‘Memory matters’: SC State’s legacy of 1968 lives beyond a single day

At the 58th Orangeburg Massacre commemoration, speakers connected the legacy to the modern call for social justice.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The names Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond Jr. and Delano Middleton remain etched into the identity of South Carolina State University, not simply as history, but as a continuing call to conscience.

Fifty-eight years to the day after police gunfire rang out on SC State’s campus, the university community gathered Sunday to remember the three young men killed Feb. 8, 1968, when officers opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Black students who had rallied on campus after demonstrating against segregation at a local bowling alley.

The 58th Commemoration of the Orangeburg Massacre centered on reflection and responsibility, linking the past to present-day struggles for justice.

Michael A. Allen, an SC State alumnus and retired community partnership specialist with the National Park Service, delivered the keynote message in the university’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium.

Referencing philosopher George Santayana’s warning that those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it, Allen urged the audience to see remembrance as active stewardship rather than ritual.

“We gather today because memory matters,” Allen said. “These words are not merely reflections — they are instructive. They call us to be vigilant, to educate and to operate with moral courage.”

He reminded listeners that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had already outlawed discrimination in public accommodations when students challenged segregation at the bowling alley. Their actions, he said, were lawful and grounded in a demand for equal treatment.

“Their call for equal treatment was misconstrued as disorder. The aftermath was even more complex and painful,” Allen said.

A call for stewardship

Allen connected the tragedy on SC State’s campus to more recent names in the national conversation about justice, including Eric Garner, who died in 2014 after being placed in an illegal chokehold by New York police officers, and Walter Scott, who was fatally shot by a police officer in North Charleston in 2015.

“History leaves long shadows,” he said, noting that while the names change, the struggle for justice continues.

“History is not just something we study. It is something we steward. Our legacy is greater than how we’re being portrayed,” Allen said.

Smith and Hammond were students at SC State. Middleton was a 17-year-old student at Wilkinson High School in Orangeburg. The shooting marked the first instance of police killing student protestors at an American university.

Allen acknowledged that no ceremony can fully heal the pain carried by families and survivors.

“We gather here this day because we know from whence we came,” Allen said.

Smith-Hammond-Middleton Social Justice Awards

Following the keynote address, SC State President Alexander Conyers presented the university’s 2026 Smith-Hammond-Middleton Social Justice Awards to four recipients, including Allen. The other recipients were:

• Barbara Johnson Williams, a three-time SC State graduate who has devoted a lifetime to education, community leadership, and service, advancing equity, civic engagement, and opportunity for students, families, and communities across South Carolina.
•  Dr. Liz Zimmerman Keitt, a graduate of neighboring Claflin University who has devoted her life to faith, education, public service, and community leadership.
• Lenell Geter, an author and professional development coach who specializes in personal improvement, assisting people in overcoming obstacles and gaining insights for their careers. Soon after graduating from SC State in 1982, Geter was wrongfully convicted, sentenced to life and incarcerated in a Texas prison, serving more than 16 months before being exonerated.

From protest to permanence

The legacy of 1968 is visible not only in memorials but in campus spaces shaped by its aftermath.

At the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Legacy Plaza after the program, family members joined SC State President Alexander Conyers in lighting flames in memory of the three men. The plaza features bronze likenesses sculpted by Dr. Tolulope Filani, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Conyers reflected on the enduring presence of the families and survivors.

“It’s symbolic of the memories that continue to burn in the hearts and minds of family members. We’re grateful this year that after 58 years, we still have family members here representing those three young men who died on Feb. 8, 1968, as well as survivors,” Conyers said.

“We collectively pledge to fight to never allow a similar situation to occur when we can control it," he said.

Thomas “Jackie” Kennerly, one of 28 demonstrators wounded in the melee, said the memory of that night remains vivid.

“After all these years, you think about the fact that it’s still so vivid in your mind what took place, why it took place and the fact that since that time, it hasn’t been a whole lot that has really changed,” said Kennerly, who received the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Social Justice Award at the 2025 commemoration.

“It kind of leaves you with uneasy feelings because history has a tendency to repeat itself. That’s what’s happening now. Things have improved to some degree, but we’ve still got so very far to go. I just hope and pray that we’ll get there,” he said.

Following the commemoration, the university cut the ribbon on its recently renovated bowling alley, which was originally built in response to the massacre’s origins. It will serve as home to SC State’s restored women’s bowling team while also providing recreation for students and the community.

For Conyers, the reopening of student amenities — including the bowling lanes and a campus barbershop and beauty salon — carries symbolic weight.

“It is outstanding to offer a place of recreation for our students. It’s symbolic because the (expanded) student center came about as an aftermath of our students not being allowed to bowl downtown,” Conyers said.

The remembrance each year affirms that what happened on SC State’s campus in 1968 is not confined to a single day in February but woven into the university’s ongoing pursuit of justice and equity.