The Charleston Museum

06/16/2026

Happy Pride Month Charleston! Pride is a time of celebration, but also a time of reflection for many LGBTQIA+ people. During the horrors of World War II, gay people of all ethnicities were targeted for extermination, alongside Jewish people and many others as the N***s imposed fascist rule. Triangles were assigned to the uniforms worn in the concentration camps, with “asocial” people assigned a black triangle, returning emigrants a green triangle, and Jewish prisoners overlapping triangles to form a Star of David. As you might guess from this image, anyone designated as a homosexual was assigned a pink triangle. As the Pride movement grew in the 1960s and 70s, and particularly as the 1980s movement addressed the AIDS crisis, activists began using the pink triangle as a symbol of hope – they had survived the extermination attempts of WWII, and would continue fighting for their rights. Today, the pink triangle, as well as its more modern counterpart, the rainbow triangle, can still be seen at Pride events.

Pride Pins
c. 2003 and c. 1990
Metal and colored enamel
Charleston, SC
Gift of Tomm G. Robinson, 2019

06/15/2026

The Charleston Museum, in partnership with the Japan-America Association of South Carolina, will host a fundraising event to support the restoration of the 1927 “Miss Saitama” friendship doll on July 23rd

06/13/2026

America 250 is just around the corner! From June 13 to September 20, the Charleston Museum will display an original account of the HMS Bristol, a 50-gun fourth-rate warship involved in the 1776 British assault on Sullivan’s Island. Read the full story for more details.
>>https://www.counton2.com/news/latest-news/a-rare-ship-diary-of-the-1776-british-attack-on-sullivans-island-debuts-in-the-charleston-museum/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WCBD_News_2

06/09/2026

This silver gorget is engraved with symbols including the Phrygian cap, a drum, a saber, crossed muskets with bayonets, and a pair of crossed lances with streamers. Below is a banner marked with the Latin phrase “LIBERTAS POTIOR VITA,” which translates, “Liberty is more important than life.” The gorget belonged to a captain of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment – but which one? Though it descended in the Blake family and ownership was attributed to John Blake (1752-1810), high resolution photography completed in 2025 revealed an inscription on the back with the name of Captain Thomas Lesesne (1754-1792). Swipe to see the inscription traced in red for clarity. Research is still ongoing, and you can see it for yourself on view now in Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783.

Gorget, c. 1779
Gift of Hulda Witte Mazyck, 1984

Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783 was made possible in part through a grant from the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission .

06/08/2026

The Charleston Museum will unveil a remarkable Revolutionary War document for the first time as part of its major special exhibition, Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775–1783, on view now through September 20, 2026

06/05/2026

Where can you see one of the first known renderings of the Declaration of Independence, a rare British regimental cartridge box, Revolutionary War muskets, swords, and shot, the exquisite blue silk shoes of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, and personal items used by George Washington? All this summer at The Charleston Museum. Celebrate America 250 with Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783.

Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783 was made possible in part through a grant from the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission .

06/04/2026

We were honored to provide a tour of the Museum’s Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783 exhibit to Rachel Galloway, the British Consul General, and Hayley Tshiyoyo, the Events and Engagement Manager for Scottish Government USA, and to highlight the many connections that Charleston and South Carolina had to England and Scotland on the eve of the Revolution. We are particularly grateful to the British Consul General’s office for their assistance in the loan of the logbook from the HMS Bristol, a Royal Navy warship that fought in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, which will be added to the exhibit next week.

Ringleaders of Rebellion: Charleston in Revolt, 1775-1783 was made possible in part through a grant from the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission .

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

https://www.palmettolifesc.com/video/2026/06/03/video-how-see-an-original-copy-declaration-independence-charleston/

06/03/2026

The Charleston Museum announced the return of Kid Tours every Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in June and July (more info below)