SC State honors two with Social Justice Awards at 56th annual Orangeburg Massacre Commemoration

The university bestowed the Smith Hammond Middleton Social Justice Awards upon 1st memorial organizer Minnie Haynes and former student leader Dr. Clifford Stanley.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Courage never held more meaning than on Feb. 8, 1968, when South Carolina State College students demonstrated against the segregation of a local bowling alley.

As they rallied for fairness, equality and social justice that night, three young men -- Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton -- were killed and dozens more were wounded when State Police opened fire on the unarmed crowd.

One year later, other courageous people stepped up to make sure those sacrifices are never forgotten, again challenging those who would silence them.

On Thursday in Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, SC State University commemorated the 56th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre and honored two people took lead roles in the aftermath of the shootings.

The university presented the Smith Hammond Middleton Social Justice Award – named in honor of the three slain men -- to Minnie Haynes, who organized the first commemoration of the massacre in 1969, and Dr. Clifford Stanley, an SC State alumnus who led SC State’s student government in the school year following the massacre. 

Haynes, now 90, was director of the YWCA/YMCA programs at SC State at the time, while her husband, Dr. Roland Haynes Sr., was the faculty advisor for the college’s NAACP chapter. State President Alexander Conyers paid tribute to her leadership to organize that inaugural commemoration.

“When you think about 1968 and what we are here today – lots of silence, lots of secrecy, lots of unknowns,” Conyers said, adding that many wanted to bury the truth of what happened on the campus. “Some may still say it’s buried today to a point.

"When I think about the courage it took, when I think about the fact that many in the family did not want us to recognize what happened so soon – but Mrs. Haynes -- selfless service, courage – said, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to organize and we’re going to have this commemoration because those students whose lives were lost, deserve this," Conyers said.

In describing Stanley, who was the keynote speaker for the occasion, Conyers noted the social justice efforts the retired Marine Corps major general conducted both during and after his distinguished military career.

And at a torch-lighting ceremony at Smith Hammond Middleton Legacy Plaza on campus following the program, Conyers described Stanley’s enormous contribution to SC State in the year following the massacre.

“Think about the enormous pressure on a young 22-year-old leader trying to find that balance between what the students wanted to do and what their families, their parents, the administration did not want to them to do,” Conyers said. “Cliff Stanley – that following year – was the glue that held our student body together.”

With bronze busts of Smith Hammond and Middleton behind him, Conyers joined members of each man’s family in lighting a torch on the Legacy Plaza.

“These flames will serve as a symbolic reminder of the flame that should burn in us – the flame that should burn for righteousness, the flame that should burn for justice, the flame that should burn for just basic human dignity – and don’t every let anyone diminish that flame,” Conyers said.

The president also remarked about the need to remember Smith, Hammond and Middleton not just annually, but every day.

“On this campus, we remember that day like it was yesterday,” Conyers said. “Don’t ever let anyone challenge you on whether we still need to continue to do this, because I can assure you that we do.

“It’s a reminder to us that sometimes you have to go against the grain to do what’s right, and it’s never the wrong time to do what’s right,” he said.

Videos and more photos from the 56th Orangeburg Massacre Commemoration can be found on SC State’s Facebook page at facebook.com/SC State 1896.