Lowcountry Oral History Initiative, Voices of Mather, and Voices of the Waterfront Receive Support to Preserve and Share Lowcountry Oral Histories
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2025
Contact: Kelly Landis, kelly@gddf.org/312-977-2705
Charleston, S.C. — The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (GDDF) has announced three new grants totaling $345,000 through its Broadening Narratives initiative. Broadening Narratives supports projects that preserve and share underrepresented stories. The College of Charleston’s Lowcountry Oral History Initiative, The Mather Museum & Interpretive Center and the University of South Carolina Beaufort, and The Village Museum in McClellanville will each receive funding to advance innovative oral history and cultural preservation efforts.
“We are proud to support the vital work these organizations are doing in not just preserving Lowcountry history, but in making it relevant and accessible,” said Arnold Randall, executive director of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. “These stories illuminate our understanding of the past, present, and future of the region.”
Lowcountry Oral History Initiative — College of Charleston
The College of Charleston Libraries has been awarded a $100,000 grant to support the continuation of its Lowcountry Oral History Initiative (LOHI). This is the second grant from GDDF supporting the initiative. LOHI captures and shares recorded memories from across the region to deepen understanding of its history and culture. By documenting communities of color, LGBTQ+ perspectives, working-class narratives, and other underrepresented voices, LOHI expands both the academic record and community ownership of local history. Students, faculty, and community members will receive training to conduct interviews, with recordings made available through the Lowcountry Digital Library.
“The Broadening Narratives program arrived at the College of Charleston like a gust of fresh air,” said John W. White, dean of the College of Charleston Libraries. “LOHI empowers communities with tools to author their own narratives to ensure their histories reflect the hands that shaped them. Through its support of the Lowcountry Oral History Initiative, the College further bridges the gap between traditional scholarship and community-driven public history,” continued White. “LOHI invites students to engage with histories crafted not exclusively by scholars but by those who lived them, and our faculty and researchers weave these newly unearthed stories into curricula and scholarship.”
“GDDF’s support allows us to offer our partners the critical, capacity-building training and resources necessary to document and steward their own histories, their own way,” added Heather Gilbert, LOHI’s manager. “This work deeply enriches the historical record in new and exciting ways.”
Voices of Mather — The Mather Museum & Interpretive Center and University of South Carolina Beaufort
The Voices of Mather project has received a $200,000 grant. This partnership among the Mather Museum & Interpretive Center, the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, and the University of South Carolina Beaufort will document and share the history of the Mather School, founded in 1868 to educate the children of formerly enslaved people. The project will include a digitized oral history collection, an enhanced walking tour with video, and a podcast series to preserve and amplify the voices of the Mather community.
“The Voices of Mather project will continue the legacy and open doors for many Matherites to share their experiences at the Mather School as a testimony to the impact that the school had on students from all over the United States and abroad,” said Rufus Pinckney, executive director of the Mather School Museum & Interpretive Center. “This project is an essential factor in fulfilling the mission of telling the Mather story now and for generations to come.”
“One of the goals of the Voices of Mather project is really to broaden the public understanding of the history of Beaufort’s Mather School and also to tell this history in a new way, from multiple perspectives, multiple voices,” said Dr. Timothy James, professor of history at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. “I am especially excited about the opportunity to record and preserve the oral histories of those who attended the school in the 1950s and 60s.”
“This project not only honors the legacy of the Mather School but also empowers students to participate in a meaningful act of preservation that blends communication, history, and public engagement,” said Dr. Caroline E. Sawyer, associate professor of communication and interdisciplinary studies at USCB. “The Voices of Mather project exemplifies the community and experiential learning mission of USCB, bridging scholarship and storytelling to amplify voices that have shaped the region’s past and continue to inspire its future.”
Voices of the Village Waterfront — The Village Museum
The Voices of the Village Waterfront project has been awarded $45,000. The Village Museum will collaborate with the McClellanville Waterman’s Association and McClellanville Community Foundation to collect and present oral histories of the men and women working on the local waterfront. McClellanville and its fishing industry have played a vital role in the state’s history. The project will preserve these histories through online access and inclusion in the museum’s on-site collections.
“We are deeply grateful to the Gaylord and Donnelley Foundation for their support of Voices of the Village Waterfront,” said H. Huger McClellan, president of the Village Museum. “This grant empowers us to preserve the stories, struggles, and triumphs of McClellanville’s working waterfront—a living legacy shaped by generations of resilience, stewardship, and community pride.”
These initiatives are supported by GDDF’s Broadening Narratives program, which funds collections projects that work in partnership with communities to amplify stories that are untold, incompletely told, or have been told inaccurately.
In addition to the three projects supported here, the Foundation also made an additional $693,000 in grants to 13 arts and land conservation organizations throughout the Lowcountry for a total of $1,038,000 in grants in its most recent grant cycle.
The Mather Museum & Interpretive Center also wishes to thank the Technical College of the Lowcountry for allowing it space to operate on the campus which was formerly known as Mather School.
###
The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The Foundation seeks to sustain and build resilient, vital, engaged, and equitable communities in these two regions by supporting conservation, arts, and collecting organizations that broaden narratives. For more information, visit gddf.org.