Prominent SC Leaders Recognized In Annual Awards Program

With support from the WeGOJA Foundation, the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission presented achievement awards to nine influencers today for lifetime leadership or significant contributions in 2020 to preserving and promoting African American history in the state.

Under the theme “Preserving Our Places in History: Lest We Forget,” the program was highlighted by keynote speaker state Senator Mia McLeod, who challenged the virtual audience to become the change they’re expecting for the future. “We have to first understand our history, then we have to challenge ourselves and each other to make history,” she said. “And finally, we have to muster the courage to change history, lest we forget and repeat it.”

The 2021 Award Recipients were:

Leon Love Lifetime Achievement Award - Joseph McGill

McGill is founder of The Slave Dwelling Project. Ten years ago, McGill began spending the night in historic slave quarters and has slept overnight at more than 150 such sites across the country. He uses the experience to talk about the importance of preserving these historic structures so that we may have full and honest conversations about our country’s history. He has worked as a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a former director of history and culture at the Penn Center, and is a former docent to the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston. McGill is currently a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation & Gardens in Charleston.

Herbert A. DeCosta Trailblazer Award for innovative leadership - Marilyn Hemingway

SCAAHC’s Project Award - The Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum

This museum is the first and only civil rights museum in the state of South Carolina. The museum’s official opening was offset by COVID-19, but still attracted more than 9,000 visitors. It has preserved more than 1,000 photographs, documents and artifacts – including original photography of marches and protests, a travel trunk that once belonged to Justice Thurgood Marshall and more -- that are exclusive, one-of-a-kind historical treasures relating to the South Carolina civil rights movement.
Hemingway is the CEO, President and Founder of the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce. She is a native of Georgetown and is passionate about Social Entrepreneurship, business development and economic vibrancy. She is a founding partner of The Hemingway Group, a public relations, advertising, marketing and political advocacy firm. She is also a registered fundraiser with the state of South Carolina and has completed Energy Justice and Sea Level Rising certifications through the national NAACP.

Legislator of the Year – State Representative Joseph H. Jefferson, Jr.

Rep. Jefferson represents Berkeley and Dorchester counties. This award recognizes a legislator who has endorsed the preservation of African American history and culture and/or solicited funding in 2020 through the state legislature for causes, groups or organizations that support the preservation of African American history and culture in South Carolina.

Group / Organization Award - The Village Group

The Village Group of Georgetown County is comprised of community leaders, parents, elders and concerned citizens with one common interest: to improve the Plantersville community and build a brighter future for our children. During the early months of the pandemic, Georgetown County school children were provided with access to Chromebooks, but many had no access to the internet. The HTC and the Village Group partnered to help provide wi-fi hotspots at the Plantersville Cultural Center and the Plantersville Community Center. The Village Group, a nonprofit serves approximately 88% of Plantersville Elementary School students in an after school program.

Group / Organization Award - Drayton Hall Preservation Trust

2020 was a watershed year for the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust (DHPT) concerning the interpretation of African American history. DHPT’s proudest accomplishment is a new audio tour of the main house. Since the 1970s, tours of Drayton Hall focused primarily on architecture and the building’s White residents. The new tour, which was featured on the front page of Charleston’s Post and Courier, accentuates Drayton Hall’s status as an African American history site dedicated to researching and interpreting that history. It is a social history tour that focuses primarily on the enslaved residents of Drayton Hall. In conjunction, a new self-guided walking tour was created for the grounds of Drayton Hall that provides much more information about enslaved people and their enormous contributions across the site.

Student Award - Keighla Pope

This Claflin University student produced a noteworthy documentary on the impact of the coronavirus on her local community. The documentary explores the impact of COVID-19 on not only a religious community, but also the African American business community. The documentary titled: The Lowcountry Battler with COVID-19 can be found on YouTube.

Individual Award - Dr. Beatrice Rice Thompson.

Well-known in the Anderson community as a member of the Anderson City Council, this octogenarian worked on the Church Street Heritage Plaza with a team of artists on art installations with stories, a series of clay reliefs and a sculpture in homage to a key era in Anderson’s history featuring a generation of black entrepreneurs and community leaders. Dr. Thompson shepherded the city of Anderson’s $450,000 upgrade to the park named in her honor. And in 2020, the United Way of Anderson County named Dr. Thompson as the African American Legacy Award Winner.

SCAAHC Commissioner of the Year - Dr. Abel Bartley

Dr. Bartley is an African American history professor at Clemson University and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Commission. However, he has served in leadership roles for the Commission for at least a decade. Under his leadership, the Commission produced teacher's guides, hosted teacher's webinars and institutes, created the Green Book of South Carolina, published a resource guide for rural entrepreneurship and a book that documents historic African American schools around the state, and managed the oral history project Black Carolinians Speak.

The awards ceremony also featured greetings by Congressman Jim Clyburn and Dr. Eric Emerson, South Carolina’s state archivist and Director of the Department of Archives and History. There was also a performance by Christal Brown and the Gullah Geechee Choir. Local comedian Akintunde served as Master of Ceremony.

About the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission

Established through a joint resolution passed by the South Carolina General Assembly on May 14, 1993, the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission (SCAAHC) is devoted to preserving and promoting the rich history and culture of African Americans in the Palmetto State. Since its inception, the Commission has enhanced the efforts of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History to document and educate the public about the Black experience in South Carolina through cultural programs, curriculum development, teacher training workshops, the publication of books and online resources, and the preservation of historic spaces.

About the WeGOJA Foundation

The WeGOJA Foundation (formerly the South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation) supports the SCAAHC through fundraising, collaboration and the coordination of projects. More can be found on www.WeGOJA.org.