Thomas Elfe
(1719-1775) 
As king of the Charleston
cabinetmakers, Elfe is a fair representative of those craftsmen who fashioned the
decorative arts in our city.
 Cacique of Kiawah
(circa 1670)
You’d be reading Port Royal magazine if this Indian chief had not insisted the first Carolina settlers come here instead
Sammy Smalls
(1889-1924)
The crippled beggar who became the basis of Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He and his goat cart have delivered images of Charleston to the world.
Albert Simons
(1899-1980)
With his business partner, Samuel Lapham, Simons is responsible for much of Charleston’s architectural aesthetic and preservation ethos. He helped create the nation’s first historic district here and served for years on the Board of Architectural Review.
 Gaylord (1910-1992) and
Dorothy (1910- 2002) Donnelley
Like so many wealthy Northerners before them, these part-time residents of the Lowcountry helped transform institutions and attitudes by generous donations and patronage of the arts, history, and social causes. Their conservation activities through the Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Coastal Conservation League, and National Audubon Society have saved countless acres of pristine land.
 William Crum
(1859-1912)
A physician and administrator of the Negro Hospital and Training School for Nurses, Crum made Charleston a center for civil rights issues in the early 1900s when Teddy Roosevelt appointed him collector of the Port of Charleston, a prominent office for a black man at the time.
 David Ramsay
(1749-1815)
A physician who first
lobbied for local medical education, Ramsay was the first to inoculate against smallpox in South Carolina, and as an
historian, he was responsible for the first comprehensive
documentation of our past, raising our historical consciousness.
 Daniel Jenkins
(1862-1937)
Jenkins founded the Jenkins Orphanage to house and educate destitute African American children. The musical groups from the orphanage had a significant impact on the music of America.
 Grimke Sisters
 Sarah (1792-1873) and Angelina (1805-1879) fought nationally for equality, both for African Americans and women.
Hugh Swinton Legare
(1797-1843) 
As Attorney General of the U.S., Legare contributed to the intellectual life of the South; his
political beliefs and reliance on the classics molded generations of Charleston’s professional gentlemen...
 Herbert Fielding
(b. 1923)
In 1971, this businessman (Fielding Home for Funerals), civil rights activist, and politician became one of the first three African Americans elected to the State House since 1902.
 Harvey Gantt
(b. 1938)
When he was admitted to Clemson University in January 1963, Gantt became the first black student to attend a previously all-white school in South Carolina since Reconstruction. Later, he became the first black mayor of Charlotte and, later, a respected architect.
James E. Clyburn
(b. 1940) 
The majority whip of the
U.S. House of Representatives, Clyburn is
currently the
highest-elected African American politician in
the country.
 Henry Laurens
(1724-1792)
We can see our divided heritage in this merchant, statesman, and diplomat. As a slavetrader, Laurens was one of the wealthiest men in America while simultaneously becoming an ardent defender of liberty. He was a leader in the revolutionary movement in 1775, soon coming into national prominence by serving as president of the Continental Congress in one of the most trying times in American history. While abroad on a mission to the Netherlands, Laurens was captured by the British and, to this day, is the only American ever imprisoned in the Tower of London. He said he hated slavery, but profited immensely from it, living on Mepkin Plantation and having a great estate, now gone, near present day Laurens Street.
 Robert Mills
(1781-1851)
The first native-born professional architect in the U.S., Mills changed the face of Washington, D.C., and his native city of Charleston.
 Fire fighters of Charleston
 From the 1670s to today, their
sacrifices have saved us again and again from death and destruction.
 Glenn McConnell
(b. 1947)
As president pro tem of the S.C. Senate and its most powerful member, McConnell is an expert on legislative procedure and Confederate history. Were it not for him, the CSS Hunley would probably still be resting on the bottom of Charleston Harbor.
 John Hamrick
(1916-2004)
An advocate for faith-based education, he was the first president of Baptist College, now Charleston Southern University.
 Sam Gaillard Stoney
(1891-1968)
The quintessential Charlestonian and an architect, Stoney helped pioneer preservation and the survey of local buildings in the historic district.
 Kenneth M. Lynch, Sr.
(1887-1974)
The Medical University employs many Charlestonians. Lynch created the teaching hospital and opened up opportunities for postgraduate work and research, greatly extending the Medical College’s impact.
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