Protest, Prayers, & Progress: Greenville’s Civil Rights Movement

January 18 – June 15, 2014

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement catalyzed substantial change throughout the nation. In cities like Birmingham, Selma, and Orangeburg, events related to the movement have been discussed for decades. Towns throughout Upcountry South Carolina also experienced change during the Civil Rights Movement, yet the local events have not been chronicled to the same extent. Fifty years after these events, this topic is ripe for historical inquiry and community engagement in understanding the legacy of this era.

To be presented in the museum’s Ramsaur Gallery, the exhibit will feature oral histories, narrative text, artifacts, life-sized graphics, photographs, and three-dimensional interactive displays. The exhibit will detail the events and people who prompted and navigated change from the Civil War through the Civil Rights era and today.