Furman Hosts Live Oral History of the Orangeburg Massacre

GREENVILLE, SC – March 12, 2008 – Furman University will host the presentation “The Orangeburg Massacre: A Retrospective Conversation with Cleveland Sellers and Jack Bass” in the Younts Conference Center Monday, March 17 at 7 p.m.Admission is open to the public and free of charge.

This unique event features a live oral history interview of Sellers and Bass conducted by Furman assistant professor of history Dr. Courtney Tollison.  Tollison, Director of the Furman University Oral History Project, will engage Sellers and Bass in a discussion of the massacre, in which police fire killed three college students at South Carolina State College, now known as S.C. State University.  Assistant professor of communication studies Dr. John Armstrong will introduce the speakers with a brief discussion of significance of the Orangeburg Massacre and its importance in the history of the civil rights movement.

Sellers is the Director of African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. His Masters degree is from Harvard University and his doctorate is from UNC-Greensboro. He is the author of The River of No Return, considered to be among the best autobiographies to come out of the civil rights movement. In February 1968, he was shot by policemen on the campus of S.C. State College and was the only person convicted because of his alleged involvement. Since, the governor has officially pardoned Sellers.

Bass is the author of The Orangeburg Massacre and six other books on American race relations. His books have received many awards, including the Robert Kennedy Book Award.  His doctorate is from Emory University and he is professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston.

For more information, contact the Furman Department of History at 864-294-2182.