AIC 53rd Annual Meeting

In the spring of 2022, Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center began a two-year Donnelley Foundation grant in collaboration with the Sol Legare descendant settlement community and the Clemson University Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. Through the conservation of the community’s cultural heritage and training sessions on collections management and emergency preparedness for disasters, the grant’s overarching aim was to encourage and support the community in the sharing of their own history. What resulted was a partnership that enabled both the community and the university organizations to appreciate both the preservation of cultural heritage and its purpose in sharing diverse historic narratives in a more holistic way.




The Sol Legare community is a freedmen settlement community located in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. The community was established after the Civil War by a population of recently emancipated people who had previously cultivated the plantation landscapes located on the sea islands of Sol Legare and James Island. These people purchased former plantation land, established their own thriving and successful farming practices, and cultivated a community of freedmen and descendants whose purpose was to support and serve each other. In the early 20th century, Sol Legare farmers established a fraternal and mutual aid society connected to the International Farmers’ Liberty Union Justice organization. This society supported farmers in purchasing seed for growing crops, provided educational resources, and raised money to cover expenses like funeral costs for community members. Between 1912 - 1915, members funded and constructed the Seashore Farmers’ Lodge No. 767 building, which served as a cultural and economic center for the community and a meeting place for the fraternal organization. The lodge became a symbol within the community as a place of support, refuge, and resilience during the Jim Crow era in South Carolina.




The lodge has retained its original purpose as a meeting space, and now additionally serves as a museum that displays community-donated objects related to the history of the people and landscapes of Sol Legare and James Island. The museum artifacts include farming and agricultural tools from the 19th and 20th centuries, musical instruments used for communication and celebration on the island, and salvaged furniture from community buildings which no longer exist. Additionally, they maintain the original 1912 Lodge charter, as well as other photographs and documents telling the story of the people who lived and worked on the island from the 18th century to the present.




The grant partnership between the Sol Legare community and Clemson University allowed conservators and preservationists to learn from community leaders about the significance of the lodge and its collection. It also allowed for ties to be formed between the tangible artifacts undergoing conservation treatment and the intangible histories behind those objects. In turn, those same community members, after attending the training sessions on collections care and disaster preparedness and recovery, now feel empowered to continue in their roles as caretakers of their own cultural heritage and the narrators of their own history.