Press Releases

Matt White conducts an ensemble

Matt White's approach for "Lowcountry" has him headed to Spoleto

January 26, 2024, Thom Harman

From a new program home to new music to continued research, Matt White, Jazz Studies Program chair, is rather busy. His novel approach to a 2023 release, “Lowcountry” — incorporating Gullah histories and stories with contemporary jazz — has earned White and his collaborators a chance to perform the piece during the 2024 Spoleto Festival.

Beth Bernstein, Michael Amiridis and Bill Stern smile at the camera during a reception

Supporters celebrate success of Anne Frank Center

December 01, 2022, Jeff Stensland

The University of South Carolina hosted a reception on Wednesday (Nov. 30) to thank those who supported the establishment of the Anne Frank Center on the Columbia campus and its ongoing mission to educate visitors about antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. Reception attendees included university President Michael Amiridis, former President Harris Pastides, state Rep. Beth Bernstein, S.C. Ports Authority Chairman Bill Stern and former state Sen. Joel Laurie.

Booker T. Washington alumni look at display

New agreement with National Park Service advances UofSC's role in telling civil rights history

September 28, 2022, Alexis Watts

Under a five-year agreement with the National Park Service, the center will receive $3.4 million to expand the center’s existing work in civil rights education and scholarly research, including support for exhibits and programming at South Carolina sites in the African American Civil Rights Network. The center will help to grow the network in South Carolina by serving as a resource to property owners, community leaders and organizations interested in joining the network.

brick exterior of Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, South Carolina

Grant advances UofSC's efforts to create destination for preserving, teaching civil rights history

June 20, 2022, Carol J.G. Ward

The University of South Carolina’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research will receive $500,000 in federal funding to further its mission to preserve civil rights history and tell critical stories of the movement. The African American Civil Rights grant administered by the National Park Service will be used to continue rehabilitation and preservation of the historic Booker T. Washington Auditorium Building.

Letters in air mail envelopes from Otto Frank to Cara Wilson-Granat spread on a table.

Letters from Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, donated to UofSC Anne Frank Center

June 08, 2022, Alexis Watts

The Anne Frank Center located at the University of South Carolina is now home to 100 letters and cards written by Otto Frank, the father of Holocaust victim and world-renowned diarist Anne Frank. The donation comes as the world honors her life and legacy on the 75th anniversary of the publication of her diary and her birthday on June 12.

a Black man holds signs protesting segregation

UofSC to expand civil rights education with $1.5 million gift from Williams to fund civil rights exhibits, programs and collections

February 15, 2022, Peggy Binette

A $1.5 million gift from Williams, an energy infrastructure company, will enhance the University of South Carolina’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research’s ability to share South Carolina’s important role in the broader national movement.

man with red tie, black coat, baseball cap standing with granite marker

UofSC civil rights center unveils historical marker commemorating landmark protest

March 02, 2021, Carol J.G. Ward

The Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina unveiled a historical marker on March 2 to commemorate the courage of hundreds of students who marched on the South Carolina State House 60 years ago. Many of the students were arrested, and the appeal of their convictions eventually was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to a legal precedent protecting the rights of protesters.

booker t washington auditorium building

Popular UofSC civil rights exhibit will have a permanent home

April 09, 2020, Carol J.G. Ward

The university will continue rehabilitation and preservation of the Booker T. Washington Auditorium Building to create a permanent space for the Center for Civil Rights History and Research’s exhibit “Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement.” Funded with a $500,000 grant from the National Park Service, the restoration will advance efforts to create a destination for people to learn the history of Columbia and of the school.

MLK Weekend at UofSC

The beloved community

January 17, 2019, Dana Woodward

The University of South Carolina’s MLK Weekend event series culminates Sunday, Jan. 20, with Freedom Rings, an artistic celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. The university partnered with the Columbia nonprofit Auntie Karen Foundation to bring together Midlands musicians, artists and spoken word performers to honor the civil rights leader in an event designed to bring the audience to its feet.

USMC Film Repository's new home opens

May 26, 2017, John Brunelli

University President Harris Pastides and Thomas McNally, dean of University Libraries dedicate the John S. Davis Scanning Center and the Lt. Col. James H. Davis Film Vault at the Libraries' Moving Image Research Collections. The MIRC facility is the new home of the U.S. Marine Corps Film Repository that chronicles the corps from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Stanley Nelson

Civil rights filmmaker Stanley Nelson to visit UofSC

March 23, 2017, Peggy Binette

Award-winning civil rights documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson Jr. will visit the University of South Carolina March 29-31 to preview his latest documentary and give a series of public talks. We caught up with Nelson to discuss some of the topics he'll explore with university faculty, staff and students.

symposium to explore Reconstruction history, racial legacy 150 years later

March 24, 2016, Peggy Binette

The shooting of nine people in a Charleston AME church was a catalyst for South Carolina lawmakers to remove from Statehouse grounds the Confederate flag. Nine months later, the state’s capital city will host a public symposium for people and public officials to explore the history and racial legacy of the Reconstruction era. The April 21-22 event marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Reconstruction era and will feature Rep. James Clyburn, the state’s first African-American member of Congress since Reconstruction, Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar Eric Foner as well as an array of scholars and public historians.