Kershaw County Historical Society

04/12/2026

Join the Kershaw County Historical Society for an upcoming program:

Program: "They Walked Where We Walk"
🗓 Sunday, April 26, 2026
⏰ 3:00 p.m.
📍 Liberty Hall, Revolutionary War Visitor Center, Camden

This special program, “If Quaker Cemetery stones could speak...”, will feature profiles of varied residents of the past and will be presented by Michael Hartis and Ken DuBose.

The program is open to the public, and there will also be drawings for gift surprises.

KCHS members should also watch their email for details about a Members-Only Drop-In and Tour of historic Kamschatka coming later on May 24.

For membership information, visit www.kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org or email [email protected].

The Kershaw County Historical Society invites members and guests to an upcoming program exploring the stories of local residents of the past through the lens of Quaker Cemetery. They Walked Where W…

12/06/2025

You’re Invited! Join the Kershaw County Historical Society for a special Dec. 14 Program Features a Special Premiere!

📅 Sunday, December 14 at 3 p.m.
📍 Liberty Hall, Revolutionary War Visitor Center
212 Broad Street, Camden, SC

🎬 Premiere: First Public Screening - An interview filmed inside the Bonds Conway House with Elsie Goins, sharing her insights on gathering family history.

Also featured on the program: Hope Cooper, Ken DuBose, Cary Briggs, and Tony Scully—each has worked over the years on preservation and research tied to the house and its powerful history.

📚 Bonus! Some vintage KCHS books will be gifted at the program!

This is a meaningful opportunity to connect with local history, community voices, and ongoing preservation efforts. We’d love to see you there! [ https://kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org/2025/12/04/enlivening-the-past-now-for-tomorrow ]

Seated, Bonds Conway descendant Elsie Goins, along with her daughter Felicia and members of KCHS and Historic Camden, watches as the Bonds Conway House is moved to its new site in 2022. The Kershaw…

09/27/2025

You're Invited: A "Ground-breaking" Journey Into Kershaw County's Ancient Past!

Join the Kershaw County Historical Society for a special presentation:
🗓 Sunday, October 5, 2025
🕒 3:00 PM
📍 Liberty Hall – KC Revolutionary War Visitor Center
212 Broad Street, Camden, SC

We're going way back — 10,000 years ago — to explore what life looked like in Kershaw County at the end of the Ice Age!

Local historian and KCHS board member Michael Hartis will share new research and archaeological discoveries from a site right here in our county. You may know Michael for his fine woodworking at Boykin Furniture or his collection of rare historical documents — but this event will reveal a whole new side of his historical work.

Don’t miss this fascinating look at our region’s earliest known inhabitants — early Native American hunter-gatherers — and the untold stories hidden beneath our feet.

Free and open to the public!

For more details, visit our website: www.kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org

09/27/2025

We had a full house for our last program on the Vietnam War - read more about it on our website: https://kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org/2025/08/20/a-full-house-for-vietnam-war-program

07/04/2025

🇬🇧✈️ In a special transatlantic moment, Lon and Donna Outen, representing the Kershaw County Historical Society, were in London recently to present a beautifully bound history of Camden, South Carolina to our friends at the Camden History Society (UK)! 📚🤝

Why is this especially meaningful today, July 4th? 🇺🇸 Because Camden, SC—named in 1768—was the first place in the world to be called Camden, decades before the iconic Camden Town in London. 🇬🇧

This exchange celebrates a shared history and a new friendship between the oldest and youngest Camdens in the world. From the World Capital of Steeplechasing to the bustling borough in NW1, we're thrilled to see these connections grow! 🌍✨

Read more about the exchange here: https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/which-was-the-first-place-to-be-called-camden-history-society-forms-special-relationship

06/12/2025

📣 Join us for a powerful program, Bringing Home the Vietnam War, on Sunday, June 15 at 3 p.m. in Liberty Hall at the Revolutionary War Visitor Center, 212 Broad Street, Camden.

Glen Inabinet—Vietnam veteran, retired Camden High history teacher, and former KCHS president—will speak and share photos from his new book, Mekong Memoirs. Inabinet, also co-author of A History of Kershaw County, SC and The World of Jak Smyrl, brings history to life with vivid recollections and photographs from his time in Vietnam, complemented by letters he wrote home during a deeply complex era in American history.

This event is free and open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase and have signed all three of Inabinet’s books. Already own a copy? Bring it along for signing.

Books are available online (including Amazon), at the Camden Archives, and at Books-on-Broad. Mekong Memoirs is also available directly from the publisher McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers at mcfarlandbooks.com.

01/20/2025

Announcing a Happy Birthday History Fair on January 26

Join Us for the Kershaw County Historical Society’s Grand Happy-Birthday History Fair on Sunday, January 26, 2025, 3 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 212 Broad Street, Camden!

Looking Backward and Forward. Now 70 years old, the Society begins its 71 st year with fun and vigor! Enjoy birthday cake. Circulate around the room to converse with local folks about their history interests on display.

The History Fair presents exhibits overseen by their local creators.

Exhibits include: A table of Kershaw County high school yearbooks of various years. Silent screen video “Our Home Town” 1940s faces and places. Postcards. Larry Doby items. Holly Hedge. Hobkirk Inn. Campbell Street corridor. Old publicity, directories, items from yesteryear businesses. Wateree River Bridge, Ferry, and navigation. Native American artifacts locally found. Northern KC’s turpentining tools. Bethune and area pottery. Boylan-Haven-Mather Academy. George Washington’s 1791 visit here. Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill. Camden-London.

Persons displaying exhibits: Dr. Ernestyne Adams, Davie Beard, Michael Hartis, John Miller, Sarah Murray, Ally Mrozowski, Peggy Ogburn, Lon Outen, Pam & Ben Schreiner, Kat Spadacenta, and others.

Birthday Presents go to members attending and a Drawing for more fun!

Some Books for Purchase will be offered at meeting. Thank you for 2025 dues already paid. (These may be paid at meeting if desired.)

🎨 Camden High 1940 yearbook art by student Jack (“Jak”) Smyrl.

[ https://kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org/2025/01/15/you-are-invited-to-a-grand-happy-birthday-history-fair ]

04/10/2024

ANNOUNCING April 20 Artifact Identification 🗓️

Ongoing SATURDAY APRIL 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Camden Archives and Museum (1314 Broad Street, Camden) -- The Kershaw County Historical Society and the Camden Archives and Museum will present CHRIS JUDGE, Assistant Director of Native American Studies (USC-Lancaster) for an on-the-spot Session of NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACT IDENTIFICATION 🔍.

Attendees are asked to bring the points, pottery, and other objects that you have or have found and have them identified.

No charge. No program being given. No value appraisals. No sales. Just conversations about artifacts you bring in for mutual appreciation and mutual learning about ancient lifestyles in our area. You take your artifacts home with you, having gained information and having helped broaden understanding of our local history and its people.

Sign in on arriving at the Archives and await a turn to show your findings and talk with Chris Judge! 📝💬

04/08/2024

Top Awards! Two prestigious state-wide awards were recently presented to two Kershaw County recipients in a recognition ceremony during the opening session of the three-day Landmark Conference of the Confederation of South Carolina Local Historical Societies March 23, meeting this year in Orangeburg, SC.

The Kershaw County Historical Society made nominations and provided credentials, and selections were made by state judges. CSCLHS president Brenda Barrato made the presentation of awards, warmly applauded by the audience of conference attendees.

The Kershaw County Revolutionary War Visitor Center in Camden was honored with the “Award of Excellence” for its outstanding achievement of goals from its opening to present time. Confidence was expressed in its continued impact in the community and beyond. Rickie Good, the Center’s director who was part of its planning stages while she was working at the Camden Archives and Museum, proudly accepted the award plaque and provided brief remarks.

Tony Scully was presented the Robert N. Pryor Volunteer Service Award, citing his exceptional and extended efforts in writing and staging an original play, “The Battle of Camden Play,” amid a variety of his volunteer community service activities over the years. “You might wonder,” he said on accepting the award, “why the South Carolina Battlefield Trust asked me to write a play commemorating the Battle of Camden, a tragic defeat.” His remarks brought attention to the losses of those “willing to sacrifice their lives so that a democracy we call America could be born.”

04/06/2024

Remembering Charles Baxley
(25 March 1952-30 March 2024)

The Kershaw County Historical Society honors the memory of our former president, board member, and faithful friend Charles Baxley for decades of positive spirit, tireless energy, and full commitment to the goals of this Society and the historical community at large while he inspired solid scholarship, collegiality, attention to detail, and wide inclusion. He will be greatly missed and long remembered.

Send a message to learn more