Civil Rights Era photographer to speak at annual Orangeburg Massacre Commemoration

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Civil Rights Era photographer, Cecil Williams, will be the keynote speaker for the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre.

According to a press release, the commemoration will be held at 10 a.m., on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Martin Luther King Auditorium of South Carolina State University.

The annual commemoration honors the memory of South Carolina State students, Henry Smith and Samuel Hammond and Orangeburg High School student Delano Middleton.

All three men died the night of Feb. 8, 1968, when police opened fire on some 200 other Black students who were demonstrating in the name of integrating a local bowling alley.

In 1968, Williams documented the series of events, known today as the Orangeburg Massacre.

Aside from William’s speech, the commemoration will include the presentation of South Carolina State’s 2023 Social Justice Awards.

Organizers say video of the event will be available on the university’s Facebook page at facebook.com/SCState1896/ .

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