Confederate Relic Room

I was planning to skip the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, but it’s housed in the same building as the South Carolina State Museum, so during a second visit, I added it to my ticket.

Atrium Location

When you get to the SC State Museum, there’s an atrium behind the lobby area. Tucked into the back of the atrium is the Confederate Relic Room. There’s a ramp to an upper level if you want a higher view. (Plus, there’s some event space up there.)

There’s a large model of a Vietnam hilltop outpost in the midst of an emergency escape (I think – I might have the wrong war) in the atrium with a video nearby. The video features men who were at the outpost and consulted on the model.

The Confederate Relic Room

Once you enter the small lobby of the Confederate Museum, the docent will direct you where to go. On my trip, I got a bag of gifts! They are a South Carolina seal pin and a small wooden plaque with a stamped piece of copper in the shape of the State House, made from salvaged copper from the dome itself. You also receive some old-school red and blue 3D glasses for a 20-min WWI video.

Due to Covid, there is a one-way path through the museum, marked with tape on the floor and rope barriers. It does make a nice timeline through the space. (Though I managed to get lost around the bathrooms.)

I had expected a smaller museum than it is. It’s not huge, but it’s more than just one room, as the name might suggest. A sign near the entrance explains the history of the museum, which for 60 years did exist as a room off the senate chamber in the State House.

If you read the sign, it seems as if the bulk of the collection was acquired in the years soon after the Civil War by one man as a remembrance of the “Lost Cause” narrative. The Daughters of the Confederacy founded the museum in 1896, making it the oldest in Columbia and the 3rd oldest in the state.

After a stint in an archive building, the collection was revamped and moved to the cotton mill in 2001. I would assume at that time it took on a more balanced tone. Now, it seems to be more of a record of South Carolina military history from the Revolutionary War to the modern day.

The Museum Experience

Still, it’s all a little hard to absorb, at least for me, whose interest in military and civil war history is more marginal. I love to learn, but being surrounded by numerous Confederate flags and so many lovingly preserved artifacts of a horrific period of disunity in our country, a disunity that still echos strongly today, I found it all a bit hard to take in.

Plus, it’s a LOT of reading. Signs are lengthy, and there’s a lot of them. I found myself only barely skimming them or just reading the bolder call-outs. For that reason, I only got a surface understanding of how they intend to present the collection, which is unfair on my part. Still, it’s a lot of confederate flags, and that kinda puts me on edge.

A guy circulated and pointed out some interesting things, like a bullet still lodged in a pair of binoculars and the story behind it. I actually got a lot from a nearby patron who was explaining Reconstruction to his party. He said that the south conceded to Rutherford B. Hayes’ presidency during a contested election as long as the federal government pulled their troops out of the south, thus ending the Reconstruction effort. I’m sure that’s an oversimplification, but it helped me.

And there are interesting displays even for a casual visitor like me. Fancy military regalia, homespun dresses (and the women’s complaints about the work, “I do declare, it makes me so tired.“), and medical items are all interesting. Wade Hampton III, a grandson of the owners of the Hampton-Preston Mansion I toured, was a Civil War Lieutenant General and went on to politics. He was also a leader of the racist Red Shirt anti-Reconstruction paramilitary group I learned about at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home.

Post-Civil War

Toward the end of the collection, you see displays on WWI, WWII, and more modern military campaigns. A large model of the battleship USS Columbia is in the middle of the last room.

My favorite part of the museum is the 3D video of WWI stereoscopic images. Like the ones you’d find in a ladies’ parlor or a view master. Wearing your red and blue paper glasses, you can see 20 minutes’ worth of images, both heroic and horrific. The images are in a timeline so that you can follow the trajectory of the war.

The Bathrooms

Just a word about the bathrooms. If you’re feeling wigged out by the Confederate Relic Room at all, you might want to avoid the bathrooms. They are fine, normal, multi-stall bathrooms, but the doors are automatic and really weird. They’re like an electric pocket door built into the wall. You’re instructed to push it open, so I pushed it like a swinging door, but no, you slide it open, but then it shuts automatically behind you with a loud whirring noise.

I could see that if you were already nervous, those doors would certainly make you feel more trapped. You aren’t trapped, you can push it right open again, but it is mildly alarming.

To Visit

To visit the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, you can visit Tuesday-Saturday from 10 am-5 pm, the same hours as the SC State Museum. The cost of admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors 62+, $5 for active military and veterans, $3 for kids 10-17, and free for 9 and under. You can also add it on to a State Museum ticket for $4, which is what I did.

They are also open on the first Sunday of every month for $1 admission. They’re closed all state holidays except for Veterans Day and Confederate Memorial Day, which is May 10 and only a thing in South Carolina. (I’m more than slightly horrified by learning this exists.)

I mean, I can’t say I exactly recommend a visit to the Confederate Relic Room. It’s hard for me to promote a place that sells Don’t Tread On Me and Confederate Flags in the gift shop. However, it is a history we need to preserve, and this is probably the best Confederate collection around and very well presented. If you’re really into history, military history, or Civil War history, then absolutely. If not, it can feel a little overwhelming.