True or False: Boston was the only city to stage a “tea party” protest in the years before the American Revolution.
False! Charleston had one, too! And the South Carolina “party” happened first!
If you don’t know that, you should certainly come to the 2024 Revolutionary War Day on Saturday, April 13, at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia. In fact, even if you did know it, you should come. You will inevitably learn something else you don’t know. Admission is free, and attendees will have full, free access to the museum during the event.
If you do come, your knowledge will be tested. One of the new activities this year – which is called the Charleston Tea Party – is a quiz that will challenge you to demonstrate what you know about how our nation got started.
But don’t worry. You won’t get thrown out if you fail. In fact, everyone wins a prize.
Here’s the full schedule, from events in the Education Room to ongoing displays and activities in the Atrium and the Congaree Room upstairs.
EDUCATION ROOM
- 10:00-11:00: Kid’s Play – Young people will participate in the staging of a play about Dicey Langston, who aided the Patriot cause by warning of a planned Loyalist attack on her South Carolina community. The play is by Kathy Hart.
- 11:30-12.30: Patriot Pirates: The Charleston Privateers – Curator of Education Joe Long knows a lot about the role that privateers played in freeing the new United States, which of course had no Navy. He’s given a lot of lectures on the subject. But this time he’ll tell the story with a twist – using pirate puppets.
- 12:45-1:15: SC250 Update – Bill Davies, vice chairman of the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission, will give an update on what’s happening to celebrate the role that our state – where more battles took place than anywhere else – played in the Revolution.
- 1:30-2:30: Enslaved Peoples – A presentation by Damon Fordham, an adjunct history professor at the Citadel. He is the author of three books, including “True Stories of Black South Carolina.”
ATRIUM
- SC250th – A display about the Sestercentennial events.
- Pomander balls – Make them and take the with you. What’s a pomander ball? Come and find out.
- Candle-making – Another make-and-take activity.
- Cannon crew – No, we won’t be firing it, but you’ll get close to a real cannon.
- Book Signing – A group of teens have written a book, “The Epic Story of America 1777-1779.” They’ll be on the scene to answer your questions.
CONGAREE ROOM
- Woodworking demonstration – The woodworker will be dressed in colonial garb and making useful things out of wood, with manual tools of the period.
- Touch table with a variety of replica objects from the period.
- Historic Games – No, kids did not have video games in the 1770s and ‘80s. But they made do with hoops and other such simple toys, and they enjoyed them.
- Charleston Tea Party – This is the test of Revolutionary knowledge mentioned above.
- Corn husk dolls – Again, you get to make them and take them.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the whole time, you will see members of the Palmetto Division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps and the Columbia High School Junior ROTC program. And to keep you fixed in the 18th century, there will be a town crier announcing events and speakers, while Zach Limehouse will stroll about playing music of the period.
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