The Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina has created a traveling exhibit based on the archival exhibit “Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement” that was on display at the Hollings Special Collections Library from February – August 2019. The exhibit will open at the Sumter County Museum on January 15th, 2022. SC Humanities supported this project 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.
Comprised of interpretive panels; video, audio, and interactive elements; reproductions and images of items in University collections; artifacts; and supplemental K-12 teaching resources, 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. In addition to funding from SC Humanities, this exhibit received support from the Central Carolina Community Foundation.
“Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement” will be on display at the Sumter County Museum from January 15 – March 19, 2022. The Sumter County Museum, located at 122 North Washington Street in Sumter, is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. or by appointment. https://sumtercountymuseum.org/
The “Justice for All” traveling exhibit will be available to travel to other cultural organizations and public venues in South Carolina in 2022 and 2023. 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.
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 21-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or 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.
Image courtesy of WIS Collection in the Moving Image Research Collection
