In 1960, seven Columbia civil rights activists were convicted of crimes related to protests against racial inequality. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning their convictions from 1964.
In a formal ceremony held in October at the Fifth Judicial Court Solicitor's office, the activists' criminal records were expunged, erasing the charges from nearly six decades ago.
The ceremony recognized Charles Barr, Rev. Simon Bouie, and the five predeceased, Rev. David Carter, Johnny Clark, Richard Counts, Milton Greene and Rev. Talmadge Neal. The University of South Carolina's Center for Civil Rights History and Research served as a community partner to the event.
Bobby Donaldson, executive director and founder of the center, led efforts to recognize the history of the incident and initiate the expungement process, which has been in the works on and off since 2013.
The original criminal cases date to sit-in incidents in March 1960.
Bouie, at the time, president of Allen University’s Student Movement Association, and Talmadge Neal, president of the Benedict College Student Movement Association, led over 200 students in non-violent protests against racial segregation and Jim Crow laws in Columbia.
Bouie and Neal were arrested on March 14, 1960, for refusing to leave the luncheonette booth at Eckerd’s Drug Store on Main Street.
The following day, five more college students, including Barr, were arrested for participating in another sit-in at the Taylor Street Pharmacy’s luncheonette counter. The two privately owned businesses had signs prohibiting service to Black customers at the counter, only allowing food to be purchased to eat elsewhere. The students were convicted of trespassing and breach of peace, which carried a sentence of a $100 fine or 30 days in prison. Bouie was additionally charged with resisting arrest.
Bouie v. Columbia and Barr v. Columbia's case lawyers appealed the charges to the United States Supreme Court after continuous affirmations in South Carolina courts.
In mid-October 1963, over three years after the original incident, the cases were argued in Washington D.C. to the Supreme Court.
The two of five cases selected by the Supreme Court to review were Bouie and Barr's, with similar cases from Maryland and Florida, all of them student defendants.
"The percentage of cases that the Supreme Court agrees to review is extremely small, so to have these two cases selected from South Carolina is an indication of the prominent role South Carolina played in the Civil Rights movement," Christopher Frear, lead researcher at USC's Center for Civil Rights History and Research said.
The Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn the convictions on June 22, 1964.
Ten days later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed into law. This act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
“I didn’t realize at the time the impact it would have by us going down there,” Charles Barr said in his speech at the expungement ceremony, referring to the 1960 sit-ins.
During the decades between the present year and the overturned convictions, the seven former students criminal records remained. The records were responsible for various obstacles throughout their lifetimes. For Rev. Bouie, it prevented him from serving in the United States military.
"Today's ceremony is more than a formality, it is a public acknowledgement of the rightful place these men hold in our history," Donaldson said at the event.
According to the center, only within the past year had any significant progress on clearing their records been made. Through willing coordination with the solicitor’s office and South Carolina law enforcement, a formal request for expungement could be made to the court.
Donaldson became aware of the prevailing criminal records around the time he organized ColumbiaSC 63 in 2012, said Fraer.
ColumbiaSC 63 is a project to recognize smaller southern cities with great civil rights history. On Main Street in Columbia, a civil rights walking tour can be found, which was developed through the project.
Donaldson and the Center for Civil Rights History and Research's focus is to preserve and educate students on the history on and around campus not long ago. Numerous resources and community exhibitions have been made more accessible through their work.
Working with the University, the Center for Civil Rights History and Research spent $500,000 to expand the digital databases for civil rights history research.
“This puts the University of South Carolina on par for research with Harvard, Yale, Emory and other leading research universities, “ Fraer said.
The center's goal is to collect as much information and personal testimonies from the time period that can still be obtained.
News video footage of Reverend Bouie’s arrest and audio recordings of the proceedings in the Supreme Court can be accessed through USC’s library databases.