The Columbia residents and visitors came together Wednesday to celebrate pivotal moments in history at the opening reception for “Freedom Now: Columbia, S.C., and the Modern Civil Rights Movement.”
Held at the Gallery at City Hall, the event gave a visual representation of the fight for freedom in history and the effects on today’s society.
“The event is an important reminder of the struggle of Civil Rights and the role of young people in our struggle,” said Bobby Donaldson, associate professor of history at the university and a member of the Columbia Advisory Committee for Columbia SC 63. “This is the first time some of the images have been seen in Columbia.”
Columbia played an important role in Civil Rights history, as politicians, grassroots activists and other national locals visited to sway public opinion.
The historical photography project took a year to come together and featured photographs of prominent leaders from the time period, such as Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Though the visuals served as a history lesson to many of the visitors that came, for others, the pictures were memories of moments they lived through.
“It’s heartwarming to see the progress that was made over the last 50 years,” said James Williams Jr., a Columbia resident who participated in the 1963 marches in Orangeburg. “I want people to realize that there is still a long way to go; even though we achieved great things, we have greater things to do.”
For Minnie Wilson Rivers, another South Carolina resident, seeing pictures of those she looked up to when she was young was a real treat. Rivers’ own mother, who was one of the first African Americans to vote in 1947, was featured in the exhibit.
“This right here is my mother, my father and my uncle,” Wilson said, as she pointed out each of her relatives in 1947 Elmore v. Rice black and white photograph. “Out of this entire line of people waiting to vote, my mother is the only one still living.”
Donaldson said that the historical exhibit is not only a commemoration, but it also provides a history lesson to the younger generation. He especially wants students to learn things they haven’t learned before about African American history after seeing the photographs.
“Personal testimonies are missing from the lessons of the classroom,” Donaldson said. “This exhibit gives individuals the opportunity to tell their own story.”