Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters

Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters To raise awareness of a pivotal chapter in American history, Columbia, SC has joined other cities to commemorate 50 years of Civil Rights struggle.

In South Carolina's capital city, courageous student activists, attorneys, and civil rights organizations waged a tenacious campaign to transform our community. Facing stiff opposition, these freedom fighters took action and forever changed a city, state, and nation. Too many of Columbia’s pivotal moments and landmark decisions have been forgotten. Too many of our stories have never been heard. A

complete rendering of South Carolina's Civil Rights Movement and its dramatic impact on the quest for democracy and social justice does not exist. By gathering images, artifacts, and testimony, the mission of the Columbia SC 63 project is to ensure that a more accurate and expansive history becomes familiar to all. If we are to continue moving forward, our city's history deserves an honest look back. That’s why, with respect for the past and hope for a brighter future, Our Story Matters. Columbia SC 63 is a partnership of the City of Columbia, the Columbia Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, Historic Columbia and the University of South Carolina.

Their Stories Matter!!!!! These Stories Matter!!!!!
03/28/2026

Their Stories Matter!!!!! These Stories Matter!!!!!

Corine and Celestine | Show - | South Carolina ETV

03/13/2026
03/05/2026

Columbia’s Forgotten Flashpoint
Sarah Mae Flemming’s name rarely makes the canon. Her case helped write it.

The American civil rights narrative has a familiar rhythm: a single act of ordinary defiance, a dramatic arrest, a movement igniting in full view. That structure is tidy enough to teach, cinematic enough to remember, and incomplete enough to distort. Sarah Mae Flemming’s life is a corrective to the myth that the movement arrived suddenly, fully formed, in Montgomery in December 1955. In reality, change came by accumulation—through local organizers who recognized an opening, through plaintiffs who never asked to be symbols, through lawyers building precedent case by case, and through communities willing to absorb backlash long before national applause showed up.

On the morning of June 22, 1954, Flemming boarded a segregated bus operated by the South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) in Columbia, South Carolina, as part of a weekday routine on her way to work as a maid. The timing matters: the Supreme Court had decided Brown v. Board of Education just weeks earlier, toppling “separate but equal” in public schools while leaving the rest of Jim Crow’s architecture—public transportation included—braced for a fight. In Columbia, as across the South, segregation was not merely custom; it was enforced daily by people who understood that public space was a political theater. Bus drivers, armed with both social authority and legal backing, served as street-level enforcers of the color line.

Read the full story at https://www.kolumnmagazine.com/2026/03/04/columbias-forgotten-flashpoint/

Honoring Rev. Jesse Jackson.
03/03/2026

Honoring Rev. Jesse Jackson.

South Carolina native son Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) died recently at the age of 84 after a long life of service, activism, and a ground-breaking political career.

02/21/2026

We are PROUD to join others as a sponsor for this event!!

Only ONE MORE Free Tour remaining!Join us for our final FREE walking tour down Main Street. The tour will begin at 2PM s...
02/18/2026

Only ONE MORE Free Tour remaining!

Join us for our final FREE walking tour down Main Street. The tour will begin at 2PM so be sure to reserve your spot by sending us a message on any of our social media platforms! You can also send us an email at [email protected]! We look forward to seeing you there!

Our FREE tours are made possible by our continued partnership with the City of Columbia!!

Honoring the great legacy of Rev Jesse Jackson.
02/17/2026

Honoring the great legacy of Rev Jesse Jackson.

02/14/2026

Learn more powerful stories of other activists by joining one of our Main Street walking tours!!!

Every Sunday for we will offer a FREE tour starting at 2pm. Message us for more details and to reserve your spot!!


Need something fun to do this Sunday? Join us for our next FREE walking tour down Main Street. The tour will begin at 2P...
02/12/2026

Need something fun to do this Sunday? Join us for our next FREE walking tour down Main Street. The tour will begin at 2PM so be sure to reserve your spot by sending us a message on any of our social media platforms! You can also send us an email at [email protected]! We look forward to seeing you there!

Our FREE tours are made possible by our continued partnership with the City of Columbia!!

There are still a few spots remaining for tomorrow's tour!Join us for our next FREE Civil Rights Walking Tour on Sunday ...
02/07/2026

There are still a few spots remaining for tomorrow's tour!

Join us for our next FREE Civil Rights Walking Tour on Sunday at 2PM!! To reserve your spot just send us a message via any of our platforms, or email at [email protected]!!

Our FREE tours are made possible by our continued partnership with the City of Columbia!!

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Columbia, SC
29201, 29203-6, 29209-10, 29212, 29223, 29225, 29229

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803.851.5064

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