Museum Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation’s efforts to preserve Charleston’s material culture as well as its built environment began in 1955 with the purchase of the Nathaniel Russell House Museum at 51 Meeting Street. Since then, the Foundation has assembled a collection of more than 6,000 objects illustrating the rich history of the South Carolina Lowcountry.The collection of early objects documents Charleston’s transformation from colonial outpost to a grand cosmopolitan city, while nineteenth century objects, including the Aiken-Rhett family collection, enable the Foundation to also tell the story of antebellum and post-Civil War Charleston.