RECORDING HISTORY
PHS graduate in charge of history in Charleston, S.C. Her office recently received a $15,000 grant
The Charleston, S.C., area has played an important role in the nation’s history ever since its inception from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War.
And a Porterville High graduate is in charge of maintaining that history. And her office recently received a $15,000 grant to make that history more accessible to the public.
Haley Doty Vaden, a 1996 Porterville High graduate, is the manager of the Charleston County Records Center. The facility, which is closed to the public, hasn’t had a website — until now.
But the center has 20,000 boxes of historical information, including court files from the 1700s and marriage registers from the 1800s.
The center serves as a resource for Charleston County departments. But the facility will now be able to make its documents publicly accessible.
A $15,000 grant was awarded to the facility to develop archives in which records will be digitized, making them available online. People will be able to find historic records with a quick search.
The grant will also allow the center to fund ways to preserve the historical records. The project will also allow more public access to the history of such groups as Native Americans and African Americans.
Only about 5 percent of the records will be made available online as most aren’t considered historic and contain confidential information. The project is part of a national effort to celebrate America’s founding, which is just beginning.
“This will make it easier for school kids who are learning about the history of Charleston to pull up court records from the 1800s,” Vaden told The Post and Courier. “It would provide greater access to our history.”
About many of the records written in cursive, Vaden told The Post and Courier, “We see beautiful cursive that you don’t
see anymore.
Vaden said the grant will help protect documents that have possibly been damaged by such problems as insects or humidity. And digitizing documents may make some of them that are hard to read more legible.
One of Vaden’s priorities in the project will be a 300-page collection that contains an 1868 map of Bunker Hill Plantation.
“This is definitely one I’ve marked as being a highlight of our project to digitize,” Vaden told The Post and Courier.
Historic information on well-known people from Charleston such as activists Septima Poinsette Clark and Esau Clark could also be made available. Jenkins worked with Clark to increase literacy and voter registration.
There are documents that point out the wealth of 18th century plantation owners made possible by African Americans through slavery.
There’s also information on Thomas Lynch Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In 1783, he instructed 20,000 pounds ($31.9 million in today’s value) to be left for his wife and 20,000 pounds be left to his mother. He gave his wife slaves to serve inside the house and also gave her one third of the sale of his other slaves.
The project is being done in anticipation of the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. The project is part of a national effort by the National Endowment for the Humanities called “A More Perfect Union: NEH Special Initiative Advancing Civic Education and Commemorating the Nation’s 250th Anniversary.”
In Charleston County, records staff will receive training on the assessment of historical records and how to digitize them.
Now, people who want to view historic documents in Charleston County must contact the county. But the project’s new digital program will allow people to search for the information they want online and possibly find it without having to contact the county.