Current Exhibitions

Exhibits Extended Due to Popular Demand!

“World War I in 3D”
 September 4 – January 30, 2010

Muddy trenches, marching doughboys, zeppelins, and even Woodrow Wilson.  See World War I jump off the screen and come to life in “World War I in 3D,” the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum’s latest exhibit. 

The exhibit features a twenty-minute revolving 3D film of over eighty stereographs.  Viewing stereographs with a stereoscope creates a unique 3D effect and it was a popular amusement in America from the mid-1860s through the 1930s.  This exhibit combines 3D stereograph viewing with modern technology to display the Keystone View Company collection published to commemorate World War I.  Each stereograph has been digitally processed to display in the originally-intended format in a theater setting.  The exhibit also includes a stereoscope and several stereographs. 

“World War I in 3D” now closes January 30, 2010.

Forgotten Stories: South Carolina Fights the Great War

November 9, 2007 - September 18, 2010

April 2007 marked the ninetieth anniversary of the United States’ entry into the Great War.  In recognition of this, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum has partnered with six historical and educational institutions in Columbia to develop a multi-venue project (titled “Forward Together: South Carolina in World War I”) on the participation of South Carolina citizens during the First World War and its effects on the state.  The partnership consists of Historic Columbia Foundation, McKissick Museum (USC), South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, South Carolina Educational Television Network, South Carolina State Museum, South Caroliniana Library (USC), with each location concentrating on a different aspect of the war.  Visit the website for the exhibits at http://www.scforwardtogether.org/.

The SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum’s exhibit, “Forgotten Stories: South Carolina Fights the Great War,” focuses on the military history of the war, strategies used during it, and how the war is a part of South Carolina's military tradition.  The exhibit themes examine various aspects of the war such as trench warfare, the use of artillery, the new use of airplanes, Medal of Honor winners from SC, and the forgotten story of the African-American 371st Infantry Regiment.  The exhibit also highlights the often-overlooked Mexican Punitive Expedition and includes exciting visuals, such as life-like mannequins, a simulated trench, and interactive kiosks.  This exhibit is displayed in the museum’s new, expanded gallery space in the renovated “cistern” area of the Columbia Mills Building.  The exhibit is now on display through September 18, 2010.

See a story on the 371st Regiment on PBS's History Detectives!

ABOVE: 371st soldier mannequin

                        

LEFT: "Forgotten Stories" exhibit gallery
RIGHT: Section of reproduction trench area