The Charleston Library Society is the South's oldest cultural institution and the third oldest library in the United States, founded in 1748. Among its collections are newspapers dating from 1732, maps, and manuscripts, including letters from George Washington, John Marshall, John C. Calhoun; DuBose Heyward's handwritten manuscript for Porgy, a handwritten version of John Locke's Fundamental Constitution for Carolina, Catesby and Redoute volumes, etc.
