Revolutionary War Lectures, Exhibit Openings, and Native American Artifacts to be Highlighted at Laurens County Museum Events
January 29, 2024
Upcoming events at the Laurens County Museum will span the range of centuries and topics with special days, lectures, and exhibit openings in February and March.
Sunday, February 4, at 3:00 PM, the “Martha Franks – Educator, Missionary, Humanitarian” exhibit will open and highlight the life of Laurens native Martha Franks (1901-1989). Miss Martha was a positive force for good in the world. From her thirty-years as a missionary to China during Communist and Japanese occupation, teaching blind and deaf children and missionaries in China and Taiwan, being a champion for oppressed women in China, she worked tirelessly her whole life. In the 1960’s, Miss Martha returned to Laurens in retirement to work and inspire the community to establish a retirement center for retired missionaries which has become Martha Franks Retirement Center.
Tuesday, February 13, at 7:00 PM, the Revolutionary War Lecture Series continues with “Revolutionary War Weaponry and Its Effect on Military Tactics”. Historian and battlefield preservationist Durant Ashmore will speak. Ashmore will speak again on Tuesday, March 12, at 7:00 PM. Topic to be announced later.
Saturday, March 2, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, there will be a special grand-reopening of the First Nations Exhibit Hall. The day will include Native American artifact identification, talks on recent discoveries by archeologists in South Carolina, and a celebration of the newly redesigned First Nations Exhibit Hall.
Saturday, March 16, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, the “Celebrating Native American Traditions Past and Present” series will continue. It will be a day of talks on ecology and the Native American way of life, storytelling, flute playing, drumming and other instruments, and the Cherokee language and songs. This program is possible because of a grant from the SC Arts Commission.
The Laurens County Museum is located at 116 South Public Square, Laurens, SC. The exhibit hall is free to visit and the open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For more information call the museum at (864)681-3678 or visit www.laurenscountymuseum.org or Facebook.
