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Not Everything is on Display At The State Museum, But This Weekend It Is

Artifacts and antiques are meticulously cataloged in the storage areas, the items that the general public doesn't often get the chance to see.

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - When you're walking around the 250,000 square feet of the South Carolina State Museum, what you're seeing is only a small portion of what they have to offer. In the back rooms of the museum, shelves and containers are filled from floor to ceiling.

Artifacts and antiques are meticulously cataloged in the storage areas, the items that the general public doesn't often get the chance to see.

"About 90, 85% is in storage and not on display," says Joann Zeise, Curator of Cultural History for the museum.

But what mysteries still lie in the back rooms of the state museum? What stories are yet to be told, just waiting for their chance to make it into one of the exhibits on the main floor. An unassuming wood and black leather chair is one of Joann's favorites.

She says "That chair was built specifically for Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he visited South Carolina. And not only that, it was built by the prisoners just a few blocks over at CCI correctional institute, which is now a lovely apartment complex."

It's Joann's job to see that each item in the cultural history department gets it's time in the spotlight.

Joann says, "We are trying to tell the whole story of every culture in the state. From Charleston to the Upstate, to the Piedmont to Myrtle Beach, to just the differences along the coast. It's a lot to cover and we do our best to do that."

Down in the natural history storage area, the resident paleontologists have their share in storage as well.

"So we probably have, in natural history [area], a couple hundred thousand of specimens in storage. And some of them may never make it one display because they're pretty broken up, but it's the only piece of that thing that we have," says Natural History Curator David Cicimurri.

in this storage area, the items tell the story of South Carolina dating much further back than the antique furniture of the cultural history, and they're making new discoveries all the time.

Cicimurri says, "It's almost every time somebody goes out they find something. It's like 'oh that's new,' some new interpretation as far as what was South Carolina like 20,000 years ago, 2-1/2 million, 520 million. So every time we get out there, there's always something new to find."

Even though many artifacts and specimens are safely stored away, they're not completely off-limits. If you have a nagging curiosity, or just a bad case of FOMO (fear-of-missing-out,) then you can schedule a private tour of these areas, and see some of those items you never even knew were there.

If you don't want to wait to make an appointment, you're in luck, the SC State Museum's 6th annual "History Day" is this Saturday from 10am to 4pm. For just one day, the museum will be offering open tours into those areas that are normally off limits, so you, too, can get a behind-the-scenes look at the museum's storage rooms.

Guests will get to test their knowledge throughout the museum with a fun Mystery Artifacts contest and other family friendly activities. General admission to the State Museum is $8.95 adults, $7.95 seniors and $6.95 children.

For private and group tour info, you can call 803-898-4999.

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