Horry County Museum

The Education of Harvey Gantt
2026-05-13 13:00 (America/New_York) | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with the SCETV film The Education of Harvey Gantt. This 30 minute film tells the story of Harvey Gantt, the first African American student to attend a formerly all-white school in South Carolina.
South Carolina fought the desegregation of its schools longer than any other state, even after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. In 1960, a talented African American student from Charleston, Harvey Gantt, graduated from high school and decided to become an architect. Clemson College was the only school in South Carolina that offered a degree in his chosen field. In January of 1963, with the help of NAACP lawyer Matthew J. Perry, Gantt won a lawsuit against Clemson and was peacefully admitted to the college.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, May 13th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Free Children’s Program at the L.W. Paul Living History Farm
2026-05-16 09:00 - 11:00 | L.W. Paul Living History Farm, 2279 Harris Short Cut Rd, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
Join us Saturday, May 16th, for a free 30 minute activity at the Farm! Parents can sign children up for a half hour session between 9 AM-11 AM. Group sizes will be limited. In this session we’ll discuss the importance of canning and pickling on family farms. Children will also make their own ‘refrigerator pickles’ to take home. We will be using plastic containers for this activity. Parents may choose to bring a jar from home if they like.
For information about available times and to register, contact Marian Calder at 843-915-7861 or email calder.marian@horrycountysc.gov . Available sessions are 9, 9:30, 10 or 10:30, please specify which session you would like upon registering.
The L.W. Paul Living History Farm is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM-4 PM and is located at 2279 Harris Short Cut Road, Conway, SC 29526.

The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306
2026-05-16 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The Horry County Museum presents a film screening in collaboration with The Conway-Horry County Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee on Saturday, May 16th, 2026 at 1 PM. The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 is a documentary that recounts the final hours of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the eyes of Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, who stood with him at the Lorraine Motel when he was assassinated in 1968. The film blends Kyles’s firsthand memories with testimonies from civil rights leaders to explain why Dr. King was in Memphis and to highlight the historical significance of that tragic moment in the civil rights movement.
The program is free to the public and will be held in the Museum’s McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street, Conway, SC 29526. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov. To view a full list of scheduled programs, visit the museum website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

South Carolinians in WWII: A Time to Fight
2026-05-20 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with South Carolinians in WWII: A Time to Fight. This documentary series is a collective remembrance of World War II, taken from personal stories of South Carolina veterans. Beginning with Pearl Harbor, the films weave together first person accounts of the first stages of the war and includes segments on Fort Jackson and the Citadel, as well as veterans Moffatt Burriss and Theodore Bell of Columbia. Doolittle Raider Bill Farrow of Darlington, who became South Carolina’s first hero after he was executed by the Japanese, is also featured.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, May 20th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Closed
2026-05-23, 2026-06-19 - 2026-06-20, 2026-07-03 - 2026-07-04

2026 Memorial Day Tribute Set for May 25 at McCown Auditorium in Conway
2026-05-25 14:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
2026 Memorial Day Tribute Set for May 25 at McCown Auditorium in Conway.

CONWAY, S.C. – Veterans of the American Armed Forces, active-duty military, and the general public are invited to the 2026 Memorial Day Tribute at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 25th in McCown Auditorium at the Horry County Museum in Conway. The event is sponsored by the Horry County Museum, Goldfinch Funeral Home, HTC, and the United Bank Center for Military & Veteran Studies at Coastal Carolina University.
“Memorial Day is a unique and important observance that honors those Americans in uniform who sacrificed their lives for our country,” said Horry County Museum Director Walter Hill, “and the annual Memorial Day Tribute will hopefully enable us to do that in a very special way.”
The 2026 Memorial Day Tribute at McCown Auditorium is designed to honor Americans in uniform of all ages who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country, and will include a moment of silence, presentation of the national colors by a color guard, live patriotic music, and recognition of veterans of the American Armed Forces by service branch and era. It also includes the screening of a locally produced historical documentary: Death Drop: The 82nd Airborne and D-Day, which chronicles the actions of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and airborne operations related to the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.
“It’s an extraordinary story of courage and heroism,” said author and historian Rod Gragg, who is the producer of the documentary. “The airborne troops were the point of the spear on D-day, which was the largest amphibious operation of World War II and greatly determined the outcome of the war in Europe. The 82nd Airborne and two other airborne divisions were dropped behind enemy lines by parachute and glider with the potentially deadly task of capturing crucial roads, causeways and bridges to prepare for the main Allied landing force, which stormed the beaches of Normandy. What the Airborne troops achieved on D-Day was astounding, but it came at great cost.”
McCown Auditorium and the Horry County Museum are located at 805 Main Street in Conway. “This special event is a very meaningful way for us to remember those in uniform who gave all on our behalf,” said Meghan Hayden, the president of Goldfinch Funeral Home, “and it also provides us with an opportunity to express our gratitude to our local veterans and active-duty military for their service.”
Admission to the 2026 Memorial Day Tribute is free.

SCETV film Backstage Pass
2026-05-27 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with the SCETV film Backstage Pass. This hour long film goes behind the scenes of some of the biggest shows in Myrtle Beach, giving a glimpse into the theatrical production process at places such as Legends in Concert, The Carolina Opry, The Palace Theatre, the Alabama Theatre and Medieval Times.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, May 27th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Free Children’s Program at the L.W. Paul Living History Farm
2026-05-30 09:00 - 11:00 | L.W. Paul Living History Farm, 2279 Harris Short Cut Rd, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
Join us Saturday, May 30th, for a free 30 minute activity at the Farm! Parents can sign children up for a half hour session between 9 AM-11 AM. Group sizes will be limited. In this session, we’ll celebrate the warmer weather with a fun, and tasty, science experiment by making ice cream in a bag.
For information about available times and to register, contact Marian Calder at 843-915-7861 or email calder.marian@horrycountysc.gov . Available sessions are 9, 9:30, 10 or 10:30, please specify which session you would like upon registering.
The L.W. Paul Living History Farm is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM-4 PM and is located at 2279 Harris Short Cut Road, Conway, SC 29526.

Uncommon Courage: The D-Day Battle of Graignes
2026-06-03 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with Uncommon Courage: The D-Day Battle of Graignes. This documentary tells the remarkable story of the little known battle of Graignes described as the “Alamo of D-Day”. When the D-Day invasion of France began on June 6, 1944, approximately 180 American paratroopers were accidentally dropped far from their drop zone, and landed outside the small village of Graignes in Normandy, right in the path of a major German counterattack. Assisted by French villagers, the American paratroopers at Graignes made a courageous stand against a force of German S.S. troops that was ten time their size.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, June 3rd, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Horry County Museum Lecture Series: Auction Houses, Attempted Co-ops, and Allotments: The Impact of Flue-Cured Tobacco on Horry County, SC
2026-06-06 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
After the rise of the boll weevil made cotton crops unstable, flue-cured tobacco became the main cash crop of Horry County. This presentation focuses on the impact of the auction system and the ways in which farmers and buyers attempted to push the prices in their favor. Join us on June 6th at 1 pm to learn more about the impact of flue-cured tobacco with Horry County Museum Curator Abigail Geedy.
Abby was born and raised in south-central Pennsylvania and moved to South Carolina for college in 2012. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Anthropology and a Graduate Certificate of Museum Management from the University of South Carolina. She began volunteering in museums in 2011 and worked in curation at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology for 5 years before joining the Horry County Museum as a Technical Assistant in 2020. She then moved into the role of Curator in 2022. She has previously worked as an intern or volunteer at the York County Heritage Trust in York, PA, the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, PA and McKissick Museum in Columbia, SC.
The program will be held in the McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street, Conway SC. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcgmuseum@horrycounty.org. To view a full list of programs, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

G-Man: The Rise & Fall of Melvin Purvis
2026-06-10 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with G-Man: The Rise & Fall of Melvin Purvis, part of the Carolina Stories Series by SCETV. The name, Melvin Horace Purvis, to many people today, means nothing. But it was not so long ago that Purvis was a household name, and over 260,000 boys and girls were digging through boxes of Post Toasties breakfast cereal to get their very own decoder rings and Junior G-Man badges. Purvis, the Timmonsville native with the unassuming name, skyrocketed to such fame in the 1930s as leader of the FBI team that took down some of the biggest gangsters of his day, including John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. His death in 1960 is still shrouded in mystery. Was it a suicide, as first reported? Was it an accidental shooting? Or was there something more sinister behind it?
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, June 10th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Quilts of Valor at the Horry County Museum
2026-06-13 11:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The public is invited to view a special Quilts of Valor presentation at the Horry County Museum. Quilts made especially for local veterans will be presented by the Conway Quilt Guild Quilts of Valor Group on Saturday, June 13th at 11 AM.
The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) is to cover all service members and veterans, touched by war, with a comforting and healing quilt. Since 2003, the foundation, now a national organization, has awarded over 400,000 quilts to veterans throughout the country. The Conway Quilt Guild has been recognized as one of the newest QOV groups, seeking to expand recognition to veterans in the northern and western parts of Horry County. To nominate a veteran for a Quilt of Valor, visit www.qovf.org. For more information about the Conway Quilt Guild, email conwayquilters@yahoo.com.
This program is free and open to the public and will be held in the Museum’s McCown Auditorium, located at 805 Main Street in Conway, SC. To view a full list of programs at the Horry County Museum, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

Discovering Dave, Spirit Captured in Clay
2026-06-17 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with Discovering Dave, Spirit Captured in Clay. Directed and produced by George Wingard and Mark Albertin and released through the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program and Scrapbook Video, this film tells the story of David Drake, a slave potter from Edgefield, South Carolina. David was one of the first African American slaves to sign many of his works, which included jars and pitchers. In addition to producing thousands of pieces of pottery, David also wrote poetry.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, June 17th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Chasing the Swamp Fox
2026-06-24 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with Chasing the Swamp Fox. This film, part of the Carolina Stories Series by SCETV, details Francis Marion’s partisan campaigns during the American Revolution in South Carolina and paints a mosaic of what life was like in those years and how Marion’s participation led to the birth of modern-day guerilla warfare as well as the liberation of our country.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, June 24th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Birth of a Nation: The Making of the Declaration of Independence.
2026-07-01 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with the locally produced film, Birth of a Nation: The Making of the Declaration of Independence. Produced and narrated by historian Rod Gragg, this film chronicles the creation of one of the most important documents in American history.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, July 1st, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Jail, No Bail
2026-07-08 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with Jail, No Bail, part of the Carolina Stories Series produced by SCETV. In January of 1961, black students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill, SC walked into McCrory’s, sat at the lunch counter, and ordered hamburgers and soft drinks. They were denied service and asked to leave. After refusing to leave, the students were arrested for trespassing and processed. This 30 minute program pays tribute to the ‘Friendship Nine’ sit-in protest that inspired the Jail, No Bail Movement, a strategy which turned the tables on the establishment and reinvigorated the National Civil Rights Movement.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, July 8th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Horry County Museum Fossil and Shell Show July 11, 2026
2026-07-11 09:00 - 16:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The Horry County Museum presents a free, family friendly, event to learn about the variety of fossils and shells that can be found throughout South Carolina! Join us from 9 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, July 11, 2026 for a variety of exhibitors, presentations, and hands on activities. Exhibitors include: Discovery School at Myrtle Beach, EdVenture Children’s Museum Myrtle Beach, Grand Strand Shell Club, Myrtle Beach & Huntington Beach State Parks, North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum, and Ripley’s Aquarium.
This event will be held at the Horry County Museum located at 805 Main Street, Conway, S.C. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov. For more information about our programs, visit the museum website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

South Carolinians in WWII: A New Front
2026-07-15 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with South Carolinians in WWII: A New Front. The second episode of the series follows veterans living in South Carolina through the mountains of Italy, into the fields of England and onto the beaches of Normandy. Also featured are South Carolina doctors and nurses who served and the rise of the Charleston Navy Yard.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, July 15th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Elizabeth Chew: Art & the American Revolution
2026-07-18 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The Horry County Museum presents a program in collaboration with Coastal Carolina University and the South Carolina 250th Commission on Saturday, July 18th, 2026 at 1 PM. This lecture will examine ways that artists depicted the American Revolution, in South Carolina and elsewhere, while it was happening and after independence was won. We will look at images of the war and its heroes that were available to newly minted Americans at the time as well as ways the war was remembered 50 and 75 years later.
Elizabeth Chew became CEO of the South Carolina Historical Society in January 2024, leading a statewide organization that collects and shares the stories of all South Carolinians. A historian, curator, and educator, she has worked at museums and historic sites for over 30 years
Prior to arriving in Charleston, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Curator at James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia. During her 8 ½ years there, Dr. Chew led teams of curators, historians, and educators to research and interpret James Madison and his family, his role in framing the U.S. Constitution, and the community of enslaved people on the plantation.
Earlier in her career, she served as Curator at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. During her thirteen-year tenure there, she was responsible for ongoing research and interpretation initiatives that wove together the Monticello house, its collections, Jefferson and his family, and the enslaved community.
Elizabeth received a BA from Yale University, a master’s from the University of London, and a PhD from UNC- Chapel Hill.
The program is free to the public and will be held in the Museum’s McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street, Conway, SC 29526. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov. To view a full list of scheduled programs, visit the museum website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

SC A to Z
2026-07-22 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with SC A to Z. This film, part of the Carolina Stories Series by SCETV, takes a light-hearted look at favorite places and homegrown things, spanning the alphabet to showcase all that South Carolina is and has to offer. From the ACE Basin and the Arthur Ravenel Bridge to the Yorktown aircraft carrier and Zentrum (BMW’s visitor’s center), South Carolina A to Z is a vivid look at the unique offerings of South Carolina. Cameras spotlight the familiar (Brookgreen Gardens, Palmetto trees) to the not-so-familiar (Edgefield pottery, locally-grown rice, UFO Welcome Center) for a glimpse of what makes our state so special.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, July 22nd, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Eric Emerson: The History of the South Carolina’s State Flag
2026-07-25 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The Horry County Museum presents a lecture by Eric Emerson on Saturday, July 25th at 1 PM, on the history of the South Carolina state flag.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, but it also marks the origins of South Carolina’s state flag. Although our state has had a number of flags, only two have been approved by the General Assembly. The second of these was created by A.S. Salley, the first Secretary of the South Carolina History Commission (now known as the South Carolina Department of Archives & History), with help from Clemson College and a little-known friend in Charleston. In this lecture, Dr. Emerson will recount the Revolutionary War origins of our flag and explain how Salley convinced the General Assembly to task him with re-creating the state’s first official flag. His design would be the forerunner of today’s banner, the nation’s second most popular state flag.
Dr. Emerson is the sixth director of the South Carolina Department of Archives & History (SCDAH). He also serves as State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and State Archivist. He received his Bachelors of Arts in History from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte and his masters and doctorate in History from the University of Alabama. Prior to coming to SCDAH in 2009, he served as the executive director of the Charleston Library Society and the South Carolina Historical Society.
The program will be held in the McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street, Conway SC. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 843-915-5320 or email hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov. To view a full list of programs, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org.

Pirates of the Carolinas. Part of the Carolina Stories
2026-07-29 13:00 | Horry County Museum, 805 Main Street, Conway, SC, 29526, United States
The 2026 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with Pirates of the Carolinas. Part of the Carolina Stories Series by SCETV, this hour-long film digs up the true tales of treachery and villainy that occurred off the coasts of North and South Carolina during the Golden Age of Piracy.
The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, July 29th, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.
The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2026. For a list of films, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at 843-915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.
