Inventory of the Edith M. Dabbs Collection of Papers Relating to Saint Helena Island, S.C., 1791; 1860-1963

Collection Number 4285


Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Online Catalog Headings
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Items Separated
Related Collections
Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Creator
Dabbs, Edith M.
Title
Edith M. Dabbs Collection of Papers Relating to Saint Helena Island, S.C., 1791; 1860-1963
Call Number
4285
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
Items: 18
Linear Feet: 0.5
Abstract
Edith Mitchell Dabbs was born in 1906 in Dalzell, Sumter County, S.C. She married James McBride Dabbs in 1935, and, in 1937, settled at Rip Raps Plantation, the Dabbs family home just outside Sumter. She was active in documenting the history of Saint Helena Island, S.C., an interest stemming from her knowledge of Penn School, a school for African Americans that functioned on the Island between 1862 and 1948, with which both she and her husband were involved.
The collection includes a handwritten transcription of a letter, 1791, from Abigail Capers. Saint Helena Island, S.C., describing her life at Laurell Hill, an indigo plantation; a photocopy of a transcription of parts of a diary, 1862-1864, of Penn School founder Laura M. Towne (1825-1901), with discussions of African Americans on Saint Helena Island, the work of members of the Port Royal Experiment there, Union troops in the area, and other matters; photographs of drawings, probably 1860s, of buildings on Saint Helena Island; and other items relating to Penn School and to life on Saint Helena Island.

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Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions.
Alternate Form of Material
Photocopy of transcription of Laura M. Towne diary available on microfilm.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Edith M. Dabbs of Mayesville, S.C., in 1963, 1965, 1967, and 1975.
Processing Information
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, February 1988
Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, July 2007
Material in this collection was removed from the James McBride Dabbs Papers (#3816) in July 1981.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Edith M. Dabbs Collection of Papers Relating to Saint Helena Island, S.C. #4285, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

African Americans--Education--South Carolina--History.
African Americans--South Carolina--History.
African Americans--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
Buildings--South Carolina--Saint Helena Island.
Capers, Abigail.
Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
Dabbs, Edith M.
Diaries.
Education--South Carolina--History.
Freedmen--South Carolina.
Laurell Hill Plantation (Saint Helena Island, S.C.)
Penn School (Saint Helena Island, S.C.)
Plantations--South Carolina--History--18th century.
Port Royal (S.C.)--History.
Saint Helena Island (S.C.)--History.
Saint Helena Island (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
Sea Islands--Pictorial works.
Sea Islands--Social life and customs.
Sea Islands--Social conditions.
South Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
South Carolina--History--1865-
Towne, Laura Matilda, 1825-1901.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Occupied territories.
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Related Collections

James McBride Dabbs Papers (#3816)
Penn School Papers (#3615)
Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), interview with Edith M. Dabbs (G-0022)
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Biographical Note

Edith Mitchell Dabbs was born in 1906 in Dalzell, Sumter County, S.C. She married James McBride Dabbs in 1935, and, in 1937, settled at Rip Raps Plantation, the Dabbs family home just outside Sumter. She was active in documenting the history of Saint Helena Island, S.C., an interest stemming from her knowledge of Penn School, a school for African Americans that functioned on the Island between 1862 and 1948, with which both she and her husband were involved.

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Collection Overview

The collection assembled by Edith M. Dabbs includes a handwritten transcription of a letter, 1791, from Abigail Capers, Saint Helena Island, S.C., describing her life at Laurell Hill, an indigo plantation; a photocopy of a transcription of parts of a diary, 1862-1864, of Penn School founder Laura M. Towne (1825-1901), with discussions of African Americans on Saint Helena Island, the work of members of the Port Royal Experiment there, Union troops in the area during the Civil War, and other matters; photographs of drawings, probably 1860s, of buildings on Saint Helena Island; and other items relating to Penn School and to life on Saint Helena Island.

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Arrangement of Collection

1. Miscellaneous Items
2. Pictures
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Items Separated

Pictures (P-4285/1-14)
Microfilm (M-4285/1)

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. Miscellaneous Items, 1791; 1860-1963.

4 items.
Folder 1
Abigail Capers letter, 25 March 1781
Letter written from Laurell Hill Plantation, Saint Helena Island, 25 March 1791, describing activities of an indigo plantation owner's wife.
Folder 2
"African Music," circa 1867
Carbon typescript of an article or speech found in the copy of Slave Songs of the United States (1867) that was owned by Rossa Cooley, principal of Penn School, 1908-1944.
Folder 3
"Walking Tall," Edith M. Dabbs, 1963
Typescript of a short history of the Penn School.
Folder 4
Laura M. Towne diary, 8 April 1862-30 May 1864
Photocopy of a transcription of the diary of Laura M. Towne, covering 8 April 1862 to 30 May 1864 (also available on microfilm). Towne founded Penn School with Ellen Murray (1834-1908). The original of the diary is in the Penn School Papers.

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2. Pictures, 1860s.

14 items.
Photographs of sketches of buildings on Saint Helena Island (except P-4285/4). The drawings are attributed to Edith M. Dabbs's mother, who produced them in the 1860s. Most of the pictures were labeled by Edith M. Dabbs.
Image P-4285/1
Chapel of Ease, Land's End Road
Image P-4285/2
Oaks Plantation House
Image P-4285/3
Frogmore House (Frogmore Manor)
Image P-4285/4
Beaufort waterfront viewed from Ladies Island
Image P-4285/5
Praise House
Image P-4285/6
Cotton House
Image P-4285/7
Central Baptist Church ("Brick Church"
Image P-4285/8
Brick Church (rear view)
Image P-4285/9
Frogmore Street
Image P-4285/10-11
First Penn Building
Image P-4285/12
Episcopal Chapel at the Village
Image P-4285/13
Edgar Fripp Home at the Village
Image P-4285/14
Fort Freemont Marine Base at Land's End

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