Response
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The year 1968 was an inarguably turbulent era in American history. As the Vietnam War raged on overseas, our home turf was, too, stained by violence and unrest. While U.S. citizens looked toward new leadership in an election year, their icons of hope were slain. The national news, then, didn’t spend much time reporting the tragedy in Orangeburg. The crisis climate of the time overshadowed an event that was already poorly covered on-the-spot, due to the small town’s distance from news crews in the state capital, Columbia, and the timing of the massacre, which turned deadly after 9 p.m. on that Thursday night.
February 9th, 1968Orangeburg Massacre
1969Troopers acquitted in Orangeburg caseIn a federal court more than a year later, a jury took less than two hours to acquit nine troopers charged with imposing summary punishment without due process of law. 1970Sellers incarcerated
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Historic Marker Erected on S.C. State campusAlso, a waist-high granite marker near the field where the shooting occurred (which now hosts an administration building) displays the names of each of the three victims, with their respective dates of birth and the February 8, 1968 date of their deaths. The simple inscription on marker reads:IN MEMORIAM TO |  |
Governor Hodges speaks at memorial, expresses regret at the 33rd commemoration of the shooting, Governor Jim Hodges said, “We deeply regret what happened here on the night of February 8, 1968.” Several survivors and their families attended, as well as state and some national media. Former Governor McNair was extended a formal invitation, but declined.
Jack Bass used the opportunity to interview many of the Orangeburg Massacre survivors for a half-hour “oral history project.”
Incident gets renewed exposure after April 07 Democratic debate at S.C. State University
Former Gov. McNair dies at age 83
Sources include The Orangeburg Massacre (courtesy of Mercer University Press 2002) and Nieman Reports (courtesy of Jack Bass), in addition to news sources linked throughout timeline.
Photos appear courtesy of Bill Barley, Mercer University Press and Cleveland Sellers.
Orangeburg Massacre shocks locally, has little national impact. At a press conference the next day in Columbia, South Carolina, Governor Robert E. McNair called it “one of the saddest days in the history of South Carolina” and referred to it as “this unfortunate incident.” Contrary to evidence, he also said the shooting occurred off campus. He placed blame on “black power advocates.”
The Orangeburg Massacre published
