The Karpeles Manuscript Library Charleston Museum is one of seven Karpeles museums in the country. Charleston’s low-country African-American heritage is preserved at the Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture. Papers, photographs, oral histories and other materials are maintained in the archives. The Jewish Heritage Collection of the College of Charleston’s Robert Scott Small Library recounts the Jewish experience in South Carolina from colonial times to the present. The United Daughters of the Confederacy display Charleston’s Southern Pride with a collection of Confederate artifacts. Charleston’s contributions during the Cold War are displayed at the Cold War Submarine Memorial Foundation.

For the aquatic lover, there is the South Carolina Aquarium. You will have to catch the Dolphins in the Cooper River, however, since South Carolina prohibits keeping Dolphins in captivity.

Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture
125 Bull Street
Charleston, SC 29424
(843) 953-7609
http://www.cofc.edu/avery/

Houses permanent and visiting exhibits and archives relating to the history of the sea islands and the “Gullah” culture.

The Charleston Museum
(843) 722-2996
360 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29403
www.charlestonmuseum.org

Showcases a variety of cultural and natural history artifacts that tell the story of the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Citadel Archives & Museum
(843) 953-6846
171 Moultrie St
Charleston, SC 29409
www.citadel.edu/museum

The Citadel Museum represents the history of The Military College of South Carolina from its founding in 1842 to the present.

Gibbes Museum of Art
(843) 722 2706
135 Meeting St
Charleston, SC 29401
www.gibbesmuseum.org

With over 10,000 objects, the Gibbes Museum of Art’s permanent collection presents a rich, vibrant history of the Lowcountry

Patriots Point
(866) 831-1720
40 Patriots Point Rd
Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
www.patriotspoint.org

Patriots Point, the world’s largest naval and maritime museum complex, is Mt. Pleasant’s biggest attraction. It is dominated by the aircraft carrier Yorktown, World War II’s famous “Fighting Lady.” You can also board tour boats at Patriots Point to visit Fort Sumter National Monument, where the Civil War began.

Slave Mart Museum
(843) 958-6467
6 Chalmers St.
Charleston, SC 29401

Permanent exhibits explore the African sources from which African-American culture emerged, the middle passage, Caribbean influences on America, slavery, emancipation, reconstruction, arts, cuisine, and the movement towards civil rights.

South Carolina Aquarium
(843) 720-1990
100 Aquarium Wharf
Charleston, SC 29401
www.scaquarium.org

There are over 60 exhibits located throughout the Aquarium that focus on five major regions of the Appalachian Watershed: the Mountains, the Piedmont, the Coastal Plain, the Coast and the Ocean. Our changing exhibit space currently showcases the Secrets of the Amazon, displaying a variety of plants, animals and habitats from the Amazon River basin.

Art
There are approximately 10,000 objects to view at The Gibbes Museum of Art. The museum focuses on American artifacts from a Charleston perspective. The collections include paintings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, sculptures and photographs.

Thomas Kincaide’s work is the focus of The Planters Inn Signature Gallery. The gallery houses one of the largest collections of works by “The Painter of Light” in the country.

The Verner Gallery is the oldest fine arts gallery in Charleston and presents the works of many of Charleston’s Renaissance artists.