Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s first public speech in South Carolina.
The 1966’s “March on the Ballot Boxes” speech was held at the Tomlinson High School Athletics Field in Kingstree.
Dr. King’s speech was one of the just three documented in the state.
98 year-old Mary Jane Cooper was 49 years-old and worked as a nurse in 1966 when Dr. Martin Luther King spoke in Kingstree.
“And them days I’ve never forgot,” said Cooper.
Cooper says she and her father both arrived early to get front row seats to hear the civil rights activist.
“Ya know I didn’t work that day and the lady said why didn’t you come to work.” mentioned Cooper.
The speech came months after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the voting rights act into law in August of 1965. It was also part of King’s vision to help minorities exercise their right to vote.
Congressman James Clyburn was also there in 1966 when Dr. Martin Luther King spoke.
Sunday he was the guest of honor at the ceremony and says he hopes people see the value of getting involved in their communities.
“If we are going to maintain the freedoms that were hard fought starting on that day and on these grounds in 1966, if we are going to maintain those rights, those freedoms, those positions that we hold then we must be vigilante,” stated Clyburn.
Cassandra Williams was a 16 year-old senior in high school when King came to Kingstree. She went because the year before, she got her first job in Williamsburg County.
“I approached the voters league and asked them if I could apply for a sales girls job because there were no black sales people in those positions anywhere in the county and they said they would support me in that endeavor so I went and applied and got hired as a 15 year-old sales girl making sixty five cents an hour,” Williams said.
A state historical marker was unveiled and placed near Tomlinson High School’s Athletics Field.
