S.C. Code Ann. § 60-11-70

The Commission of Archives and History shall not solicit private records, but if its services are necessary to safeguard such records it may accept, either as a gift or deposit, collections offered by their legal owners or custodians. All such papers shall be open to inspection and examination for the purpose of research in like manner as are the public records. Neither the State nor the Commission of Archives and History shall be responsible for the loss of private records accepted on deposit.