SAGE SOCIETY MINUTES
Date: November 8, 2022
Location: Pat Conroy Literary Center
Members in attendance:
Armer, Donna
Atkins, Sandi
Bomar, Lex
Cordial, Grace
Gray, Debbie
Hathaway, Barbara
Heath, Stuart
Lawson, Ruth Ann
McCardle, Bonnie
Mickell, Maryann
Mix, Vicki
Pickett, Peggy
Robertson, Alvesta
Stocks, Jerry
Thomas, Melba
Weeks, Martha
Koolkin, Larry
Barbara
Hathaway called the meeting to order at 4 pm
Guests were introduced: Maude Hornsly, Linda Hall and Nora Kresch
Minutes of the October 11, 2022 meeting were approved
General business discussed:
Barbara indicated that a charity will need to be selected for next year and she suggested that we continue with Hopeful Horizons for another year. This will be further discussed in January business meeting.
The nominating committee presented the following slate of officers which will voted on in January:
President – Grace Cordial
Secretary – Sandi Atkins
Member at large – Jerry Stocks
There will be no December meeting.
Presentation by Larry Koolkin
Topic: Jacques Le Moyne
Larry’s presentation focused on the influence of the French in the early settlement of the Beaufort area. They established a small colony in the 1500s called Charlesfort on Parris Island prior to the arrival of the Spanish. This colony did not survive.
Jacques Le Moyne was the first trained European artist and cartographer tasked by the French King to document this area through drawings, paintings and maps. He came to this country to create a record of the flora, fauna and indigenous peoples that he found here. Engravings based on his artwork formed the basis for books about travels to Florida (which encompassed South Carolina) produced in Europe. The maps he created were used for many years as the best representation of the greater Florida area.
Other key Frenchmen who came to Beaufort included sea captains, some of whom were Huguenots, and whose names are familiar in the area – Jean Ribaut, Rene Laudoniere and and their French superior, Admiral Coligny. After the Spanish arrived at Fort Caroline in Jacksonville, FL, Pedro Menendez destroyed the Huguenots there, as Charlesfort had already been abandoned. LeMoyne and Laudoniere escaped and returned to Europe.
Larry mentioned several books that include drawings of Jacques LeMoyne including “Painter in a Savage Land” by Miles Harvey and “The New World” by Stefan Lorant.
Meeting adjourned: 4:50 pm
Next regular meeting will be the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, January 11, 2023 at 4 pm
Updated list of presenters:
2023
January 10: annual meeting, no program, election of officers
February 14: Diane Gallagher
March 14: Peggy Pickett
April 11: Grace Cordial – Organizing Family Archives: Practical Tips
May 9: Alvesta Robertson
Respectfully submitted by Sandi Atkins, Secretary, on November 25, 2022
