‘Most exciting field trip’: 4th graders visit SC Statehouse to learn about American Revolution
by Skylar Laird, SC Daily Gazette
January 16, 2026
COLUMBIA — The House chamber, usually quiet on a Friday, filled with cries of “huzzah!” as 250 fourth graders wished a happy 250th birthday to their country.
With tricorn hats on their heads, the elementary school students attended South Carolina’s inaugural Liberty Day, a hands-on learning experience about the Revolutionary War.
Historical reenactors in more elaborate time-accurate garb dotted the House chamber and wandered the Statehouse lobby, where they explained to the children what life was like when the first shots of the American Revolution were fired in Massachusetts in 1775.
The idea came from the National Society of the Colonial Dames’ state chapter, said Molly Fortune, who leads SC250, a commission dedicated to recognizing the country’s 250th anniversary.
The commission put out applications to schools across the state, and when more applications came back than there was space for students, officials prioritized those with teachers who completed the dames’ 10-week course on Charleston’s colonial-era history, she said.
The goal was to get children out of the classroom and bring history to life for them, Fortune said.
“Kids learn really, really well when it’s hands-on,” Fortune said. “So, when the kids get to shake a rattle, or they get to actually touch the flax and weave with it, it opens a door that is not just history. It’s not just dates.”
One of the commission’s missions is to highlight stories that often go untold, including those of Native Americans, Black soldiers and women during the war.
A representative of the Catawba Nation, the state’s only federally recognized Native American tribe, showed children feathers, rattles and drums tribal members would have used during the Colonial era.
Beaufort-based Gullah Kinfolk Traveling Theater put on a version of Da’Gullah American Revolution Experience, a play about the Gullah Geechee experience during the American Revolution. Spinsters from Belle Sisters, who make period-accurate gowns for battle reenactments, demonstrated how to use a spinning wheel to make yarn.
Those stories can help engage children who don’t often see people like themselves in their history books, Fortune said.
“All these kids here today, if you saw it, it was a melting pot,” Fortune said. “Anybody can be a leader. That’s what I want them to take away from this.”
Names and dates were also important Friday. Fourth grade is when students start learning about American history, and those who visited the Statehouse came prepared. During a trivia contest that could have stumped some of the adults in the room, students knew nearly every answer.
Students divided into two teams representing the Continental Army, moving from colonies in the North and South. With each correct answer, the student troops advanced — using Post-It notes on a map — closer to Philadelphia, home of the Second Continental Congress where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
Katherine Saunders Pemberton, SC250’s education and outreach manager, called the questions. A few examples:
- What female plantation manager, who turned indigo into a major cash crop for South Carolina, supported the Patriots financially and helped Francis Marion escape the British? (Eliza Lucas Pinckney)
- Which American general famously betrayed the Patriots and defected to the British? (Benedict Arnold)
- What South Carolina fort built of palmetto logs and sand famously defended Charleston from the British Navy? (Fort Moultrie)
The team representing the southern colonies won.
The students impressed Gov. Henry McMaster, a history buff who talked the children through some of the battles fought in South Carolina.
“That was a great thing,” McMaster said afterward of watching the students answer trivia questions. “We’ll do it next year and do it right on, because our history, we’ve got a great story.”
The goal is to make the event annual, Fortune said. The celebration of the nation’s history doesn’t end with a big bash July 4. Instead, events will continue through 2033, the anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that formally ended the war.
Younger children have a lot to look forward to when they get their own turns at Liberty Day, said three students from Latta Elementary School in Dillon County.
History is already fun, said the three students, but seeing it happen in front of them made it even more so.
“This has been the most exciting field trip I’ve ever had,” said fourth grader Alexander Barnhardt.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com.
