Spring 2024 Annual Meeting:
The History of the South Carolina Court of Appeals

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 4 p.m.
Palmetto Club
1231 Sumter Street | Columbia, SC

Reception Immediately Following

1.0 hours of South Carolina CLE credit applied for.

Free for members and guests.

2023 Fall Meeting: From “No” to Worldwide Coverage: A Brief History of Cameras in SC Courts Video Presentation

Members Annual Meeting:
Honoring the Legacy of Chief Justice C. Bruce Littlejohn

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | 4:00 p.m.
The Palmetto Club | Columbia, SC

Ceremony honoring The Honorable Associate Justice Kaye Gorenflo Hearn

Before Annual Meeting Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
The SC Supreme Court | Columbia, SC

Update on the Restoration and Repair of John Belton O’Neall Portrait

With the approval of the Supreme Court, the South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society in 2021 commissioned the repair and restoration of a portrait of South Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Justice John Belton O’Neall, which is a part of the Court’s portrait collection. The portrait of Chief Justice O’Neall had been significantly damaged at some point and had accumulated a significant layer of dirt over the past 177 years.

On April 27, during a special session of the South Carolina Supreme Court, Jennifer Bullock, lead conservator at Carolina Conservation, updated the Court and Society members on the nearly completed projected. She described the cleaning and conservation process and showed videos of the work on the 1845 painting. The portrait was temporarily on display in the Court during the presentation in order that those attending could see its remarkable transformation. Work will soon be completed, and the portrait will be permanently returned to the Court’s collection.

Chief Justice O’Neall served as a justice on the South Carolina Court of Appeals, then the state’s highest court, from 1830 until the Court was dissolved following its decision in M'Cready v. Hunt in 1834. The legislature then created separate courts for law and equity. In 1859, a unified Court of Appeals was re-established, and Justice O’Neall was elected to serve as Chief Justice of the new South Carolina Court of Appeals, again the highest court of the state, until his death in 1863.

This is the Society’s first project to repair and restore important works of art in the Court’s collection. The work is being funded through private contributions solicited by the Society for this project.

Memberships Extended Until 2023

The outbreak of Covid has required that the Society postpone activities and events until we are able to resume offering programs in a safe manner. We hope for a full and enhanced calendar of Society activities in 2022-23. Therefore, the Board of Directors has approved extending membership through June 30, 2023, for all members who have joined the Society since 2019.

SC Supreme Court Historical Society's Most Influential Decisions Database

You are invited to join in the project to build the South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society's data base of the Court's most influential decisions. The Society will publish the list of nominated decisions as a research tool for students of South Carolina's legal history and will draw upon the list for future research and publication projects. You may nominate one or more decisions by clicking on the link below and completing a brief form that includes the name of the case, its citation, and a few sentences explaining why you consider the decision to be an important or influential decision of the Court.

2022 Members Annual Meeting:
Honoring the Legacy of Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

The South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society’s inaugural spring members event and annual meeting took place Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at The Palmetto Club.

The event featured a brief business session followed by a special presentation on the career of The Honorable Ernest A. Finney, Former Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court presented by Luther Battiste, founding shareholder of Johnson, Toal & Battiste, PA, Dr. Bobby Donaldson, Director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, and The Honorable Jean H. Toal, Former Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.