Civil Rights Photographer Cecil Williams to Expand South Carolina's Only Civil Rights Museum

The move, supported by a $23 million federal grant, will see the museum relocate to a larger building in downtown Orangeburg.

Cecil Williams, a renowned photographer who documented South Carolina's civil rights history, runs the state's only civil rights museum, which he established in his old house in 2019.
Williams plans to move his museum to a larger building in downtown Orangeburg, thanks to a $23 million federal grant.
The museum showcases Williams' photographs, as well as other significant artifacts from the civil rights era, including items from the Briggs v. Elliott case, which laid the groundwork for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn legal segregation.
Williams is also advocating for the U.S. Supreme Court to rename the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to the Briggs case in its official records, arguing that South Carolina's role in ending segregation should be recognized.
Preservationists and historians express concern about the loss of African American history as the generation that lived through the civil rights era passes away, and their letters, photographs, and other mementos of the struggle are discarded.