The saber-toothed cat had no way of knowing how much could be learned from the things it left behind 1.5 million years ago. Mace Brown, on the other hand, is fully aware of the educational potential of his prehistoric legacy – which is precisely why the Mt. Pleasant financial adviser intends to leave his collection of over 2,000 fossils to the College. Valued around $1.5 million, the collection – 90 percent of which roamed the South Carolina Lowcountry – is being moved in phases from Brown’s home to the new Natural History Museum in the School of Sciences and Mathematics Building, where it will remain on loan while the College works to fully subsidize the museum. With an 85–million-year-old mosasaur, a ten-horned camel and a triceratops skull already in place, the museum promises to be quite intriguing.
“It’s going to be a fantastic facility full of opportunities not just for our academic departments, but for the College’s outreach efforts, as well,” says Jim Carew, geology professor and director/curator of the museum, explaining that school groups and researchers from across the state will eventually have access to the space. “It will be a fantastic educational resource for everyone.”
And that’s just the kind of imprint Brown hopes to leave behind.
