The Museum’s Collections
Preserving the Objects — and the Paper Trail — of History
The museum’s collection includes the expected artifacts of military history: weapons, uniforms, flags, and equipment that tell the story of service and conflict.
But wars are not fought with materiel alone.
Behind every battle are documents: orders, reports, business records, personal letters, and books carried across oceans and battlefields. These materials reveal the human side of history — the strategy, logistics, hopes, fears, and daily realities of those who lived it.
Our archives contain more than 11,000 historical documents and paper artifacts preserved for research. While most are not displayed in the galleries, they are carefully maintained and available to researchers by appointment.
Collection Highlights
The McRae Papers
The Confederacy’s wartime survival depended heavily on overseas trade, despite the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Southern ports. Approximately 80,000 long-arms were manufactured in the Confederate States but, at least 500,000 or more were brought in from Great Britian and Europe.
Among the most compelling archival holdings are the business records of Colin J. McRae, a Charleston blockade runner. The collection includes approximately 2,500 documents, nearly 1,000 from the war years, detailing the transport of weapons, munitions, and essential goods through dangerous waters.
These records offer a rare window into the economic realities of wartime South Carolina.
The USS Columbia Collection
The museum maintains a close connection with the crew, and their descendants, of the World War II light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56) that fought in the Philippines and at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history.
Our archives contain roughly 3,000 items related to the ship, including sailors’ personal letters and documents from the ship’s veterans’ association. These materials preserve the voices and experiences of those who served aboard a vessel that carried the state’s capital city name into the Pacific Theater.
Write from the Front
“Write from the Front” is an ongoing preservation initiative created to document the experiences of South Carolina service members across generations.
The program collects letters, emails, and photographs that reflect daily life during military service, from the colonial era to present-day deployments, ensuring that future historians will hear directly from those who lived the story.
Behind every artifact is a voice.
Behind every document is a human story.
Together, they form the enduring record of South Carolina’s military history.