 "Photo: Ellen Meder/The Daily Gamecock")
For twenty years now, South Carolina elementary school students and history enthusiasts alike have enjoyed the South Carolina State Museum. Billed as "South Carolina Under One Roof," the State Museum is taking all of 2008 to celebrate "20 years of treasures."
From ecosystems to electricity, optical illusions to space suits, the four-story converted mill house artifacts and displays that highlight natural history, science and technology, as well as cultural history, particularly that of the Palmetto State. Visitors, which number over 20,000 each year, can not only light up state geography on an enormous map, but also "experience" the natural regions at individual life-sized exhibits. If the museum's classic Tyrannosaurus skeleton doesn't get guests riled up, then perhaps the Civil War relics and original Ordinance of Secession are more to the taste of South Carolina enthusiasts.
The truth of the enormous, drafty museum is that it does an amazing job of documenting history down to the most minute detail. However, by the time guests begin the arduous task of differentiating a dovetail notch from a saddle notch in the forestry sector of the museum, they might find themselves pining for the ease and compactness of their fifth-grade textbooks.
Perhaps the best part of the 20th anniversary celebration is the temporary "Hollywood Comes to South Carolina" exhibit. Highlighting the state's extensive contributions to filmmaking, the exhibit begins with examples of silent film and moves on to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Pieces of sets, costumes, posters, video clips and examples of special effects from many of the movies that were filmed in the state are on display. From the gallows from the set of "The Patriot" to the suit Tom Hanks wore in "Forrest Gump," the memorabilia is extensive and exciting to just about any film buff.
Other than the use of South Carolina's trademark "Smiling Faces and Beautiful Places" as the backdrop for films ranging from "The Legend of Bagger Vance" to "The Notebook," the state's actual history, starting with the Civil War and moving up through the Myrtle Beach shag dance culture of the 60s, serves as inspiration for many a film.
The films highlighted seem to be slightly more concentrated in the recent past, with one of the latest claims to fame being George Clooney's "Leatherheads." That is due in part to the South Carolina legislature's 2004 decision to allocate 1 percent of the S.C. admission tax to the S.C. Film Commission to encourage collaboration between South Carolina institutes of higher education and the motion picture industry.
One of the latest incidences of this cooperation is the receipt of $100,000 by USC to create the feature-length film "The Four Children of Tander Welch."
The benefits to the state are immeasurable but can easily be seen in the research conducted by USC's own Darla Moore School of Business, which estimates that in 2002 the film industry spent $49.1 million in South Carolina, most of which was non-resident money.
Running through Oct. 19, the Hollywood exhibit really is the most intriguing attraction of the 20-year-old museum.
To join the South Carolina State Museum in their celebration, visit between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sundays.
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