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 The South Carolina Historical Society is located in theFireproof Building. | |
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| Formation | 1855 |
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| Type | Historical Society |
| Headquarters | Robert Mills Fireproof Building 100 Meeting Street Charleston, South Carolina |
| Website | South Carolina Historical Society |
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TheSouth Carolina Historical Society is a private,non-profit organization founded in 1855 to preserveSouth Carolina'srich historical legacy. The SCHS is the state's oldest and largest privaterepository of books, letters, journals, maps, drawings, and photographs aboutSouth Carolina's history.
The SCHS is housed in theFireproof Building located at 100 Meeting Street inCharleston, South Carolina. South CarolinianRobert Mills designed the Fireproof Building in 1822 to protect public records. It is the first fireproof structure in the nation built specifically to protect documents. The building is in thePalladian style withDoricporticoes facing north and south. A central three-story oval stairwell withcantilevered stone stairs is lit by skylights located in thecupola.
Mills was the first professionally trained architect born in theUnited States. He was a federal architect under PresidentAndrew Jackson and designer of many important buildings inWashington, D.C., including theWashington Monument. HisFireproof Building was named aNational Historic Landmark in 1973, and major renovations were completed in 2002.
In 2016-7 the building underwent a major renovation, intended to modernize all systems, provide a secure, climate-controlled environment for the storage of historic documents, and to provide both an events venue and a modern museum space. In the summer of 2018 the Historical Society will open completely revamped museum of the history of South Carolina and of the Fireproof Building itself.[1]
The SCHS began to publish material onSouth Carolina history the year following its founding, in 1856, with three volumes of its collections prior to theCivil War. The SCHS now produces two publications, theSouth Carolina Historical Magazine and theCarologue.The South Carolina Historical Magazine, first published in 1900, is the onlyscholarly periodical entirely devoted to South Carolina history. In 1985 the Society began publication of theCarologue, a quarterly general-interest magazine of articles, illustrations, and photographs on state history, genealogy, preservation, and Society news.
The SCHS collections contain records from the pre-colonial period to the present; a wide variety of personal documents; diaries; records of scholarly research; and plantation, business, and church records. Also in the collection are maps and plats;architectural drawings; genealogical charts; over 30,000 photographs and prints; and 50,000 books, pamphlets, and serials. The SCHS also owns one of the nation's largest collections ofConfederate imprints.
The South Carolina Historical Society does not receive local, state, or federal funding.
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