SC State presents Social Justice Awards to Ham, Kennerly in commemorating 57th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre
Both men were seniors at SC State on Feb. 8, 1968, when state police opened fire on a crowd of unarmed students demonstrating in the name of integrating a local bowling alley. The shots killed three and wounded at least 28 others, including Kennerly.
Ham, who led the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission from 1992-2000, served as keynote speaker for Saturday’s commemoration. He shared how the Orangeburg Massacre affected his work in civil rights.
Dr. Willis Ham, SC State's former athletics director, delivers the keynote address at the Orangeburg Massacre Anniversary Commemoration.
“Fundamentally, the entire experience left an indelible mark on my mind and my heart,” Ham said following the commemoration. “I feel like every time I see the monument, and every time we celebrate these young me, I am seeing them for the first time. I am seeing them just as they were in 1968.”
Ham, who had just returned to his dormitory from an athletics trip when he was informed of the tragedy, recalled his interactions with the three slain young men, SC State students Henry Smith and Samuel Hammond and high school senior Delano Middleton.
Hammond was Ham’s football protégé, and he met Middleton through the teenager’s mother, who was employed on the campus. Although he knew Smith – or “Smitty” as he was known – to a lesser extent, Ham described him as “the life of the party.”
“He was fun-loving, but when it came to civil rights issues and even classroom issues, he was very serious,” Ham said. “So, I still feel a bond with all three guys.”
Each year on Feb. 8, the university honors Smith, Hammond and Middleton, their families and the survivors of what has become known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
At the 2022 commemoration, the university dedicated a new monument enshrined with bronze likenesses of the three men as an additional aspect of the Smith Hammond Middleton Legacy Plaza.
Reflecting on why SC State remembers the anniversary of the massacre each year, Ham cited Spanish philosopher George Santayana’s often quoted wisdom, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
“Certainly, this not something we would ever want to relive, but more importantly, we should be living life with the understanding that none of us is going to last forever,” Ham said. “So, we must do as much good for the current population in the current day as we possibly can.”
About Thomas Kennerly
Kennerly was born and reared in Orangeburg, South Carolina, two blocks from the South Carolina State College campus. He graduated from Wilkinson High School in 1964. He was involved in several social justice activities during the mid to late 1960s. He was arrested 12 times and spent time at the infamous “Pink Palace” (Orangeburg jail) and the Department of Corrections in Columbia.
He attended SC State on a football scholarship beginning in August 1964. He was a four-year letterman and earned All-Conference honors twice. On February 8, 1968, Kennerly was shot by South Carolina Highway patrolmen on the SC State campus during what became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
He graduated the following May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a minor in social work. He signed a free-agent football contract with the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League that June. He also was drafted, however, into the U.S. Army, which took precedence.
He spent a tour in Dong Tam, South Vietnam in 1969. Afterward, he returned to Orangeburg. He worked as an interventionist counselor with Orangeburg School District No. 5, coached football at Orangeburg Wilkinson High School, and worked on an advanced degree at SC State. He stayed committed to the military for another 26 years and retired in 2006 as a brigade command sergeant major.
Kennerly was employed with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation for 32 years and retired in 2010 as a client services consultant.
More about Dr. Willis Ham
Ham is the owner of two businesses, Professional Success Services LLC, a speaker/trainer organization based in Columbia, South Carolina, and Willis Ham Enterprises LLC, which specializes in product development for men’s health.
After four years of athletic competition, Ham earned a Bachelor of Science degree from SC State in 1968 followed by a master’s degree from his alma mater in 1973. In 1975, Ham earned a Ph.D. in design and management of postsecondary education from Florida State University. In 1980, Ham was named the first full-time director of athletics at SC State, a position he held for 10 years. He was he inducted into the SC State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.