Mission: In 1855 some of South Carolina's most distinguished citizens came together to record and preserve the past - for the sake of the future. Motivating them was the fear that if they did not act, South Carolina's rich historical legacy would be lost to future generations. They founded the South Carolina Historical Society, which today is the state's oldest and largest private repository of books, letters, journals, maps, drawings, and photographs about South Carolina history. The mandate of our founders remains our mission today: to collect information respecting every portion of our state, to preserve it, and when deemed advisable, to publish it. The Society's holdings are vast and grow constantly with the addition of materials from 200 years ago and from two weeks ago. The SC Historical Society opened a new museum at the Fire Proof Building in 2018 to exhibit 350 years of South Carolina History.  (Less)

The South Carolina Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1941, and donations are tax-deductible.