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StudySC – Know where you live.

Explore South Carolina through StudySC! Learn about your community, South Carolina history, and the people who have made a significant impact on the state and the world.

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Anna DeCosta Banks in a nurse uniform.

Anna DeCosta Banks

Charleston native, Anna DeCosta Banks, was the first head nurse at the Hospital and Training School for Nurses in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Vertamae Grosvenor holding a woven fan.

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor was a culinary anthropologist, griot, food writer, and broadcaster on public media.

A smiling Hal Jackson holding a phone.

Hal Jackson

Harold Baron Jackson was a disc jockey and radio personality who broke down racial barriers, becoming the first black host on a national broadcast network in the 1950s. 

Joel Roberts Poinsett portrait. Black and white.

Joel Roberts Poinsett

Joel Roberts Poinsett was a US Representative, the first US Minister to Mexico, and US Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren.

A small brick building is next to a large white building and two large brick buildings.

Edgefield County

The origin of the name Edgefield is not clear, although it is usually described as "fanciful." The county was formed in 1785 as part of the Ninety Six District.

A square brick building with three curved archways for the front door and windows.

Union County

Union County was named for the old Union Church, which served both the Presbyterian and Episcopal congregations in the area.

A light brown and cream building with a metal roof and two small brick chimneys

Orangeburg County

Orangeburg County and its county seat, Orangeburg, were named for William IV (1711-1751), Prince of Orange, the son-in-law of King George II.

A wooden building with a red rooftop.

Kershaw County

Kershaw County was named for Joseph Kershaw (1727-1791), an early settler.

South Carolina Facts

By Robert Henry Thurston, author. - "The Growth of the Steam-Engine. Part III: The Non-Condensing Engine, and its Application in the Locomotive." The Popular Science Monthly, Vol. XII, January 1878. Fig. 34, p. 270., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11039764

South Carolina Firsts

  • In 1526, Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón founded San Miguel de Guadalupe, the first white European settlement near present-day Georgetown. The Spanish settlement was unsuccessful and failed within a few months. 
  • The Stono Rebellion was not the first slave revolt in South Carolina. The enslaved Africans that came with the Spanish colonizers revolted in November 1526.

South Carolina Glossary

rows of green corn stalks.

cash crop

(noun) - a crop grown to be sold to other people, not to be used by the people who grew it