Choose Charleston

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand written words can be more effective than the spoken word, especially when it comes to history. Many find that historical manuscripts can bring history alive better than any lesson in school.

California real estate investor, David Karpeles, discovered this in the late 1970’s while visiting the Huntington Library in Santa Barbara California, which houses a famous manuscript collection. He was intrigued to see how the documents caught the attention of his children. “It suddenly made history come alive for them”, he said. This sparked his interest in collecting historical manuscripts, which lead to the largest collection of privately owned manuscripts in the world. His first acquisition was a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln.

In 1983, Karpeles opened the first of seven museums to house his collection and renew a “sense of purpose for our children and ourselves.” His goals are set forth in the Creed he wrote for that opening. Charleston became the latest addition to the list in 1995.

Admission to the museum, located at 68 Spring Street, is free. There isn’t even a box begging for donations. The manuscripts on display will change approximately every three months and will depend on community interest.

Besides his copy of the emancipation Proclamation, the collections also includes music from Beethoven and Mozart, manuscripts from Poe and Kipling, notes from Einstein and Darwin, as well as manuscripts on important events like Space Travel, Women’s Rights, and Medical History along with over 1 million other documents. Currently, Charleston’s location has an exhibit about the Spanish American War, as well as original documents about The Wizard of Oz, and many other items.

If you’d like to go, the museum’s hours are from 10:00am to 5:00pm daily. It’s located in the former St. James United Methodist Church at 68 Spring St.