South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum facts for kids

The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum (SCCRRMM) is a special place in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. It shares a building with the South Carolina State Museum at 301 Gervais Street. This museum started way back in 1896, making it the oldest museum in Columbia and the third oldest in the whole state!

It was first created by a group called the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 2020, a group called the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) recognized it as a top-quality museum for the third time. This is a big deal, as only a few museums in South Carolina get this honor. Families of soldiers from the Civil War gave many items to the museum, like uniforms, weapons, and flags. Over time, the museum grew to show all of South Carolina's military history. This includes everything from the Revolutionary War to more recent conflicts like the War on Terror. In 2022, they had cool exhibits about "Plowshares to Swords: Arming 19th Century South Carolina" and "SC in Vietnam."

The Museum's Journey: Where It's Been

The museum has moved a few times since it first opened.

• Early Home: It first started inside the South Carolina State House.
• Mid-1900s Move: Later, in the middle of the 1900s, it moved to the War Memorial Building. This building was right next to the University of South Carolina.
• New Home in 1998: In 1998, the museum found its current home. It moved into the historic Columbia Mills Building.
• Growing Bigger: The museum got even bigger in 2007. They turned an old water tank (called a cistern) from the mill into a brand new gallery space.

Special Programs and Collections

The museum does many interesting things and has unique items.

Write from the Front: Stories from Service Members

The SCCRRMM won a national award for a program called Write from the Front. This program collects digital emails and photos. These are sent by service members while they are serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. It helps share their personal stories and experiences.

Famous Flag and Other Artifacts

The museum is also home to a very famous flag. It received the Confederate battle flag that was removed from the grounds of the South Carolina State House in 2015. Besides items from the Civil War, the museum also has artifacts from many other military times. The museum's logo today shows how much it has grown. The words "Military Museum" are now bigger than "Confederate Relic Room." This shows its wider focus on all military history.