The traveling exhibit “Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement,” created by the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, will be on display in Georgetown at the Southern Georgetown Community Library from October 7 – December 16, 2023. SC Humanities supported the traveling exhibit with a Major Grant.
The “Justice for All” traveling exhibit highlights some of South Carolina’s largely overlooked chapters in the national Civil Rights Movement, such as when Sarah Mae Fleming was ejected from a bus in downtown Columbia in 1954 for sitting in the whites’ only section and the Citizenship School opened by Esau Jenkins, Septima Clark, and Bernice Robinson on Johns Island in 1957. The exhibit shares about the roots of the movement, education, public demonstrations, public segregation, voting rights, economic rights, and the legacy of the movement.
“Students and visitors to the exhibit will learn about individuals and institutions who struggled for and demanded racial justice in South Carolina and across the country,” said Dr. Bobby Donaldson, professor of history and the Executive Director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research. “The materials cover a broad time span, from Reconstruction through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and will allow visitors to see firsthand the struggles of those who pushed for equal rights and the efforts of those who worked to curtail them.”
Comprised of interpretive panels; video, audio, and interactive elements; reproductions and images of items in University collections; and artifacts, the “Justice for All” traveling exhibit will allow more South Carolinians to learn about the Civil Rights history of our state and to make specific and local connections to those stories. Additionally, the traveling exhibition was designed with groups and students in mind. Traveling trunks with materials and lesson plans for students are available. Groups may request a guided tour or a traveling trunk by emailing the Center, sccivilrights@sc.edu. In addition to funding from SC Humanities, this exhibit received support from the Central Carolina Community Foundation and the Williams Company.
“Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement” will be on display at the Southern Georgetown Community Library from October 7 – December 16, 2023. The library is located at 4187 Powell Rd, Georgetown, SC 29440. It is open Monday – Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
On October 7, there will be an opening reception from 12 – 3:00 p.m. at the library. Other collateral events will be taking place at the library while the exhibit is on display.
On Thursday, November 16, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., Dr. Mari N. Crabtree, Associate Professor of African American Studies at College of Charleston, will speak on “Lynching’s Legacy in the US South” at the Southern Georgetown Branch Library. And on Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 3:00 p.m., Dr. Bobby Donaldson, Director of USC’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research, will speak on “And Justice for All” at the Southern Georgetown Library.
Additional collateral events will take place at the Howard Center Auditorium (1610 Hawkins St, Georgetown, SC 29440). On Friday, December 8th, the Center for Civil Rights History and Research will be hosting an “Eyewitnesses of the Movement” event from 6-8 pm with panelists Lorna Rainey, the great granddaughter of Joseph Rainey, and Cecil Williams, a prominent photographer during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement! A reception will follow. On Saturday, December 9th, at 5:45 pm, there will be a reception before showing a screening of “After Sherman.” A discussion with the documentary’s director, Jon Sersie Goff, will follow.
The “Justice for All” traveling exhibit is available to travel to other cultural organizations and public venues in South Carolina in 2024. For more information about this opportunity, contact the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina at 803-777-2220 or sccivilrights@sc.edu.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Image courtesy of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina
