“S” is for Salley, Alexander Samuel (1871-1961). Historian. A native or Orangeburg, Salley began working for the editorial department of the Charleston News and Courier and began writing articles on historical topics. In 1899 he became the secretary, treasurer, and librarian of the South Carolina Historical Society, a private organization concerned with the preservation of the state’s past. In 1905 the General Assembly created the South Carolina Historical Commission and Salley became its secretary. For the next forty years he organized, filed, and wrote about South Carolina’s documentary heritage, the beginning of what is now the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. He was renowned for being a source of information that assisted scholars and citizens. Alexander Samuel Salley’s lasting contribution to South Carolina is the state’s rich historical traditions preserved in her priceless documents.
“S” is for Salley, Alexander Samuel (1871-1961)
