January 23, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sewing, knitting, collecting donations, organizing fairs – these are among the activities that many women, in both the North and South, undertook during the Civil War in an effort to fundraise for relief projects, materials, and money to supply troops. South Carolina women were deeply involved in such efforts, forming Ladies’ Aid Societies throughout the state early in the war to pool resources and divide labor more effectively. These groups organized fairs, balls, auctions, theatricals, and concerts to raise funds for Confederate hospitals, in addition to making garments and collecting provisions to send to centers for troop supply. 
Through the generous support of the South Carolina Arms Collectors Association, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum recently acquired a broadside advertising one of these events. During a ceremony on January 18, Lew Ballington, a member of the Association's Board of Directors, presented a check to museum director Allen Roberson. The donation paid for the entire purchase price of the broadside. “This South Carolina-related broadside is an important addition to the museum’s collection and we are most grateful to the South Carolina Arms Collectors Association for making this purchase possible through their generous donation,” stated Roberson.
The purchased broadside was printed to advertise a "music festival proposed by some public spirited ladies of Charleston in aid of The Ladies' Gunboat." The event took place in March 1862 to raise funds for the construction of an ironclad, which was completed in fall 1862 and christened the CSS Palmetto State. Women in Charleston eventually raised about fifteen percent of the funds needed to build the ship and as a result, the Palmetto State became known as the “Ladies’ Gunboat.”
The broadside will be on display in an exhibit opening soon at the museum, “Money, Material, and Labor: Women’s Civil War Fundraising.” The exhibit explores the history of wartime fundraising efforts, both northern and southern, with a focus on South Carolina and Columbia. The exhibit will be on display February 6 through April 4, 2009.
Founded in 1896, the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is the oldest museum in the Columbia area. The museum focuses on South Carolina’s military history from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terror.
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