Historic Columbia Announces April 2018 Events

COLUMBIA, S.C., Thursday, March 29, 2018 – April 2018 marks the return of Historic Columbia’s popular Moonlight Cemetery & Secrets from the Grave Tours to accompany monthly tours, including a special Saturday Stroll at Arsenal Hill and Dollar Sunday at the Mann-Simons Site. Also returning in April, Historic Columbia and the University of South Carolina’s History Center will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment with Reconstruction’s Legacy: The History and Contemporary Significance of the Fourteenth Amendment, a public symposium featuring leading legal scholars and historians.

CALENDAR OF PROGRAMS & EVENTS:

 

Closed for Easter

Sunday, April 1 | All House Museums

In observance of Easter, all Historic Columbia house museums will be closed on Sunday, April 1.

 

Homeschool Friday: Columbia in Wartimes

Friday, April 6 | 10 – 11:30 a.m. | The Gift Shop at Robert Mills

Homeschool students are invited to learn what life was like in Columbia during wartime. Homeschool students will examine what occurred on the Homefront from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam, learn what Columbians did to help and to protest, as well the various war efforts throughout history. Homeschool Friday is $5 for members, $6 for non-members and $8 for both members and non-members day-of. The group will meet at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills, located at 1616 Blanding Street. Visit HistoricColumbia.org, call (803) 252-1770 x. 26 or email [email protected] to make reservations.

 

Second Sunday Stroll | University Hill

Sunday, April 8 | 2 – 3:30 p.m. | Tour begins at Inn at USC

Explore University Hill with Historic Columbia from 2 – 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 8 during the monthly Second Sunday Stroll presented by Seed Architecture. This guided walking tour will highlight Columbia’s University Hill neighborhood and explore how it was shaped and defined by urban renewal and the University of South Carolina’s eastward expansion. The tour will meet at the Inn at USC located at 1619 Pendleton Street. Second Sunday Stroll is free for members and $8/adult and $5/youth for non-members. Space is limited. To purchase tickets, visitHistoricColumbia.org, email [email protected] or call (803) 252-1770 x 23.

Moonlight Cemetery & Secrets from the Grave Tours

Thursday, April 12 | 7:30, 8, and 8:30 pm | Elmwood Cemetery

Historic Columbia’s popular Cemetery Tours series returns on Thursday, April 12. Grab your flashlight and tour one of Columbia’s oldest cemeteries and discover centuries of stories etched in stone on the markers and headstones found within Elmwood Cemetery’s acres of carefully planned grounds. The perfect after-work activity, Historic Columbia’s Cemetery Tours are an event the whole family can enjoy.

Choose from two tour options: “Secrets from the Grave Tours” and “Moonlight Cemetery Tours.” Tickets are $8/adult and $4/youth for members and $12/adult and $6/youth for non-members. To purchase tickets, visit HistoricColumbia.org, email [email protected] or call (803) 252-1770 x 23.

  • Secrets from the Grave Tours, 7:30 p.m. –Study the symbols found on many of the markers and headstones in the historic Elmwood Cemetery.
  • Moonlight Cemetery Tours, 8 & 8:30 p.m. – Tour Elmwood Cemetery and discuss the lives, burials, cemetery plots and tombstones of families and prominent citizens from Columbia's 19th and 20th centuries.

 

Photo caption (HC_Cemetery Tours) – Historic Columbia’s popular Cemetery Tours series returns on Thursday, April 12. Get your tickets at HistoricColumbia.org.

Saturday Stroll | Arsenal Hill

Saturday, April 14

Learn about Arsenal Hill’s history and architecture on a guided walking tour with Historic Columbia from 2 – 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. Named for the military academy established here in 1842, Arsenal Hill rests within the northwest section of Columbia’s original two-mile-by-two-mile city limits. Traditionally, this 30-block area has been bounded by Upper (today Elmwood Avenue), Assembly, Taylor and Huger streets. As the highest point within the capital city’s downtown, with impressive vistas to the south and west, Arsenal Hill became a desirable residential area for white elites during the antebellum era and then for middle- and working-class African Americans during the later 19th and 20th centuries. The tour will meet at Arsenal Hill Community Center, located at 1800 Lincoln Street. The Second Sunday Stroll series has become so popular that Historic Columbia is expanding it to include a few Saturdays in 2018. Second Sunday and Saturday Strolls are presented by Seed Architecture and are free for Historic Columbia members and $8/adult and $5/youth for non-members. Space is limited. To purchase tickets, visit HistoricColumbia.org, email [email protected] or call 803-252-1770 x 23.

Photo caption (HC_Saturday Stroll_Arenal Hill Skyline) – Learn about Arsenal Hill’s history and architecture on a guided walking tour on April 14. Get your tickets at HistoricColumbia.org.

 

Dollar Sunday | Mann-Simons Site

Sunday, April 15 | 1 – 5 p.m. | 1403 Richland Street

Every third Sunday of the month, residents of Richland and Lexington counties are invited to tour of one of Historic Columbia’s house museums for just $1 on Dollar Sunday! On Sunday, April 15, visit the exhibits at the Mann-Simons Site, the home to the same African-American family for nearly 130 years. The house will be open for guests to tour at their own pace, and guides will be available to answer any questions. Tickets can be purchased at the Mann-Simons Site, located at 1403 Richland Street. General admission prices apply for any house tours after the first.

Reconstruction’s Legacy: The History and Contemporary Significance of the Fourteenth Amendment

Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20

As immigration and the state of race relations headline national conversations, some of the country’s top legal scholars and historians will explore the meaning of American citizenship in the context of the 14th Amendment during a two-day public symposium. Presented by Historic Columbia and the University of South Carolina’s History Center, “Reconstruction’s Legacy: The History and Contemporary Significance of the Fourteenth Amendment,” will be held April 19 and 20 at Chappelle Auditorium and the South Carolina State Museum. It is the continuation of a series of public events over the past two years marking the 150th anniversary of the Reconstruction era.

Columbia native Randall Kennedy, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the 1980s, will deliver the symposium’s keynote address on Thursday, April 19 in the historic Chappelle Auditorium at Allen University. Thursday’s keynote will take place at the Chappelle Auditorium from 6 – 7 p.m. and is free.

Friday’s symposium will feature panel discussions led by legal professionals and historians from South Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David Levering Lewis will deliver a keynote address during a luncheon. Lewis, a history professor at New York University, was recognized with the top writing honor for his two-volume biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. Friday’s symposium will take place at the South Carolina State Museum from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. and is $40 per person.

To learn more and to purchase tickets, visit HistoricColumbia.org/Reconstruction, call (803) 252-1770 x 23 or email [email protected].

Photo caption (HC_Reconstruction Symposium) – Explore the meaning of American citizenship in the context of the 14th Amendment during a two-day public symposium on April 19-20. Image courtesy of Cecil Williams.

 

HOUSE TOURS:             

 

Historic House Museum Tours
Tuesday - Saturday10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Sunday1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Historic Columbia’s historic house museum tours offer a peek into the past! Tour the Robert Mills House & Gardens, Mann-Simons Site or the Woodrow Wilson Family Home to learn more about Columbia's history. Tours are free for members, $8 for adults, $5 youth (ages 6-17) and free for children under 5. For a more detailed tour schedule, visit historiccolumbia.org.

Please note: Due to rehabilitative work, the Hampton-Preston Mansion is closed for public tours. Construction permitting, the gardens may close at times to the public. The site will reopen for tours on Saturday, May 12 at a public event. Learn more about the Hampton-Preston rehabilitative project.

Group Tours

Historic Columbia is happy to arrange a private guided tour groups of 10 or more with advance registration. Bus tours are available. To schedule a group tour, call 803.252.1770 x 23 or email [email protected].

 

About Historic Columbia:

In November 1961, a small group of individuals intent on saving the Ainsley Hall House from demolition officially incorporated as the Historic Columbia Foundation. Over the next five decades the organization, which was founded on the premise of preservation and education, would take on the stewardship of seven historic properties in Richland County. Today, the organization serves as a model for local preservation efforts and interpretation of local history. Visit historiccolumbia.org or find us on TwitterFacebookInstagram or YouTube for more details.


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