Charity

Charity, Charleston Museum, Charleston, SC

Charity was the statue that stood on the top of the old Charleston Orphan House. This is all that remains of her (framed in this shot by the hanging whale bones in the museum!) but the image below shows what the complete piece looked like.

Time to reproduce her. We need Charity to balance all the military related statues we have in the lowcountry.

Clearest image I can fine - from Shorpy

Charity & the Whale

Charleston Museum, Charleston, S.C.

The old whale skeleton hung in the original museum in Charleston and now hangs over the entry lobby in the current Charleston Museum. This particular whale washed up in the Charleston Harbor in 1880.

Walking up the steps to the upper level I noticed that the statue of Charity's face lined up nicely with the whale's belly.  The wooden statue in the museum is what is left of the original version of Charity that topped the Charleston Orphan House. When the building was demolished in 1952 the statue and fire bell crashed through the building and much of the statue was destroyed. Luckily they salvaged and preserved what was left and have her on display. Here is a link to the News & Courier article from 1952.

Charleston Orphan House, Charleston, S.C.