Before 12 years of age, Cecil Williams’ camera had captured the petitioners in Clarendon County as they lit the torch of freedom. In 10th grade, he photographed Thurgood Marshall coming to Charleston for the Briggs case, and again one year later, speaking at Claflin. In 1955, he became the youngest-ever JET Magazine photographer. In 1960, upon being thrown out of a New York press conference, he became JFK’s favorite lensman.

Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 operating with strict guidelines adhering to the mission of non-profits. Cecil Williams Photography, LLC, is a for-profit business transitioning into a perfect model to share the vast image collections captured by the founder and at same time striving to operate a viable enterprise. It was within this model, the founder was able to create the museum concept solely funded from his resources. Your understanding and support will be greatly appreciated.

Cecil is Director of Historic Preservation at Claflin University. In this task, he also oversees one of the largest digital film transformation projects in the southeast.

Dr. Bobby Donaldson is an Associate Professor of History, and the Director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research, at the University of South Carolina-Columbia. He received his undergraduate degree in History and African American Studies from Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. in American History from Emory University. Previously, he held fellowships at Dartmouth College and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University.

In addition to teaching and publishing articles and essays on African American education, religion, and civil rights, Donaldson has served as a curator and consultant for numerous museum exhibitions, historic preservation projects, oral histories, documentary films and archival collections.

Dr. Donaldson and his students received the Helen Kohn Hennig Prize awarded by the Historic Columbia Foundation for their documentary project on the Ward One community in downtown Columbia. In 2010, he received a Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award. Presently, Dr. Donaldson is a member of Wesleyan University’s Board of Trustees and the NAACP.

Dr. Vernon Burton is a professor of history at Clemson University, the Director of its Clemson CyberInstitute, and an author. He formerly served as Director of the Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (CHASS) and professor of History and Sociology at th University of Illinois.He is also a Senior Research Scientist at theNational Center for Supercomputing Applications.  where he is Associate Director for Humanities and Social Sciences. Burton has authored more than a hundred articles and wrote or edited fourteen books. His books include In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina that was the subject of sessions at the Southern Historical Association and the Social Science History Association’s annual meetings. It was also submitted for a Pulitzer. He also wrote The Age of Lincoln, winner of the 2007Ch imago Tribune Heartland Prize.

Darlene Clark Hine is a pioneering scholar in the field of African American women’s history. She has written three award-winning books on African American women’s history, and edited a two-volume encyclopedia, Black Women in America, the first major encyclopedia on the subject. Hine is considered to be a leading expert on the subject of race, class, and gender in American society. As the John A. Hannah Professor of History at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Hine helped to establish a new doctoral field in comparative African American history, one of the first of its kind. She has co-edited a 16-volume series on African American history in the United States, Milestones in African American History, as well as numerous anthologies. In her academic work, Hine seeks not only to explore African American history, but also to redefine the discipline of history itself. “To me, the historical profession is still too caught up with the wealthy and the influential in political, social, and cultural arenas, who actually number only a very small minority of the human population,” Hine told Roger Adelson of the Historian. “…Because so few of the new social historians have included black women, who remained at the very bottom of the ladder in the United States, we continue to lose much understanding and wisdom.”

James Felder, Board Chairman

& Major Gifts Consultant

James L. Felder, is a native South Carolinian. Following the completion of his undergraduate studies at Clark College in Atlanta, GA, he spent two years in the United States Army serving with the Honor Guard Ceremonial Unit in the Nation's capital.  After his tour of duty with the Army, he matriculated at Howard University School of Law completing his studies in June 1967, and returned to South Carolina. His selection to serve with the Honor Guard represented only the tenth black American to serve with this elite unit.  The first nine preceded him by several months. Felder is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives (1970-72) and one of three blacks who served in the General Assembly since Reconstruction. Felder is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.  He has been a member for 60 years and has served in various leadership roles.  The author has written three books:  (1)  I Buried John F. Kennedy, (2)  Civil Rights in South Carolina, (3) The Making of an AME Bishop and the latest book The Life and Times of Luns C. Richardson.   

Katherine Briggs is the daughter of Harry and Elizra Briggs, namesake of the historic Briggs v. Elliot petitioners in Clarendon County, SC.

Mr. Nathaniel Briggs currently lives in New Jersey but frequently returns to his native Clarendon County, South Carolina home where his parents, Harry Briggs Sr. launched the Briggs v. Elliott lawsuit. 

Mr. J.A. Delaine is the son of Rev. J.A. Delaine, Sr, as a Methodist minister and civil rights leader from Clarendon County, South Carolina. DeLaine worked with Modjeska Simkins and the South Carolina NAACP on the case Briggs v. Elliott, which challenged segregation in Summerton, South Carolina.  DeLaine decided to leave South Carolina, and never returned, after a warrant was issued for his arrest for returning gunfire when his parsonage later came under hostile gunfire. He fled first to New York City and then to Buffalo, New York, where he founded another Methodist church. As a result of efforts begun in 1955, DeLaine was pardoned in 2000 by the South Carolina State Parole Board. DeLaine also memorably taught school in South Carolina, and in 2006 was inducted into South Carolina's Educational Hall of Honor at the University of South Carolina. Rev. DeLaine and three other plaintiffs in the Briggs v. Elliott case were posthumously awarded Congressional gold medals in 2004 for their courage and persistence despite repeated acts of domestic violence against them.

Mr. Jerry Fryer, a graduate of SC State University, is a retired photographer and business entrepreneur living in Spartanburg. While a student at SC State, he worked with Cecil Williams. Fryer was a student during the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre era. He captured behind the scenes images that appear in Out of the Box in Dixie and other publications.

Rev. Geoffery Henderson is a Native of Orangeburg, SC. and is in his 32nd year as a professional photographer/videographer.  At a very young age he developed a flair for photography. After receiving a camera as a childhood Christmas gift, he found himself taking pictures of all his surroundings, to include pets, trees, buildings, friends, etc.  After receiving his early education in the public school system of Orangeburg County, and attending South Carolina State University, Geoff began his professional career in 1987 after being gifted with his first professional photo kit by his cousin, Stanley D. Hampton, Sr. For the next 16 years he served as office manager and lead photographer for Mitchell’s Photography of Orangeburg.  For the last 10 years he's been serving as corporate video-photo technician for Cecil Williams Photography, LLC. Geoff is also a licensed and ordained minister of the gospel with Christian Antioch Church of South Carolina.  He is  married to the former Ms. Elaine Brunson of Columbia, SC. 

As President of M², André sets the investment strategy and oversees the growth and operations of M². He founded the firm in 1999.

Prior to M², André led the Rice Group Ltd. (RGL), a firm he launched in 1986 to identify and organize special investment opportunities for wealthy individuals. RGL created several successful investment partnerships and provided select investment banking services to the world’s largest commodities firm.

André began his career in 1978 as an Auditor at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG). He worked in securities sales for the Private Client Group at Goldman Sachs & Co. Immediately prior to founding RGL, André was a Senior Project Manager in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Kraft, Inc.

André is a member of NASP (National Association of Securities Professionals). Appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, he serves on the Chicago Cook Workforce Investment Board. André was previously appointed by Former Mayor Daley to serve on the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board (June 2010 – September 2012), the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (May 2006 – April 2010), and the interim board of the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (April 2010 – June 2010).

André received a BS in Accounting, with honors, from South Carolina State University and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Toni Adella Williams-Sanchez, Panamanian computer programmer, analyst, mathematics, science and computer educator. She is also a Certified data educator. In 1982, she was recipient National Federally Employed Women award. Background. In 1972, she received a Bachelor of Science, Claflin College, and in 1972. Master of Arts, Columbia University, 1976.

Enrique is

Dr. James Sulton, son of civil rights pioneer James Sulton, was born into a wonderful family focused on hard work, small business and meaningful education, Jim Sulton has always strived to fulfill the ideals of his forbears. South Carolina State University is a public higher education learning enterprise and Claflin is a nationally renowned private university. This distinctive academic environment afforded invaluable learning opportunities for Jim when he was growing up and role models for a lifetime. Sulton's hybrid undergraduate career began at Michigan State University and concluded with graduation from Howard University. He earned graduate degrees (M.A. and Ph.D.) from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He participated in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad program at the American University in Cairo and later became a fellow at the Institute for African and Asian Studies at the University of Khartoum. Jim's academic career began with faculty service at Howard University.  He held senior level executive posts at the University of Wisconsin System, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board. He served as Executive Vice President at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey. His experience as an activist included work as a legislative liaison for TransAfrica.
Jim now leads The Sulton Center where he combines scholarship, activism and lifelong involvement in the movement for civil rights.

Mr. Bernie Wright is

Mrs. Barbara Johnson Williams, received her B.S. in elementary education, M.Ed in special education and Ed.S in Educational Administration from South Carolina State University. She worked for South Carolina State as an adjunct professor and for Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five as a teacher; department chair, and program specialist before her retirement in 2011. Ms. Johnson-Williams also served as the Special Education Program Specialist and Department Chairperson for Special Education at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. She was a member of the Council for Exceptional Children Local Chapter and president of the South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children.  Her professional, personal and civic affiliations include president of the Northwood Estates Neighborhood Association, Advisory Board for Low County Healthy Start, the Nurturing Committee for Edisto Habitat for Humanity, Orangeburg Community Task Force, Orangeburg Branch of the NAACP, member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., The Orangeburg Links Inc., Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity, SCSU Alumni, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Edisto Fork Community Development Center Inc., the National Education Association, the American Business Women’s Association and the South Carolina Association for Black Educators. Ms. Johnson-Williams is a member of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, where she serves as president of the Usher Ministry, correspondent secretary of the Senior Missionary Ministry and member of the Stewardship Ministry and Women’s Guild. She and her husband, Cecil, live in Orangeburg.

Ms. Brenda L. Williams was former vice president of Strategy and Compliance at the Regional Medical Center (RMC) of Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. In this position, she was responsible for engineering, marketing, grant writing, switchboard, volunteers telecommunications, laboratory, Joint Commission review, planning, risk management, insurance, environment of care, environmental services, cardiology, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, Vein Clinic, Vascular Center, Breast Health Center, the Dialysis Access Institute, and the Mabry Center for Cancer Care. Brenda received the 2017 Distinguished Alumna Award from South Carolina State University for her work as an innovator and community servant. She was named the 2016 Rotarian of the Year for her service by the Orangeburg Morning Rotary Club. Brenda was also the recipient of the 2015 Palmetto Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association Spencer D. Disher, MD Award for her contributions to community healthcare. Ms. Williams currently holds the following positions: chairperson, Board for the Orangeburg-Calhoun-Allendale-Bamberg (OCAB) Community Action Agency; vice president, the Regional Economic and Educational Community Development Corporation; and member of the Orangeburg School District 5 Foundation Board. Ms. Williams is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and a member and lector at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Orangeburg. 

Nancy Wilson-Young is a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina where during the 1960s, she participated in the civil rights movement. Now retired, Young is the former distinguished Professor of Reading at Miami-Dade. A graduate of Claflin University, she has traveled almost every Continent world-wide. Formerly she served on the Board of Trustees at Claflin University. She is a life member of the NAACP and the Claflin University International Alumni Association.