Area authors who have turned to the SC Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) for research sources will share some of their techniques at a roundtable discussion Saturday, February 11, beginning at 10 am.

The informal discussion at the state history center, 8301 Parklane Road, is free and open to the public; however, to assure seating, please call 896-6246 to pre-register.

Following the roundtable discussion, authors will sign their books, and professional archivists will offer an informal tour of the Search Room. The Second Saturday event is hosted by the SC Archives and History Foundation which supports the mission and initiatives of the state agency.

The SCDAH houses one of the most comprehensive state archival collections in the nation, spanning more than 325 years of SC history. Included within the 126,000 square foot history center that opened in 1988 are miles of reference and research materials including state records, indexes, census, pension, and prison records.

• Sam Morton will speak first in order to leave the event and drive to Summerville, SC, in time for his first book signing. The debut novel by the director of publications and information for the USC School of Medicine is Disavowed , a law enforcement mystery, just out from Echelon Press. Morton has also published a collection of essays.

• Bert Goolsby’s most recent title, Harper’s Joy , was published in August 2005 by new regional press Grace Abraham Press headquartered in Bristol, VA. Goolsby, a member of SC’s legal profession, has been publishing fiction for a decade. Results of his use of archival research resources are woven into his literary and legal writing. One of his short stories was included in Marlo Thomas’ anthology of essays, Right Words at the Right Time.

• Carla Damron , a clinical social worker in mental health and author of the Caleb Knowles Mysteries , views research as a natural manifestation of a writer’s curiosity. Health and death records, such as those archived by the department, could facilitate plot development of thrillers such as her recent Spider Blue . Damron is currently president of the Inkplots, part of the SC Writers Network, and is secretary of the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

• Dr. John Hammond Moore is the veteran author of history–related titles including C olumbia and Richland County: A South Carolina Community, 1740-1990 . He has compiled guides to research in SC and to the newspapers of the state, edited two books dealing with SC in the late 19th century, and written a history of the state highway department.

• Ruth Cupp , whose first book was Portia Steps Up to the Bar , chronicled women members of the SC Bar. Just out last month is her latest, Attorneys: from Charles Towne to Charleston , a historical anthology of the major events and the issues faced by members of the local bar since the founding of Charleston’s first settlement in the late 1600s. Cupp, who in 1954 was the first women in history to become a member of the bar in Charleston, admitted in her dust jacket copy she is hopelessly addicted to doing research. She has invested many hours in the Search Room at the History Center.

Established in 1905 as the SC Historical Commission, the department is completing its year–long celebration of its centennial. The earliest record is a 1671 ledger of the colonial secretary.