Charleston Museum

Programs: Curation of collections: the charleston museum's collections consist of the most comprehensive assemblage of historic south carolina cultural and scientific materials known, and many have national or international significance. They number over 297,000 lots and over 2. 4 million objects. Collecting focuses include archival materials, decorative arts, firearms, furniture, historical archaeology, clothing and other textiles, and natural history. They are overseen by a curatorial staff of eight professionals. Significant objects (over 6,000) are on display to the visiting public in exhibit galleries and the museum's two historic houses, while others are used extensively for research purposes. A digitization project is underway to electronically catalog collections, and segments of the collections database (totaling 11,000 objects) are available on the museum's website, where they can be accessed by researchers around the world.

exhibition, interpretation and facilities operations: through exhibition and interpretation of its collections, the charleston museum seeks to educate the general public about the natural and cultural history of the south carolina lowcountry. Staff do this through permanent and special temporary exhibitions at the main museum facility and by presenting tours of the museum's two national historic landmark houses, the heyward-washington house (c. 1772) and joseph manigault house (c. 1803). Permanent exhibits present a comprehensive overview of regional history, while temporary exhibits focus on diverse aspects of lowcountry heritage and feature rarely displayed artifacts. Together, these exhibits display over 6,000 objects from the collections. In 2017, the museum opened its new bunting natural history gallery, which provides a comprehensive overview of area natural history using fossils, casts, animal mounts, geologic examples and botany specimens from the museum's extensive collections. A major highlight of the gallery is a full skeleton of pelagornis sandersi, the world's largest known flying bird to have ever existed, cast from the original fossils in the museum's collections. Museum sites are open to the public 362 days each year.

educational programs: education programs for adults and children are a key component of the charleston museum's mission. The museum has traditionally placed great emphasis on children's education and routinely hosts school field trips from around the state. In the last three school years, all fourth graders from charleston county school district have visited the museum's heyward- washington house. Three full-time education department staff, assisted by a corps of part-time staff and volunteers, offer over twenty programs for school groups, including topics related to native americans, african american history, the american revolution, civil war, archaeology, paleontology, architecture, and historic crafts. Programs are designed to meet south carolina curriculum standards. The museum also presents educational summer camps, programs for home schoolers, and family events for parents to enjoy with their children. Adult programs include teacher recertification training, and public lectures, workshops, and specialized tours and walks.