Magnolia Gardens' History Fair

Event Details

The History Fair will showcase well-known organizations in education, religion, social services, the arts and tourism, including the Cannon Street YMCA, the oldest continuously operating Y in the United States. Magnolia will be joined by its Ashley River neighbor Drayton Hall under the banner of the Historic Ashley River Plantation District.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the public will have an opportunity to meet representatives of the historic groups. The event is designed for amateur and serious historians and children who want to touch the past. At 11:30 a.m., Wona Womalan will present traditional Guinean history and culture through authentic West African dancing, drumming and songs.
The History Fair will also be a time to show appreciation to South Carolina’s public and private school teachers and college and university faculty. Magnolia will offer free garden admission on July 1 to teachers and their immediate family. Valid identification is required.

The History Fair is free. Guests who purchase the $20 general admission to the gardens will be treated to special programming, including a storyteller, brick-making demonstration and access to a living history program. “Living History Through the Eyes of the Enslaved,” an outreach of the Slave Dwelling Project founded by Joseph McGill, Magnolia’s history consultant. Living History will present blacksmith and cooking demonstrations and storytellers. This part of the program will be staged at the former slave cabins.

On Friday night, June 30, join McGill for a sleepover in the former slave cabins at Magnolia. Sit around the camp fire as he discusses the need to preserve extant slave dwellings. To register for the sleepover contact McGill at [email protected]. Deadline to register is June 29. The sleepover is limited to 35 people.

Presenters during the Living History program and their subjects are:

Gilbert Walker, blacksmithing
Jerome Bias and Nicole Moore, outdoor cooking
Dontavius Williams, the Chronicles of Adam
Christine Mitchell, stories from the domestic slave trade
James Brown, the story of Civil War soldier Jack Cunningham
Historians Donald West and Joseph McGill, the Civil War

For more details, go to www.magnoliaplantation.com.