harbor, with the converted yacht Vixen close to the shore. The ship Brooklyn, which was meant to support the Vixen and was the fastest American ship, was farther out to sea than any other American ships. Cervera’s plan was to use the flagship Infanta Maria Teresa to ram and disable Brooklyn in order to allow the rest of the Spanish fleet to escape. At 9:35 a.m., several American ships signaled that the Spanish squadron was steaming out, which took 12 minutes, during which time they were under fire but were unable to retaliate. The Infanta Maria Teresa was destroyed after engaging Brooklyn, along with the cruiser Vizcaya after battling for an hour with the battleship U.S.S. Texas. The crew of the cruiser Oquendo scuttled their ship, and the two Spanish destroyers were sunk. The only Spanish ship to escape was the cruiser Cristobal Colón, which was chased by the U.S.S. Oregon for 50 miles before it, too, was finally overhauled, with its captain scuttling the ship in shallow water to avoid deaths. Wounded and prisoners were placed on the auxiliary Harvard to be treated by American ship surgeons and be given clothing before being placed aboard the hospital ship Solace. On July 16, 1898, two weeks after the battle, Spain surrendered Santiago de Cuba, resulting in U.S. victory and suppressing Spanish naval resistance in the New World. The Spanish had 474 dead or wounded, 1,800 captured, and all six ships lost, while the U.S. had one dead, one wounded, and no ships of eight lost. The Spanish cannon that was once part of the State House monument was a 14-foot brass muzzleloader made in Spain in the 18th century. It was acquired February 2, 1900 and installed on State House grounds in the fall of that year. On October 18, 1942 the cannon was removed to be melted into weapons during World War II. Now, the granite mount remains as both a monument to the Spanish-American War as well as the civilian effort during World War II.

The granite mount installed in 1900 in Columbia, South Carolina once held a Spanish cannon that was part of the battle that marked the end of the Spanish-American War. Created in the 18th century, the 14-foot muzzleloader was used during the battle of Santiago de Cuba, during which a Spanish fleet was blockaded in Santiago harbor. Upon capture of San Juan Hill, the fleet attempted to break free of the blockade, but all six ships were lost in the process. Two weeks later, on July 16, 1898, Spain surrendered Santiago de Cuba, making the United States victorious. In 1942, the cannon was removed from the mount to be melted into weapons during World War II. The mount now serves as a monument to both the Spanish-American War and the civilian effort during World War II.

Mount for Spanish Cannon

“The first surgeon of the ages in ministry of women, treating alike empress and slave.” These words are inscribed on the low wall to the right of Sims’s bust at the South Carolina memorial. While these words have not changed, the historical interpretation of Sims and his work has. While acknowledging that Sims was a path-breaking physician, his methods, which included the experimentation on enslaved women have dominated recent interpretations of his work. The monument is located on the State Capitol grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, north of the John C. Calhoun State Office building. The South Carolina Medical Association proposed the statue in 1912 but struggled to obtain funding. Efforts to create this monument languished for a decade until 1926, when the Medical Association Women’s Auxiliary revived the idea and steered the project to completion. Sims’s statue was erected in May of 1929. The statue was originally displayed on the University of South Carolina campus before being moved to the capitol site. Here it still stands, despite being the subject of recent controversy in Columbia, controversy which resulted in the poetry marathon MEND in 2017, a peaceful protest of the Sims story. Kwoya Fagin Maples, author of the poetry collection, MEND, and co-organizer of the marathon, collaborated with students and other citizens to use literature to remember the suffering of enslaved women who were victims of Sims’s experiments. James Marion Sims, son of John Sims and Mahala Mackey Sims, was born in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1813. After a relatively typical childhood in a slave-owning Southern family, Sims entered medical school in 1833 despite his father’s reservations; John Sims considered medical doctors quacks and pill-pushers. Sims’s early medical interests did not include gynecology. In fact, for the first decade of his career, he shied away from female organs, referring patients with gynecological conditions to other physicians whenever possible. When Sims began his practice, the social climate was still hesitant in its acceptance of male doctors operating on female matters. The field of gynecology—the name an important distinction from midwifery due to its more extensive use of tools, medical apparatuses, and complete domination by males--was in its infancy. In fact, some of the early progress in gynecology can be traced to slaveowners’ increasing interest in female slave reproductive health. Congress had recently banned import of slaves from Africa, so the continuation of slavery rested on the stellar reproductive levels of American-born enslaved women.Despite his reservations about operating on women, Sims was still enlisted to help with birthing occasionally and by chance was called in quick succession by three different slave owners to treat enslaved mothers’ postpartum vesicovaginal fistulas. Vesicovaginal fistulas are holes that form between the bladder and the vagina as a result of difficult labor. These fistulas cause incontinence, severe pain, and social discrimination due to the lack of bladder control and ensuing odor. Sims’s initial attempts to cure the fistulas were unsuccessful. Soon thereafter, he was resituating a dislocated uterus in a woman who had fallen from a horse when he accidentally discovered a novel position in which to view the entirety of the vagina. This “Sims position” enabled him to observe the fistula with the help of a pewter spoon (which would later become his famous speculum). Over the next four years, he operated extensively on twelve enslaved patients. One unfortunate woman underwent thirty operations. Finally, through the use of his silver suture, Sims perfected the art of mending vesicovaginal fistulas. His reputation grew after his relocation to New York where he founded the Women’s hospital. He also developed an international reputation and influenced European medicine. Sims’s contributions to the field are undeniable.The controversy over Sims’s story did not begin until decades after his death. For many years, Sims was universally lauded as a medical hero. However, in the later 20th century, as the rationale of the Civil Rights movement set in, historians and journalists began to question his practices. Medical textbooks have yet to acknowledge the controversy in their content. The first major exposure of Sims’s controversy came in a 1976 book entitled The Horrors of the Half-Known by historian G.J Barker-Benfield. This book complicated Sims’s story, spurring questioning and complaints that have continued since. Complaints centered around issues of consent, the absence of anesthesia, and even an accusation of sexual misconduct. First, the issue of consent will be discussed. Sims claimed that his enslaved subjects were content with his treatments. In his memoir, The Story of My Life, he boasted that “My patients are all perfectly satisfied with what I am doing for them.” However, it is not credible that he received their true consent. He contracted with their owners to borrow them for experiment, and he was well aware of the advantages of this strategy, saying “There was never a time that I could not, at any day, have had a subject for operation.” In addition, the women were made to continue slave duties for Sims in periods between surgeries, and they were surgical assistants to his procedures, sometimes while still recovering from their own operations. Second, in terms of anesthesia, Sims had none. He provided opioids for post-surgical pain relief. However, he did not believe in surgical anesthesia at the time, as it was still in its beginning stages, so he opted to complete surgeries as quickly as possible, undoubtedly requiring more strain on his enslaved surgical team. Especially due to his later use of anesthesia on white, affluent women, many believe that Sims forsook anesthesia due to a belief that African Americans had high pain tolerance, a belief that was commonly held during Sims’s era. His true stance on this matter is unclear. Finally, the third allegation is potentially the most damaging. In Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology, author and history professor Deirdre Cooper Owens speculates that Sims assaulted his patients, fathering “mulatto” children, perhaps in order to reopen postpartum fistulas so he could continue research.Defenders of Sims explain him as a product of his time, and it is true that countless other surgeons experimented on enslaved women. Nevertheless, multiple protests of Sims monuments have occurred in recent years, including at the locations in Alabama and New York. In fact, the monument in New York was recently removed from Central Park and is in the process of being moved to a cemetery due to determined protest by New York residents. In contrast, a 2017 protest at the South Carolina site proposed an addition to the monument rather than a removal. The protest was a poetry marathon entitled MEND, named after a book of poetry by Kwoya Fagin Maples that gives voices to the three original fistula subjects named in Sims’s story: Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy. Protestors advocated for additional statues depicting these three women, acknowledging their contributions and great sacrifice.Ultimately, Sims’s story is complicated. Perhaps he was a monster. Perhaps he was just following the experimental tendencies of his time. Regardless, these women endured terrible things. Their voices deserve to be heard. This poem from MEND, told from the point of view of Anarcha, one of Sims’s first experimental subjects, is an imaginary address to Sims himself.“You pull out the notes from your leather bag,Reading and murmuring through surgeries—Failures, the almosts bore against our backs.Every note marked becomes the symphonyYou compose, and yes, we will render it.We are rotting fruit, yet our bodiesYield.”

Dedicated in 1929, this statue recognizes the work of Dr. James Marion Sims (1813-1883). Sims is commonly referred to as the “father of modern gynecology" and is renowned for applying the silver suture for the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula. In addition, he invented the Sims speculum, identified the Sims position, developed a treatment for infant lock-jaw, established the New York Women’s Hospital, and contributed to numerous publications, most notably “Clinical Notes on Uterine Surgery.” However, much of Dr. Sims’s pioneering work resulted from experimentation on enslaved women, and some of his methods were morally compromised. In recent decades the interpretation of Sims’s achievements have focussed on the suffering of enslaved women and ethical questions about Sims and his methods. The controversy has complicated Sims’s commemoration: protesters have demonstrated at multiple Sims monuments, including the one in South Carolina. This South Carolina protest, held in 2017, was called MEND, named for a book of poetry that gives voice to women in Sims’s story. When remembering Dr. James Marion Sims, one must decide whether the brutality overshadows the innovation. 

James Marion Sims Monument

Tillman was born on August 11 of 1847 in Trenton, South
Carolina into a wealthy planter family. Both of Tillman’s parents were English.
His mother, Sophia Tillman, was active in society. While his father, Benjamin
Ryan Tillman Sr. provided the family with a comfortable lifestyle from a plantation
of 86 slaves and a popular Inn. Tillman was the youngest of eleven siblings,
seven boys, and four girls. Most of his older brothers would die during his
adolescence but one, George Tillman, would live to serve in the South Carolina
State Senate and then later in the United States Congress. Benjamin Jr. would
follow in the footsteps of his bother and also serve in political office,
though his legacy would prove to be far more impactful and for that reason,&nbsp;all the
more controversial. 

&nbsp;A gifted
student, Tillman was sent to a boarding school in the neighboring town of
Edgefield where he remained until he was 16. At that point, Tillman left to join
the Confederate Army. However, Tillman’s intentions were never recognized due to medical reasons. His right eye contracted a bacterial infection that resulted in its removal. It
would be months until Tillman recovered, long after the formal fighting of the
Civil War had ended. Tillman then tired his hand at the family plantation
business. He purchased land in Florida but the project quickly failed. While in
Florida Benjamin Jr. meet Sallie Stark; the two married in 1868 and returned to
South Carolina where Tillman would inherit nearly 450 acres of land from his
mother. By 1876 Tillman had established himself as a planter, becoming the
largest landholder in the county. Sources demonstrate that he&nbsp;often used a lash to punish African American laborers on the plantation.&nbsp;

&nbsp;During the
time just before Tillman’s run for office he was involved in a number of
race-related clashes that shape his reputation today including the Hamburg Massacre and his verbal defense of&nbsp;lynching. Tillman participated
in the killing of seven Black militiamen in the Hamburg Massacre and was later
quoted having said he'd &nbsp;“taught the Negros a lesson”1, while celebrating the
confrontation at a friend’s dinner. Tillman was also present for the killing of Black&nbsp;South Carolina State Senator, Simon Coker, by a white mob in 1876. Just after
these incidents, and partly because of them,&nbsp;Tillman was able to introduce&nbsp;himself into political society. He did so at
the South Carolina Democratic convention, in which he fervently supported
Democratic candidate for the Legislature Wade Hampton III. 

While
Tillman's views on race dominate his reputation, for many years he was viewed as a defender of&nbsp;poor white farmers.&nbsp;He was the founder of Edgefield County
Agricultural Club and delivered many speeches calling for laws to aid white farmers that made him a&nbsp;viable&nbsp;candidate for South Carolina Governor in 1886. While speaking
at a number of events in upstate South Carolina, Tillman advocated for primary
elections at a time when&nbsp;nominations were handled internally by the&nbsp;Democratic party that dominated state politics.&nbsp;Tillman&nbsp;also proposed the idea of a state-run university to educate poor white
farmers. It is important to note that Tillman referred only to men when he promoted
democratic principles like voting rights and access to education, but these were&nbsp;progressive ideas, for the period, and would shape a considerable portion of his political image.&nbsp;He was, to many, a farmer supporting the interest of farmers. 

Tillman won the gubernatorial race of 1890, and later served as a United States
Senator after winning the election of&nbsp;1895. A rising star in Southern politics, Tillman was even considered a candidate for the presidency until he delivered a divisive speech that offended many of the attendees and leaders of the Democratic Party.&nbsp;Tillman’s
governorship saw a decline in the&nbsp;number of lynchings in South Carolina, partly because of his support of&nbsp;law enforcement. However, Tillman once offered to lead a lynch mob while in office and was on record advocating violence against Black residents who threatened the status
quo. He even bragged openly&nbsp;about his involvement in certain acts of violence against African Americans while in office. While in the Senate, he exclaimed that he would rather see his daughters die than be raped by a Black man at a time when hundreds of Black men were being lynched for this alleged crime. "I have three daughters, but, so help me God, I had rather find either one of them killed by a tiger or a bear [and die a virgin] than to have her crawl to me and tell me the horrid story that she had been robbed of the jewel of her womanhood by a Black fiend"&nbsp;Tillman exclaimed on&nbsp;the floor of the Senate.&nbsp;Views such as these were often welcomed by whites Southerners, and Tillman enjoyed their approval. However, the same sentiments left him hated by a majority of politicians from the North and West. This polarization almost definitely contributed to Tillman's loss of the Democratic nomination before the presidential race of 1896. That fact, along with his opening speech at the Chicago convention, one riddled with curses,&nbsp;uncomfortable amounts of racism, and&nbsp;blatant southern favoritism, helped earn him the title "wild man of the Senate"3. Even within his own party, Tillman was hated by some who saw him as a&nbsp;classless sectional fanatic.&nbsp;Tillman died at the end of his fourth&nbsp;senatorial term in 1918 after a hemorrhage of the brain. Washington mourned his death with tributes and ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol. Today, Tillman is still a polarizing character. In the early and mid-20th century,&nbsp;was seen by many white South Carolinians as a tough and principled leader who defended the&nbsp;"Southern way of life," a phrase that became a euphemism for the defense of segregation during the 1950s and 1960s.&nbsp;

Benjamin Tillman was a South Carolina senator, populist, and outspoken defender of white supremacy who dominated the state's politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known by his nickname "Pitchfork Ben" after threatening to impale Grover Cleveland, Tillman rose to prominence after leading the Red Shirts, a white supremacist paramilitary group that took control of the state by force in the final years of Reconstruction. Though he enjoyed great support and popularity among white residents of the state throughout his life, his virulent racism and occasional advocacy of violence against African Americans has marred Tillman's legacy and made this statue a subject of controversy. During the early 20th century, most white South Carolinians continued to revere Tillman and on May 1, 1940, many came to celebrate the dedication of this bronze statue. At that time, the Democratic Party and most white citizens celebrated the life and legacy of Benjamin Tillman, and few thought twice about the propriety of erecting a statue to Tillman on the grounds of the state capital. Though troubling to many today, Tillman's statue continues to overlook the city--a reminder of the state's past that some wish to eliminate. Others believe it would be wrongheaded to sanitize the past by removing this reminder of the state's troubled history and hope to add markers that offer historical context. Other residents hope to replace the statue with one of a civil rights leader or other prominent South Carolinian. 

Benjamin Tillman Statue: South Carolina Statehouse

The present South Carolina State House is the state's third capitol building and was completed in 1903. Construction of the first South Carolina State House actually predates the state and was also located in Charleston. Construction of that building began in June of 1753 and the first meeting of the South Carolina Assembly occurred three years later. The interior of the colonial capitol of South Carolina was not finished until the 1760s. Located on the northwest corner of Broad and Meeting Streets, it was made of brick covered with strucco, and had a central pavilion with four composite-order columns. When the building burned down in 1788, reconstruction began immediately but that new building would serve as the Charleston County Courthouse as a decision had already been made in 1786 to construct a new state capitol. Work on the second state capitol building began in 1786 and that building was located at the corner of Senate and Richardson (Main Street today). That building was completed and served the first legislative session in 1790. This second State House was made of wood with stuccoed brick at the base, and had offices on the ground floor with legislative halls on the second. Although it was a new building, it deteriorated quickly due to its poor construction, requiring the legislature to make numerous appropriations for repairs throughout the 1840s. In 1849, Governor Whitemarsh B. Seabrook became concerned not only with the cost of maintaining the building, but also with the poor conditions in which official records and documents were being stored on the ground floor. The General Assembly authorized the construction of a third, new capitol building, requiring that a fireproof building be constructed adjacent to the statehouse for archival storage and to serve as a “basement story” wing of the new capitol building if necessary. Construction began on this building in 1851, and by 1854, the General Assembly approved $50,000 to complete the new fireproof building. However owing to design flaws, budget issues, the Civil War, and political disagreements in the second half of the 19th century, construction lasted until 1903. The first architect on the project was Peter Hjalmar Hammarskold, but after the legislative commission overseeing the construction discovered structural flaws in the foundation created under his supervision, he was dismissed in June of 1854. Hammarskold’s work had to be dismantled, not only setting building completion back, but also causing a loss of $72,267 to the state. Hammarskold was replaced by George E. Walker, who also was dismissed after only eight months after officials declared he suffered from “temperamental outbursts, political ineptitude, and managerial shortcomings.” Work finally moved quickly on the State House when Walker was replaced with Baltimore architect John R. Niernsee, who officially began work in 1855. Under Niernsee, 375-500 men were part of the construction effort which began with cutting and hauling stones from a quarry near the Congaree River. Sixty percent of these men were enslaved African Americans, and many of the other laborers were Irish immigrants, By 1860, $1,240,063 had been put into the building under Niernsee. By 1861, the exterior walls were nearly complete, but the building had no roof or interior finishes. The Civil War brought work to a standstill. On February 17, 1865, General William T. Sherman and the United States army captured the city. Fires set both by retreating Confederates and advancing United States soldiers spread throughout the city and the former State House was burned to the ground. The new and incomplete structure that now serves as the state capitol was an easy target for Union cannoneers. The unfinished building was fired upon from the west bank of the Congaree River, and today, six bronze stars mark where the shells damaged the granite walls. Although the new building was spared from the fires, the building materials stored at the site were not. Around $700,000 worth of materials intended for the legislative halls and lobby were destroyed. For a few years following the war, former Confederate leaders were disfranchised which led to the first and only African American majority state legislature in the history of the United States in 1869. During these years, a temporary roof and interior finishes were installed in the building. Work on the permanent roof and interior resumed in 1885, but by that time, Niernsee’s health was failing and he only completed drafts of his final construction plans before his death on June 7, 1885. Niernsee’s former partner, J. Crawford Nielson was hired to complete the legislative halls, but once again, disputes also led to Nielson’s dismissal. Niernsee’s son, Frank McHenry Niernsee, took control in 1888, installing galvanized metal ceilings, fireproof floors, cast-iron staircases, galleries, and balconies. By the fall of 1890, the interior was complete, and Frank Niernsee requested $75,000 to begin work on the north portico. When the legislature instead only appropriated $4,500 to him, he ended his work on the State House in 1891. Frank P. Milburn finished the exterior with $175,000 approved by the General Assembly, adding porticos and a dome with 44,000 pounds of copper between 1901 and 1903. When the State House was officially completed in 1903, it's cost had increased to around $3,540,000 and the process of construction had taken over half a century. The completed structure was reflects the Neo-Classical style which can be seen in many other state capitols and government buildings. The structure is made of native blue granite from the Congaree Quarry two miles from the site. Due to respect for historic design and because of financial issues, the legislature rejected proposals to enlarge the building in the 1910s, in 1946, and once again in 1995. Instead, the building saw minor alterations throughout the 20th century such as the remodeling of the Senate in 1913, the House in 1937, the governor’s office in 1966, the installation of air conditioning from 1959-1960, and the renovation of the lobby in 1962. The first full-scale renovation began in 1992, totaling a cost of $51,530,000 upon its completion in 1998. New mechanical systems were installed, the interior was refurbished, the building was made handicapped-accessible and compliant with current fire and safety codes, and a seismic protection system was installed in the case of an earthquake such as the one that devasted Charleston in 1886. On June 5, 1970 the South Carolina State House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and on May 11, 1976, designated a National Historic Landmark.

Constructed in phases starting before the Civil War and completed in 1903, the South Carolina State House included the work of six different architects as the project stretched over half of the 19th century due to financial challenges and political disagreements. Work began on the structure in 1851 and in the first ten years of construction, most of the work was done by enslaved men. Construction stopped during the Civil War and this building was fired upon by United States artillerymen while the former State House was burned to the ground. Bronze stars mark the locations where the building's granite base was damaged during the war. The incomplete building was once again the seat of government following the Civil War, an era plagued by violence and fraud as the state's plantation owners sought to maintain political and economic control by any means. For a short time, the building was home to a biracial Republican Party that attempted to reconstruct the state until they were met by violence at the hands of white supremacists. In 1869, the building housed the only African American majority state legislature in the history of the United States. By the time the building was completed in 1903, numerous setbacks had resulted in a total expenditure of $3.54 million. In 1970, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1976 it was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

South Carolina State House

The Spanish-American War Veterans Monument was erected in Columbia, South Carolina in 1941 and was meant to serve as a reminder of how the United States had once again been united for a victory during the war, after the Civil War had divided the nation. Because of the unity it formed, the Spanish-American War is only second to the Civil War as the most memorialized military conflict on State House grounds, despite South Carolina sending fewer than 1,000 soldiers into the war. The army in South Carolina was largely involved in raising volunteer regiments, as well as hosting military camps. In Columbia, Camp Fornance became the headquarters for the Third Brigade of the Second Division of the Second Army Corps. Soldiers from Camp Fornance served in both Cuba and the Philippines. There were several other camps in Columbia during the Spanish-American War, such as Camp Ellerbe, Camp Dewey, also known as Geiger and Fuller, Camp Fitzhugh Lee, and Camp Prospect, among others. Those camps typically served primarily as mustering camps, meant to assemble and prepare troops for battle. Over 10 weeks, Spain and the United States fought in the Caribbean and Pacific in 1898, marking the first military action in which southerners and northerners in America had fought together since before the Civil War. The battle resulted in American victory, in which the United States acquired the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. In a 1932 meeting, South Carolina’s Spanish-American War veterans proposed to have the memorial statue built. During the toast, it was stated that the war had “united the United States, and wiped out the divisions left by the Confederate war,” (1). The group of the United Spanish War Veterans raised around half the funds for the statue, $1,500, which was matched by the State Legislature. Other funds were contributed by the City of Columbia. In total, the monument cost $4,200, and was installed on October 22, 1941. The Spanish-American War Veterans Monument was designed by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, making it the only monument designed by a female artist on the State House grounds. Cast by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, the Department of South Carolina War Veterans erected a bronze cast of “The Hiker,” a statue found throughout the country on Spanish-American War monuments. It features a full-length figure of a uniformed Spanish-American War infantryman on a square pedestal with a three-tiered base, holding a rifle horizontally. The soldier has an open shirt with rolled sleeves, baggy pants, and high leather boots, meant to represent the informal uniform designed for combat in tropical locations. The plaques surrounding the base of the monument read: <blockquote>[West Plaque]:</blockquote><blockquote>Spanish War Veterans Insignia</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>[South Plaque]:</blockquote><blockquote>South Carolina Troops</blockquote><blockquote>in the Spanish-American War</blockquote><blockquote>First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry</blockquote><blockquote>Second South Carolina Volunteer Infantry</blockquote><blockquote>Anderson's Battery Heavy Artillery</blockquote><blockquote>South Carolina Naval Militia</blockquote><blockquote> —————</blockquote><blockquote>South Carolinians who volunteered for</blockquote><blockquote>The Yellow Fever Test in Cuba</blockquote><blockquote>were honored by the United States Congress</blockquote><blockquote>with a special Gold Medal and</blockquote><blockquote>a Lifetime Pension</blockquote><blockquote>Tech. Sgt. Levi E. Folk, Newberry</blockquote><blockquote>Pvt. James L. Hannerberry, Orangeburg</blockquote><blockquote>Pvt. Charles G. Sontag, Columbia</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>[East Plaque]:</blockquote><blockquote>Erected by</blockquote><blockquote>the State of South Carolina</blockquote><blockquote>and her citizens to honor the</blockquote><blockquote>memory of her sons who served</blockquote><blockquote>in the War with Spain,</blockquote><blockquote>The Philippine Insurrection and</blockquote><blockquote>The China Relief Expedition</blockquote><blockquote>1898-1902</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>Dedicated October 22nd, 1941</blockquote><blockquote>by the Department of South Carolina</blockquote><blockquote>United Spanish War Veterans</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>[North Plaque]:</blockquote><blockquote>Remember the Maine</blockquote><blockquote>—————</blockquote><blockquote>"Fire when you are ready Griddey."</blockquote><blockquote>Dewey - at Manilla, U.S.S. Olympia</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>"Don't cheer boys,</blockquote><blockquote>the poor devils are dying."</blockquote><blockquote>Capt. Phillips U.S.S. Texas</blockquote><blockquote>at Santiago</blockquote>

In 1941, the Spanish-American War Veterans Monument was erected in Columbia, South Carolina as a memorial for the soldiers who served during the 1898 war, reuniting the United States after it had become divided due to the Civil War. Despite South Carolina sending fewer than 1,000 soldiers into the war, it was the first battle since before the Civil War in which northerners and southerners fought together. Designed by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, it is the only monument designed by a female artist on State House grounds. The bronze statue represents a cast of “The Hiker,” a common statue found on Spanish-American War monuments throughout the United States.

Spanish-American War Veterans Monument

The Battleship Maine Memorial in Columbia, South Carolina was moved to the location and installed on October 22, 1931, and displays an actual gun from the U.S.S. Maine that was sunken in 1898, prompting the start of the Spanish-American War. During that time, Cuba was a Spanish colony. As rebels fought to win their independence from colonial rule, many Americans supported their goal of freedom. On January 24, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine left Florida and sailed toward Havana, Cuba. Because riots had broken out on the island, the battleship remained docked at Havana Harbor for three weeks, with no sailors permitted to go ashore under command of Captain Charles D. Sigsbee. For those three weeks, the ship acted as a peacekeeping influence. On February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine was suddenly destroyed in an explosion while still docked at the harbor, killing 260-266 officers and sailors. After a month in Cuba, a board of inquiry delivered the verdict that a mine had detonated under the ship, although no blame was placed for the mine. Because of this, the reason for the explosion is still questionable, though some experts believe it was an accident. Newspapers printed the cry “Remember the Maine!” and on April 25, America declared war against Spain. By May 1898, President William McKinley appointed South Carolina Civil War veteran Major General Matthew Calbraith Butler commander of the volunteer forces in the Spanish-American War. Around 1,000 markers were made from pieces recovered from the U.S.S. Maine, which was recovered during salvage operations in 1898 and 1912, and distributed throughout the country. Before its explosion, the battleship was 324 feet by 57 feet by 22 feet and weighed 6,682 tons. It had a 12-inch belt with 8-inch turrets, 3-inch decks, and a 10-inch conning tower. It also had two vertical, triple expansion engines, allowing it to go a speed of 17 knots, and held a crew of 374 people. It was constructed in 1895 as a battleship. After the war and excavations of its remains, the City of Columbia acquired the gun for the Battleship Maine Memorial in 1910. It was originally erected in 1913 in Irwin Park, before being moved to its current location on State House grounds on October 22, 1931. The inscription on the plaque reads: <blockquote>This gun came off the Battleship Maine</blockquote><blockquote>The Sinking of the Maine resulted in the Spanish American War</blockquote><blockquote>1898</blockquote>

The Battleship Maine Memorial was moved to State House grounds in Columbia, South Carolina in 1931, and features a gun from the famous vessel. An explosion caused the U.S.S. Maine to sink on February 15, 1898, and although the cause was unknown this event prompted the beginning of the Spanish-American War. The battleship was originally built in 1895 and left Florida for Havana, Cuba on January 24, 1898, as a symbol of American support for the rebels who were fighting for independence from Spain. Shortly after the ship arrived at Havana Harbor, it suddenly exploded resulting in the death of over 260 men and provoking a national outcry for vengeance. The United States declared war against Spain on April 25. There is still speculation about what caused the explosion, but many experts believe it was an accident and this has been confirmed by dive teams that investigated the wreckage in the late 20th century. Initial inquiries after the incident reported that the explosion was caused by a mine under the ship. With no way to prove or disprove the cause of the explosion, those who favored going to war seized on the sinking of the Maine to make an emotional appeal to arms while those who opposed the war found themselves on the defensive.  

Battleship Maine Memorial

The South Carolina Supreme Court building is located across the street from the South Carolina State House, where the Supreme Court was located before it moved here in 1971. The Post Office moved to another location in 1966 and that is when the state purchased the the building. During the coming years, the old building was modified, including the construction of the courtroom. The building underwent renovations once more in 1991. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The building also includes the Supreme Court Library, which is open to the public and houses more than 40,000 volumes of law-related materials including form books, treatises and law journals, and federal and regional reporters. It is the second-largest public legal research collection in the country (the first is the in the USC Law Library).

This stately building houses the South Carolina Supreme Court. Built in 1921, it first operated as a United States Post Office, which until 1966. The building is a good example of Neoclassical architecture. Notable features include a portico with ten large Doric columns, three arched entryways with fanlights, arched windows, and two decorative plaques beside the words "Supreme Court of South Carolina." 

South Carolina Supreme Court

First Presbyterian was established on June 4, 1795. The congregation first met in the State House and then in the South Carolina College Chapel, which was a small wooden building located on the church grounds. The congregation was officially incorporated in 1813 and, apparently, won ownership of the property by drawing lots with an Episcopal congregation. Another interesting fact is that the graveyard was shared with the Episcopalians until this point. One half belonged to each congregation but First Presbyterian acquired the other half. The first church building was built in 1814 and it is now known as Jackson Hall. As already noted, the present sanctuary was built in 1853. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.A number of notable figures are buried in the graveyard. These include Henry W. DeSaussure, the first director of the U.S. Mint and U.S. Senator; the parents of President Woodrow Wilson; Jonathan Maxcy, the first president of South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina); and Ann Pamela Cunningham, the founder of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Association.

Founded in 1795, First Presbyterian Church is home to the oldest congregation in the city. The church building was constructed in 1853 and is a striking example of English Gothic architecture. It features a reddish-brown stucco exterior, shouldered buttresses topped with pinnacles, arched stained-glass windows, and battlements along the top of the exterior walls. The most impressive feature is the spire, which reaches a height of 188 feet. The church grounds include a few other buildings as well as a graveyard.



First Presbyterian Church

First Baptist ChurchThe congregation was organized in 1809 and built a wood-frame church in 1811 at a different location. There were 13 original members, nine were white and four were African American. The original building, what is now Boyce Chapel, was built in 1859 and designed in the Greek Revival style. It features a red-brick exterior, a large portico with Tuscans columns supporting a large pediment, and arched windows. A number of changes were made to the building in 1941.Convention of December 17, 1860In the decades leading up to the Civil War, tensions between southern slave states and northern free states were increasing. The country was still expanding in the 1800s and disputes centered around whether slavery would expand to new states and territories. After the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which resulted in the U.S. acquiring much of what is now the western part of the county, this debate came to a head. The Compromise of 1850 diffused the situation but in the end it was only temporary. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 further inflamed these tensions. The election of President Abraham Lincoln convinced many southerners that secession was the only option to maintain the institution of slavery. South Carolina was the first to state to make this sentiment official. The legislature called for a convention to be held at First Church to debate and vote to secede. The vote was unanimous: 159-0. The convention met for only one day as the city was experiencing an outbreak of smallpox. It reconvened on December 20 in Charleston and the Ordinance of Secession was adopted and signed, making the decision to secede official. It served as a catalyst for the Gulf states states to follow suit (Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee did not secede until after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861). During the war, Union troops did not burn First Church down. Apparently the church's sexton told them that the site of secession was held at another church, which the troops did destroy.

On December 17, 1860 following the election of President Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina held an official convention in this church and voted unanimously secede from the United States. The state house at the time was not large enough to hold all of the delegates so First Baptist Church was chosen because it could accommodate all of the delegates. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Landmark in 1973. A new church addition was built in 1992 and since then worship services have been held there. The original church was renamed as the James Petigru Boyce Chapel at that time and is currently used for weddings and offices.

Site of Secession - First Baptist Church

The Chesnut Cottage entertained such prolific characters in American history as the president of the C.S.A, Jefferson Davis and his staff during the Civil War. As the signpost in front of the cottage states, "President Davis addressed the citizens of Columbia from the front steps of this cottage." This landmark was not only home to an incredibly influential female socialite, but it also has huge historical significance as it witnessed some of the most trying times in American history. The cottage itself was built in the mid-1850's and added to the National Register of Historic Places over a century later in 1971. It still appears as it did when the Chesnut's lived there. The Chesnut's were lucky to be spared any damage to their property from General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea" that moved straight through Columbia. The home features a 1 1/2 story structure with what is considered a "classical revival" style frame, a columned porch leading to the front door, and five rooms available for guests to stay in. The Chesnut Cottage prides itself in serving their guests with several different amenities and historically authentic antiques. Probably the most notable event that took place at the Chesnut Cottage was in 1864 when President Jefferson Davis visited General James and Mary Chesnut where he delivered a speech on the front porch steps. 'Mr. Davis sat out in our piazza... Some little boys strolling by called out, "Come here and look; there is a man on Mrs. Chesnut's porch who looks just like Jeff Davis on the postage stamps." People began to gather at once on the street. The President then went in... Colonel McLean came to inform us that a great crowd had gathered and they were coming to ask the President to speak to them... An immense crowd it was- men, women, and children... The President's hand was nearly shaken off.' Knowing that the President of the C.S.A visited the Chesnut Cottage on this occasion gives great insight into how influential the Chesnut's were to the Confederacy. One of Mary Chesnut's most timeless contributions was her diary. Her diary was officially published in 1905 and again in 1949 but received poor feedback. Then in 1981,Yale University historian C. Vann Woodward submitted his own revisions and scholarly commentary on the diary. Mary's diary has since then become an essential primary source in the study of the Civil War and the role of women in the 19th century.In Chesnut's entries that span from the Civil War's inception in 1861 to its devastating end in 1865, Chesnut's brilliancy flowed from pen to paper as she contemplated the burning issues of the day. Some of the issues mentioned included slavery. It was clear from several of Mary's diary entries that she did not support slavery in any way, despite her husband's status as a large landowner with a number of slaves on the property. Even though she was a true Southerner, she wrote plenty about her pity for the men and women who were unjustly enslaved. She also touched on women's rights, her negative views of the war, but she focused mainly on her life as an aristocrat. She even displayed some of her creative talents as she included a few works of poetry and prose. Although her stances were not common among Southern women, Chesnut displayed some incredibly thought provoking and perceptive views into southern life in the latter half of the 19th century.

The Chesnut Cottage Bed and Breakfast has hosted countless visitors in the capital of South Carolina for nearly forty years, taking them back in time a century and a half to when the Civil War swept through the nation. During those war-torn years, the Chesnut Cottage was home to Mary Boykin Chesnut, now one of the most important writers in women's history, and her husband James Chesnut Jr. who was a brigadier general in the Confederate army and closely connected with President Jefferson Davis. General James Chesnut was a very prominent figure in South Carolina because he was the only surviving son of one of the wealthiest slaveowners of the time. Also, he joined the United States Senate two decades into his marriage with Mary and remained a politician until his death in 1885. Mary died a year later at their plantation in Camden, SC where she and her husband spent most of their years together. The Chesnut Cottage in Columbia was nevertheless considered home during the most influential years of their lives and of American history. 

The Chesnut Cottage Bed & Breakfast

By 2005 the house was in need of major repairs. Restoration efforts,&nbsp;led by Historic Columbia, began that year and lasted until 2014. New exhibit spaces and other new features were added to enhance the learning experience for visitors.&nbsp;

Future president, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), spent a few of his teenage years in this house from 1871-1874. His father, Rev. Joseph Ruggles Wilson, had it built since he believed that he and his family would reside there permanently; this was not case as he received a job in North Carolina. Despite the Wilson's having lived in the house for a few years, it is of course historically significant and in fact became a house museum in 1933. It was designed by Andrew Jackson downing in the cottage architectural style and is one of the best examples of this style in the state. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Woodrow Wilson Family Home

The house is also known for its association with the Presbyterian&nbsp;Synod of South Carolina and Georgia. Around 1830,&nbsp;Sarah sold the house to the synod and it&nbsp;eventually became part of the campus of the Columbia Theological Seminary, which was founded in 1831. The seminary closed in 1960 and the house was acquired by Historic Columbia, which later opened the house as a museum in 1967.&nbsp;

Robert Mills was arguably America's foremost architect in the 19th century, known for designing numerous government buildings, churches, bridges and houses. His most famous work is the Washington Monument. The Robert Mills House is one of the examples of homes he designed left and is the best one among them. Mills designed it for a man named Ainsley Hall and his wife, Sarah and began construction in the early 1820s. Unfortunately, Ainsley passed away before its completion. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973 for its association with Mills. The house features decorative arts from the 19th century as well as exhibit space for changing exhibitions.

Robert Mills House and Gardens

The Columbia Museum of Art first opened in March 1950 on Bull
and Senate Street in the historic Taylor House.&nbsp;
The museum originally opened as an art, natural history, science museum,
and planetarium, but soon began to focus only on art and disassociated with the
natural history and science portions of the museum.&nbsp; After acquiring a European collection of
Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art pieces, the museum then expanded its
collection by acquiring American and Asian pieces.&nbsp;&nbsp;The museum moved to downtown Columbia in 1998
to a much larger space that included 20,000 square feet of gallery space,
enough to house the museum’s collection of 7,000 objects, as well as art
studies, an auditorium, and museum shop.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Columbia Museum of Art is home to an extensive collection of American, European, Asian, Modern/Contemporary, and the works of Vogel, with a special collection of renaissance and Baroque art donated by the Kress Foundation. One of the highlights of the Kress portion of the collection is a nativity scene painted by the master Florentine artist, Boticelli. This masterpiece is the only Boticelli fresco outside of Italy. 

Columbia Museum of Art

Architect Julius Harder designed the Palmetto, which was constructed between 1912 and 1913. Harder was a partner of the architecture firm Israels and Harder, which was located in New York. A local contractor, John J. Cain, was selected to build the Palmetto. The exterior limestone and terra cotta facade covers a substructure of steel and concrete. With these materials, the building was designed to be fireproof. The building also boasted three fast elevators that, contrary to today's fire safety rules, were also touted as life-saving features. The Palmetto Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its architecture. It was saved from demolition around that time.

Reaching a height of 215 feet (15 stories), the Palmetto Building was the tallest building in the Columbia when it was built in 1913. Erected by the Palmetto National Bank, its Gothic Revival architecture was and still is striking. Its exterior features an elaborate limestone and terra cotta facade whose main decorative element is the palmetto tree motif. Other notable features include foliated pilasters and entablatures, large windows on the 13th and 14 floors with Italian Gothic arches, decorative Tudor arches with palmetto trees, and an ornate cornice at the top of the building. The Palmetto became the most distinguished office building in the city's business district. It is now a Sheraton hotel.

Palmetto Building

In 1820, large numbers of Irish workers arrived in Columbia to dig the city's canals. As a result, it was apparent that a Catholic church was needed to serve them. Irish priest Fr. James Wallace was sent to Columbia in 1821 to establish a congregation and build a church, which was erected in 1824. By the early 1900s, it was too small so the congregation built the present, and much larger, church in 1909 on the same site of the previous one. Architect Frank P. Milburn, who designed the Capitol dome and many other buildings in the state and Southeast, designed the church.In 1987, Pope John Paul II held an audience at St. Peter's before going to the Williams-Brice Stadium at the University of South Carolina to lead a prayer service. The chair and kneeler he used is still inside the church. St. Peter's added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The congregation offers 50-minute tours to visitors.

The Basilica of St. Peter is home to the oldest Roman Catholic congregation in the central region of South Carolina and serves as the "mother church" to several congregations in Georgia and the Carolinas. This church is the congregation's second edifice and was built in 1909 with notable elements of Gothic architecture. The Basilica's most prominent feature is the tower, which reaches a height of 163 feet. Other notable features include stained glass windows with stone tracery, terra cotta and stone trim, and the main entrance with pointed arches. The Vatican designated the church as a minor basilica in 2018. 

Basilica of St. Peter 

House of Peace SynagogueThe local Jewish community can trace its beginnings to the early 1800s. They built a synagogue that was later destroyed by Union troops at the end of the Civil War. After the war, the Jewish population declined but Eastern European Jews started arriving in Columbia towards the end of the century. As a result of religious differences, in 1907 a group of Orthodox Jews formed a new congregation and built a synagogue in 1910. A fire destroyed it in 1915 and a new building, the present structure, was built. In the coming years, the congregation continued to grow and it became apparent by 1928 that a new building was needed. The congregation moved to the third synagogue when it was completed in 1935. The present home of the congregation was constructed in 1973 and is located at 5827 North Trenholm Road.The Big Apple ClubPrecisely how the former synagogue became a dance club is unclear, but it quickly became popular among local African American youth. The Big Apple dance, which combined African American folk dancing and modern swing dancing, was created around 1935-1936. When dancing the Big Apple, people form a circle and dance, usually in a coordinated fashion, and move in a counterclockwise direction. It appears that white fans of the dance called it the "Big Apple" after seeing it in person. Word of the dance spread around the country, including in New York City where groups performed it to sold-out shows. By 1938, the Big Apple was possibly the most popular type of dance in the country. However, this lasted until around 1941.After the club closed, a number of businesses occupied the building. It was relocated to its current location in the early 1980s and later bought by the Historic Columbia Foundation in 1993. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Although relatively small and unassuming, this attractive building has important ties to the local Jewish and African-American communities. It was built in 1915 as a Jewish temple called the House of Peace Synagogue for the Beth Shalom Congregation. Then in 1935, it became an African-American dance venue called the Big Apple Club. It was here that a new type of dance called the "Big Apple" was created. The dance quickly spread across the country and inspired big band leader Tommy Dorsey to write a song called "The Big Apple," which was very popular in September of 1937. It appears that the building is available to rent as an event space.

The Big Apple

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;With the help of&nbsp;Oliver Howard, the head of the Freedman's Bureau Department of Refugees, Freedom, and Abandoned Lands, the Bureau, along with the New York Society were able begin construction on the Howard Public School in 1867. Before the no person or organization with&nbsp;means had taken interest in the education of&nbsp;Black&nbsp;children in the Columbia area, but after&nbsp;$10,000 spent and 2 years on construction the Howard School was finished. The school had&nbsp;been&nbsp;built in the shape of an "H" so as to honor Oliver Howard farther.&nbsp;Around 600&nbsp;students attended the first year and the school become a fixture in the&nbsp;African-American community of Columbia.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Like many Black schools built during reconstruction, the school slowly deteriorated after a lack of continued funding.&nbsp;Debates in 1881 and 1882 produced less than favorable to outcomes for education. After&nbsp;heavy debate pertaining to the extent of&nbsp;South Carolina state money that should&nbsp;be used to benefit African American schools, the Howard School was refurbished in 1883 by money&nbsp;put aside by the state to cater to the education of &nbsp;Black children.&nbsp;It was decided at this time&nbsp;that Black children would attend Howard and the white children in the area would attend a school close by, Male Academy on Laurel Street and Female Academy, on Washington Street. Despite the misleading titles the schools were not separated by sex, but Male Academy served older students while Female younger. The white schools employed 11 teachers.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Black&nbsp;school would employ 8.&nbsp;Chosen for its central location, on the corner of Lincoln and Plain streets,&nbsp;and its history as a place of education for&nbsp;African Americans the Howard School was reopened. Intially, there was a huge influx of students because it was the only school of its kind in the area.&nbsp;Superintendent David B. Johnson was&nbsp;forced lease out classrooms from the neighboring Columbia Academy. By the end of 1883 the school had 350 students.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As typical of any school at the time curriculum was based on developing language, math, history&nbsp;and other technical skills and classes grew in difficulty over time. In the first grade students were taught their numbers 1-100 and were expected to be able to the recite them backwards and forwards, and count them up and down in increments. By second they were reading and writing and were familiar with the local South Carolina landscape. Third grade called for&nbsp;geography of the world&nbsp;and&nbsp;Fourth money, both American and English currencies.&nbsp;History was&nbsp;saved for the&nbsp;Sixth grade students. All grades learned music; boys were taught the drums, and girls the piano. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Howard school would continue to develop its&nbsp;reputation as the&nbsp;premier place for the education of Black children in the Columbia community until 1916 when it was closed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Established in 1869 by the Freedman's Bureau after the Civil War, the Howard Public School served African American children in Columbia, South Carolina. It was the only school for Black children in the area until 1916, catering to 800 young adults of various grades. Named after Oliver Howard, the head of the Freedman's Bureau Department of Refugees, Freedom, and Abandoned Lands, the school was a fixture in the African American community, even after its change of location in 1924. 

Howard Public School 

Memorial Park was dedicated in November of 1986 as a memorial to Vietnam veterans, Holocaust Survivors/Liberators, Pearl Harbor, the Korean War, and World War II. &nbsp;The park honors South Carolinians who served in these theaters of war. The park also includes the South Carolina Holocaust Monument which was designed by Irwan Hyman. &nbsp;This beautiful granite monument lists the names of holocaust survivors and liberators who reside in South Carolina. The monument features maps of where the multiple concentration camps were located across Europe.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Memorial Park presently has monuments honoring the USS Columbia warship and those that served with her during WWII; the China-Burma-India Theater Veterans of WWII; casualties of the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, who were from South Carolina; and the State Vietnam War Veterans.&nbsp;The Vietnam Memorial Monument features two freestanding granite walls inscribed with the names of South Carolinians killed or lost in action in Vietnam.&nbsp;This memorial to Vietnam veterans is the largest of its type outside of Washington D.C. and includes the 980 names of soldiers from South Carolina who lost their lives in Vietnam. There are plans for future expansion of the current Korean War Memorial.&nbsp; Along with the various monuments and memorials, the park well-kept paths and greenery make the park an excellent place to spend an afternoon outdoors.&nbsp;&nbsp;The park has a water fountain next to the Vietnam Memorial. There is a creek running through the park with a small bridge over it, as well as a plethora of natural wildlife residing within the park.

Memorial Park is located at the corner of Gadsden and Hampton streets in downtown Columbia. The park covers four acres and was dedicated in 1986. Memorial Park includes a variety of monuments and historic markers that commemorate the service and experience of the state's veterans.

Memorial Park

New additions to the museum are the planetarium and 4D theater. The planetarium offers astronomy shows as well as films about art, history and natural history. It also plays&nbsp;laser shows set to music. The 4D theater, the only permanent one in the state, presents 3D films with air blasts, water sprays, and vibrating seats.&nbsp;

The South Carolina State Museum opened in 1988 and is the state's biggest museum, featuring 70,000 objects in its collection. Its scope is wide, covering South Carolina's cultural natural and military history, as well as art, science and technology. The museum's exhibits are divided in these areas. The cultural exhibits depict 14,000 years of human habitation in the state. The natural history exhibits feature specimens that date back hundreds of millions of years and highlights include a giant replica shark, a dinosaur and various South Carolina habitats. The science and technology exhibits contain numerous items such as farm equipment, tools, cars and planes. Perhaps the most intriguing part of science collection is the world class collection of American-made telescopes, with the oldest made in 1730. The art collection holds artwork created by South Carolina artists and includes portraiture, decorative arts and contemporary works.

Downtown Walking Tour Columbia, South Carolina

South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information