Cultural Event Report (Museum)
HUM 112 World Culture II
September 11, 2011

South Carolina State Museum

301 Gervais Street

Columbia, South Carolina

Friday, September 9, 2011
Cultural Event Report (Museum)
The South Carolina State Museum tells the story of South Carolina through its many exhibits and programs. The museum shares many cultural history, natural history, science, technology, and art that display an interconnection to its tourists. The museum is located in the Columbia, South Carolina downtown area in a large building that holds many historical items and accommodates large groups of people. The museum’s elevator has a capacity that holds about 75 people, which is larger than the average elevator. There are four floors of historical pieces for viewing. The museum exhibits some of South Carolina most tangible and historical collection of the early 18th, 19th and 20th centuries including an area dedicated to the civic war, African American (slavery) and first discovered equipment such as, various communication equipment, audio, television, and electricity.
The African American area exhibits some inspiring cultural displays. During my visit to the South Carolina State Museum on Friday, September 9, 2011, my most memorable African America exhibit was the African America Custom Funeral display. The museum displayed a hearse that African American used to carry a coffin for the decease. The black box hearse had a glass view on both sides revealing a wooden box coffin inside. The Americans used horses to pull the hearse as it move through the funeral procession. The black box hearse is very different from the hearse used in today. Today, a station wagon type vehicle carries the coffin instead of the box frame hearse pulled by horses. Figure 1.1 and 1.2 illustrate the black box hearse displayed at the South Carolina State Museum.

Figure 1.1: African America Funeral Hearse:

Figure 1.2: African America Funeral Hearse:

The South Carolina State Museum exhibited the Best Friend of Charleston Train. The train looked life like and displayed statues that looked real. There were two men statues on the train in the positions that there were working. One man was placing wood into an area on the train to help it run and to make steam and the other statue was in a position conducting the train. The train also exhibited goods on it that displayed the products that the train was hauling. The deep vivid colors of the train and the other items shown on the train made it very attractive. The life like statue of two men, one working seems so real and heartfelt. You could easily connect to the Best Charleston Train and relate to the culture of its time. There was a button available to push if you wanted to hear the sound of the train.
In 1830, On Christmas Day, the “Best Friend of Charleston” became the first steam locomotive in the US to establish regularly scheduled passenger service. The train hauled goods for conducting business. Although the Best Friend of Charleston had a short life, its facts and trivia were known for the following: traveling at 30 mph top speed and 12 mph average speed with the cars loaded. operating with a six horsepower engine. size was 3.75 tons weight w/o wood and water. Currently, there are two full size replicas of the Best Friend Charleston Train that exist today: one on display at the SC State Museum in Columbia and one currently on loan to Norfolk Southern for display in their Atlanta headquarters.
Figure 1.3 shows a picture of the Best Friend of Charleston Train.

Figure 1.3: The Best Friend of Charleston Train:

The South Carolina State Museum exhibited various kinds of communication pieces. The communication pieces ranged from the 18th century to the 20th century. On display was all types and of televisions, video equipment audio equipment and telephone equipment that were discovered during the 18th to the 20th century. The televisions were one of my favorite pieces in the communication area. The museum exhibited all types and sizes of color and black and white televisions. Some were in small like slim boxes with a small screen. I could not believe the museum was actually playing the different televisions and showing shows like the Vick Dan Dyke Show and I love Lucy. These shows were some the first shows to air when television and audio first connected together to perform a television show. With television and audio combined, the first advertisement proclaimed its first airing in the 1940s. Although I visited the museum alone, learning about the communication discovered in the early century and seeming the television shows playing on these old televisions made my visit to the museum overwhelming. Technology has really changed and come a long way. To know that RCA had some part in the discovery of television in the earlier years was amazing, as RCA still exists today. Figure 1.4 illustrates Televisions and figure 1.5 illustrates a Dumont Television airing a show from the 18th to the 20th century.

Figure 1.4: Discovered Television 18th to 20th Century:

Figure 1.5: Dumont Discovered Television in early Century:

Upon arriving at the South Carolina State Museum, I was a little excited. As I approached the building, my mind began to wonder to my earlier years when I visited the museum with my elementary school. After entering the museum, I became more excited and could not wait to start exploring. Once I entered the first exhibited floor, I became overwhelmed. The first exhibited floor displayed the African America culture and Historical pieces. This really surprised me as I though the museum only had paintings, statues, and civic war pieces. The African America culture area displayed some awesome pieces. The African America Custom Funeral pieces were interested and eye catching. This area exhibited how funerals took place during the earlier years and the pieces used to carry out the funeral. Some of the information displayed stated that a woman had to observe herself for two years after her husband’s death. The woman had to wear black dresses for one year and gray clothing with lace in the second year. The black box hearse with a window on both sides shared some great history on the African American traditional funeral during its time. The Best Friend of Charleston Train made history for is use to haul goods and as one of the first train to do so. The communication area exhibited great pieces of the 18th to 20th century’s communication. These pieces are necessary to see as it has every type of communication that appealed in the earlier years. My overall visit to the South Carolina State Museum has been overwhelming I really enjoyed the exhibits and all the culture pieces displayed. I learned a lot about the communication, audio and electricity that were first discovered. I do believe I will plan another visit to the South Carolina State Museum to revisit the exhibits again and to take a tour of the areas I may have missed. The visit to the South Carolina State Museum has been a memorable and rewarding trip for me.