Past Events

  • March 16, 2024, 2-4 pm at the Bluffton Library: Deb Barnum on Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South

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  • February 17, 2024: We welcomed JASNA President Mary Mintz to Charleston!

When: Saturday, February 17, 2024, 2 – 4 pm
Where: Gage Hall, 4 Archdale St, Charleston, SC 29401* Free and open to the public!
What: Mary spoke on:

“Jane Austen in American Periodicals: 
Highlights of the First Hundred Years.”

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  • January 27, 2024: Professor Inger Brodey on Jane Austen’s endings:

On January 27, 2-4 pm at Bishop Gadsden, UNC Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Jane Austen Summer Program Director Inger Brodey* will be presenting thoughts from her new book Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness:

“‘Hastening Together to Perfect Felicity,’
Or, How Happy are Austen’s Endings Anyway?”

[*Professor Brodey is brought to us through a Traveling Lecturer grant from JASNA National.]
For more about Inger, check out her website https://www.ingerbrodey.com.

The meeting is located in Charleston at Bishop Gadsden, Charleston, SC

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  • December 16, 2023: Virtual! with Kim Wilson, “12 Days of Regency Christmas”

  • November 11, 2023, 11am, Field Trip to Beaufort

JOHN MARK VERDIER HOUSE in BEAUFORT, SC
Join us for a tour of the historic Verdier House (ca. 1804), followed by lunch and a carriage ride through downtown Beaufort!
Price: $8 [house]; $32 [carriage] Lunch at Wren
https://historicbeaufort.org/john-mark-verdier-house/

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  • October 14, 2023, at the Charleston County Public Library

For JASNA-SC’s October meeting at CCPL, Kalee Lineberger provided a comprehensive and engaging sociopolitical and historical lens on regency fashion during Jane Austen’s life and in film adaptations while wearing a regency riding habit she sewed herself! She also displayed several other gowns she had sewn and worn to the Jane Austen Bath Festival last month while serving as a steward. Thank you for giving such a fabulous presentation, Kalee!

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  • September 23, 2023, at the Charleston Library Society:

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  • April 19, 2023, in Charleston: Garden & Wine Stroll at Middleton Place

Explore the wines hand-picked for JASNA SC as you stroll in America’s oldest landscaped gardens. For the stroll, a garden location will be paired with a regional selection of wines for you to sample. Enjoy spectacular views and light snacks between stations.

America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens
The Gardens, which Henry Middleton envisioned and began to create in 1741, reflect the grand classic style that remained in vogue in Europe and England into the early part of the 18th century. The principles of André Le Nôtre, the master of classical garden design who laid out the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte and the Palace of Versailles were followed. Rational order, geometry and balance; vistas, focal points and surprises were all part of the garden design. Following the wine stroll, our JASNA SC group will enjoy a pay-your-way dinner in the Middleton Restaurant on site.

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  • March 25, 2023, at the Bluffton Library:
“Tally Ho! Horses and Fox Hunting in Jane Austen’s Time”

Jane Austen and her contemporaries were all familiar with the sport of fox hunting. Whether
one “rode to hounds” or watched from the sidelines, the sport was integral to rural English life
and drew participation from all strata of English society. Rich in tradition, the sport continues around the globe, with active hunts in almost every state in the US.

Carol Lobdell, a Bluffton resident, has been an equestrian for more than 25 years and has ridden with more than a dozen fox hunts, including three in England. Carol will share with JASNA SC the styles and challenges of being a Regency horsewoman, and will discuss the origins and development of the sport, its meaning and role in English society in the Regency years, and the sport’s activities today.

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  • February 18, 2023, Clemson-Pickens Central Library (105 Commons Way, Central SC 29630)

“A Graphic Novel of Pride & Prejudice” with author Kate Salley Palmer

Kate Salley Palmer was inspired to adapt Pride & Prejudice into a graphic novel because of her love of the story and the desire to depict illustrations of the humor the book possesses. Her wish is for reluctant readers to love the book the way she does. 

Kate is an award-winning nationally syndicated political cartoonist, author, and illustrator. A native of Orangeburg and graduate of the University of South Carolina, she was the state’s first full-time newspaper editorial cartoonist, and worked for the Greenville News for ten years. In 1980, she received the Freedom Foundation’s Award for Editorial Cartoons.

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  • December 3, 2022 in Charleston:

Dancing with Jane! Holiday Party with the Carolina English Country Dancers and session on “The Etiquette of Dance in Jane Austen’s Life and Novels”

Join the members and friends of JASNA SC for our year-end event, a dance party and session on “The Etiquette of Dance in Jane Austen’s Life and Novels” by JASNA-SC Co-Regional Coordinator Kendall Spillman. Dance demonstration by the Carolina English Country Dancers with audience participation

Regency costumes and dance participation encouraged amongst attendees!

The Carolina English Country Dancers is a dance society founded in 2005 and based in Greenville, SC that participates in an exciting range of dances from contemporary to historic. Their members are of many types and ages who love music and the variety of ways it moves everyone to express themselves and enjoy being together. They delight in sharing these forms of dance with new people and hope to change the minds of those who think they can’t dance.

Prior to the Carolina English Country Dancers’ dance demonstration with audience participation, JASNA-SC co-Regional Coordinator Kendall Spillman will provide a brief historical background regarding dance etiquette, purpose, and types of popular dances during Jane Austen’s era. Dances offered more than a means of entertainment and a social outlet—they were intended to facilitate marriage for young women through partnering with eligible suitors for dances. 

Kendall will also discuss how dance serves as a plot device in Jane Austen’s novels, highlighting key passages of dance scenes which reveal how a character’s etiquette, or lack thereof, impacts the novels’ overarching themes of love and marriage. Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey will serve as the primary examples in this discussion.

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  • November 5, 2022, Bluffton Library

“Gender and the Decorative Arts in Jane Austen’s Novels” with Kristen Miller Zohn

During the Georgian period, women and men alike had a great interest in architecture, interior design, and fashion, and there was an expectation that the concepts of femininity and masculinity would be reflected in these spheres. This slide lecture will present images of decorative arts, interior design, and clothing to explore how those that are presented in Austen’s novels speak to the roles of women and men in her era. 

Kristen is the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Lauren, Mississippi, as well as the Executive Director of the Costume Society of America.

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  • October 2022, in Charleston: “Jane Austen: Working Woman”

The JASNA South Carolina Region is proud to host JASNA President Liz Philosophos Cooper for her presentation on “Jane Austen: Working Woman.” Jane Austen was a working woman and determined professional writer. This illustrated talk will explore Austen’s involvement in the business of publishing novels during a time of rampant financial instability. The Austen family were active participants in both war and finance, and these two sectors intertwined in the story of Jane Austen’s writing and publishing.