The Huguenot Herald - Huguenot Society of South Carolina

Board of Directors
John E. Cuttino
President
Ford Prioleau Menefee
1st Vice President
Helga Preston Wrenn Billings
Secretary
C. Stuart Dawson, Jr.
Treasurer
Vice Presidents:
Daniel Ravenel, M.D.
J. Palmer Gaillard III
Charlton deSaussure, Jr.
John E. Huguley, Jr.
Dianne Watts Ressinger
Charles B. Upshaw III
Chaplain:
Rev. Philip Gendron Porcher
Legal Advisor:
John Bacot Williams
Staff
Renee LaHue Marshall
Executive Director
Harriott Cheves Leland
Archivist/Researcher
Dorothy Mercer Huff, Registrar
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Society Members:
We are quickly moving toward Spring and its welcomed warmth
and beauty! Your Society’s Board and staff have been busy over the
past several months, and I am pleased to provide you with an update on
several matters.
As always, we invite you to join us at the Society’s Annual
Meeting on Saturday, April 14 th beginning at 4 P.M. at the Charleston
Museum on Meeting Street. This is an excellent opportunity to learn
more about the Society’s activities, renew old friendships, and learn
more about Huguenot history. Our guest speaker this year is the noted Dr.
Chester DePratter, Head of the Research Division of the South Carolina
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. He will be speaking on
Jean Ribault, the French explorer who founded Charlesfort 450 years ago
this year. We also invite you and your guests to join us at the reception
following the meeting.
A number of activities are planned in commemoration of Ribault’s
arrival near Port Royal in 1562. On May 1 st , the City of Jacksonville,
Florida will hold an event in recognition of Admiral Ribault’s
involvement with Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville. I will
be in attendance to represent the Huguenot Society of South Carolina.
Several organizations, including our Huguenot Society, will participate
in a commemoration event on Parris Island on Friday, May 25 th . There is
additional information about the event in this newsletter. Many thanks to
our former President Bob Prioleau for his efforts in helping to organize
this event. (Note: The family in France spells the name Ribault, while
Ribaut is the more common spelling in the United States.)
We are grateful to those of you who made contributions, both
large and small, to our 2011 Annual Fund campaign. Your gifts enable the
Society to continue our work, and we greatly appreciate your generosity.
I am also pleased to report that the Society obtained a one-time general
operating support grant of $10,000 from the Samuel Freeman Charitable
Trust. We are most grateful to them for this grant and will use it to further
the mission of our Society.
As members of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina, we
are blessed with a heritage which has shaped and enriched our state
and nation, and our individual lives. We should never forget that we
are beneficiaries of this heritage and have a responsibility to preserve
and promote it in our families. To that end, please consider asking an
eligible family member to join the Society in 2012. Our staff can provide
assistance if needed.
Finally, I hope you will consider attending the annual French
Service at the French Protestant (Huguenot) Church on Sunday April
15 th , the day following our Annual Meeting. It is always an uplifting
experience for all Huguenot descendants!
John E. Cuttino
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