Avery Research Center Lowcountry oral histories

The Avery Research Center Lowcountry oral histories collection contains 56 oral history interviews arranged in six series according to the decade that the interviews were conducted. Most of the oral histories were conducted by Avery Research Center employees, but there are also a handful of oral histories that were done independently of the Avery Research Center and later donated that are included in this collection. Within each series, the oral histories are arranged alphabetically by last name. Greater detail about the contents of each oral history can be found at the file level abstract of each oral history interview. Each oral history, when available, includes a transcript and any supporting documentation like questions, notes, and interview release forms. Transcripts do not currently exist for every interview and work to create them is ongoing.

A wide range of topics are discussed in these oral histories representing the wide variety of life experiences found in the Lowcountry. Topics include music careers, sweetgrass basketry, organizing and activism, education, civil service, military service, life in Colleton County (Catholic Hill, Spring Hill, and Green Pond), Charleston County (Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, Drayton Hall Plantation, and McLeod Plantation), and Atlantic Beach, and passed-down stories from ancestors enslaved on Lowcountry plantations in Colleton County (Cypress Plantation and Muckle Grove Plantation/Myrtle Grove Plantation).

Series I: Oral History Interviews, 1976

Series II: Oral History Interviews, 1980-1987

Series III: Oral History Interviews, 1995-1997

Series IV: Oral History Interviews, 2000-2009

Series V: Oral History Interviews, 2014-2019

Series VI: Oral History Interviews, undated