The Titanic's Stunning Artifacts Continue to Amaze!
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Summer 2012 Volume XXVII No. 3 THE TITANIC’S STUNNING ARTIFACTS CONTINUE to AMAZE! Contents Notes From Our Director, William Calloway What is Really Important! Much too often, I get so wrapped up in the myriad tasks that my Volume XXVII • Number 3 responsibilities demand that I sometimes forget to appreciate what is at the core of the State Museum – EDUCATION. Issues concerning the SUMMER 2012 state legislature, budget hearings, exhibit contracts, financial audits, New Exhibitions .................... 3 board meetings, community presentations, marketing planning, revenue projections, cost controls, info-tech problems, visitor satisfaction, facility use Programs and Events ........... 5 concerns and program development seem to take up most of every day. In addition to those issues, we are busy with the final design submission on Museum News ................ ...... 8 our “Windows to New Worlds” renovation project, where detail coordination Courtesy of Kellogg’s Cereal City USA Cereal Courtesy of Kellogg’s Foundation News ................. 10 between designers, vendors and contractors is crucial to maximizing the positive impact of the project. So when I got the following note from Tom Falvey, our director of collections South Carolina State Museum and education, I reflected with satisfaction about the meaningful impact the State Museum has when we CommIssIoN deliver the core essence of our mission – Gray T. Culbreath, Chairman Billy Cave, At Large “The South Carolina State Museum provides Educational Environments that Lola C. Early, At Large Entertain, Inspire Imagination and Creativity, and Enrich the Lives of Visitors.” Lou S. Nolan, District No. 2 Dr. Amon Martin, District No. 3 I had the good, and unexpected, fortune of leading a group of 5th graders from Whale Branch Dr. Alexander Patrick, District No. 4 Col. Claude Eichelberger, District No. 5 Middle School (Beaufort) through the 4th floor galleries yesterday. The group was scheduled for a Jeremy Wilson, District No. 6 Science Theater class at noon, but decided that they’d rather skip the class and see the museum. What stood out to me as I led some of them on a tour was how much a group can benefit from the museum and how much students and teachers can learn about their own region of the state. IMAGES, the newsletter of the Friends Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition of the South Carolina State Museum, is Students asked a string of great questions. Teachers reminded students that this was their own published quarterly by the South Carolina history, because many of them were in fact Gullah. It was great to see everyone identify with objects Thousands visit to see the original artifacts from the historic ocean liner! Museum Foundation. The Museum opened that relate to the place where they live, and with work they are doing in school. Oct. 29, 1988, as a multidisciplinary facility Paul Matheny reminded me that these kids rarely have access to this kind of educational experience. which tells the story of South Carolina’s art, natural history, science/technology This group got on buses at 6 a.m. to be here for a 9:30 class, then had a docent-led tour of the 3rd floor, and cultural history. All material printed in visited the store and spent about a half an hour on the 4th floor. They then got back on the bus for IMAGES is copyrighted 2012 by the South a three-hour drive back to Beaufort, eating their lunches on the way home. If you look at that day Carolina State Museum and may not be reprinted without permission. from the teachers’ and students’ perspectives, it is very clear that our job is to provide the very best experience we can offer. Copy: Tut Underwood, Willie Calloway, Celeste Wszola, Tom Falvey I had a great time with the group and was reminded of the value of consistent engagement in the Design: Majken C. Blackwell work of the museum’s mission. It also was clear that it takes a lot of people from every department Editor: Tut Underwood to make that happen. Photography: Susan Dugan unless otherwise noted Thanks, Tom The experience these 5th graders had will linger with them for some time. This current fiscal year, more than 70,000 school children will have visited the museum with their classes. More than 23,000 of those VISIT US AT: students also chose to go through the BODY WORLDS Vital blockbuster exhibit. These students are given the opportunity to be taught a lesson or presented with a program from one of our educators or our wonderful southcarolinastatemuseum.org volunteer docents. The State Museum offers guided tours, StarLab portable planetarium shows, Science Theater classes, and more than 30 lessons available to support the educational standards in our schools. Additionally, the students get to experience the great history and stories of our state as they explore all four floors of exhibits and theaters. From prehistoric sharks to NASA astronauts, South Carolina’s diverse history comes alive to these students when they visit our State Museum. Thank you, Tom, for reminding me once again about what is really important here at the museum. Also thanks to all our wonderful staff and volunteers who support these educational efforts on a daily basis! I hope you will be able to come out to the museum this summer and once again experience for yourself all that the State Museum has to offer, including this summer’s blockbuster exhibit – TITANIC:The Artifact Exhibition. 2 South Carolina State Museum titanic Notes From Our Director, William Calloway What is Really Important! Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition Thousands visit to see the original artifacts from the historic ocean liner! Time tames many activities and desires, but the South Carolina State Museum’s new blockbuster exhibit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is proving that time has done nothing to diminish the public’s fascination with the historic maritime disaster. TICKETS Thousands of visitors thrilled to the elegant Ship’s story in its initial four weeks, double the number of the Available at scmuseum.org or previous year’s blockbuster. Including those who attended the museum but not Titanic, attendance still on-site the day of your visit. was up 20 percent over the same period in 2011. “We’re excited to see the great reaction of the public to this fantastic Exhibition,” said Director of Education MEMBER PUBLIC Tom Falvey. “But what’s really satisfying is to hear the enthusiasm people have for the subject.” Many people have commented that they are amateur “historians” when it comes to the Titanic story, Adult $8 $18 as they have collected books, watched films and otherwise have become engrossed in the facts of the Senior $7 $15 building, outfitting and eventual sinking of the historic vessel. Child $6 $12 Among the more than 125 authentic artifacts recovered from the ocean’s floor in the North Atlantic are a satin bookmark; a postcard; and a leather wallet, which illustrates that leather preserved many artifacts, Tickets include a full day admission especially paper, because the leather’s tanning process used a chemical that repelled the microorganisms to the State Museum. that corroded both metal and wood. Children 2 and under are free. Other paper artifacts that were preserved include sheet music and a stamped letter. Group and military discounts Also to be seen are bottles which once contained wine (there were 1500 on Titanic), beer (20,000 bottles are available. were carried for passengers) and Crème de Menthe, as well as a chandelier from the First Class section, To purchase member tickets online crushed by the 6,000-pounds-per-square-inch pressure at the bottom of the sea. enter Member Code: whitestar Unaffected by this pressure, however, was a stack of au gratin dishes. Though the wooden box containing them was long ago eaten away, the dishes remained intact, and settled neatly into the sand as the case around them gradually disappeared, as if they were stacked that way intentionally. The porcelain dishes can be seen in the exhibit exactly as they were found, lined up neatly on the sandy sea bed. “We’re looking forward to a big summer with Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition as the headliner,” said Falvey. tItaNIC eVeNts “With many people enjoying cruises at this time of year, the ocean theme – as well as the romance of the Tea Party, Senior Movie voyage until its tragic collision with the iceberg that ended it – should be high on people’s minds and lists and Steerage Party! of things to take in this summer.” See page 5 for details Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition can be seen at the State Museum in Columbia through Sept. 3. South Carolina State Museum 3 Exhibitions The Life and Times of Congressman Robert smalls Now open After a notable three-year, 12-city tour that has presented the remarkable story of Robert Smalls to more than 65,000 people, The Life and Times of Congressman Robert Smalls is open at the State Museum . During the Civil War, Smalls, a 23-year-old slave, made history when he stole the Confederate ship CSS Planter and steamed his way to freedom, turning the ship over to Federal forces. “Tango,” 1972 by Philip Whitley. Polychrome steel. He was later elected to the South Carolina legislature and U.S. Congress, where he wrote legislation creating the public school system in South Carolina and dedicating land for the Parris Island Naval Station. The Life and Times of Congressman Smalls can be seen on the fourth floor through Jan. 6, 2013. Programs A series of in-gallery experiences will accompany the exhibit The Life and Times of Robert Smalls. Check the museum’s Web site, southcarolinastatemuseum.org, for information on Robert Smalls programs for families Saturday during September! The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic Bull Street: Life Behind the Wall Sept.