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

Charleston Museum - behind the scenes

Charleston Museum - hidden treasures, Charleston, SC  

I should be out for my morning walk but wanted to share these pictures before I bundle up and brave the chilly morning. I belong to a Charleston History facebook group and yesterday joined a "behind the scenes" tour of the Charleston Museum. What a treat! First of all it was a joy to put faces to names I've followed online, then it was a chance to get in behind all the closed "staff only" doors that forever tease me. Although housed in different locations through the years the museum was founded in 1773 so you can imagine the incredible assortment of items they have displayed and stored.

Every time a cabinet door was flung open to display shelves full of silver, china and fabrics there was a collective gasp of delight. Members of the group had historical family connections with many of the items and had bits of spicy personal history to add. I'll never look at the Charleston museum in the same way again. Thanks to everyone who helped organize the tour.

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.