The “South Carolina Civil Rights Monument Project” is a community project to create public sculptures about the history and narratives of South Carolina Civil Rights activism that will be installed outside the Cecil Williams Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg. There will be a virtual ceremony on Friday, April 22, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. during which the monument will be completed and documented for video and print materials with a keynote speech by Cecil Williams. SC Humanities supported this program with a Major Grant.
The sculpture creation began with two “community making days” scheduled in May and June 2021. The Virtual Ceremony on April 22 will feature the unveiling and completion of the scultpures, along with a welcome by Professor Jasmine Baetz, a keynote speech by Cecil Williams, a theatre project by Chevez Smith, and a call to action by Jannie Harriot, among other activities.
Participation in the Virtual Ceremony is free and open to the public. Please pre-register for the event HERE.
The Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum is the only museum in South Carolina that focuses exclusively on civil rights. The museum features 35 historical exhibits consisting of 500 photographs and over 200 artifacts. https://www.cecilwilliams.com/
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.
