The Photographer

Cecil Williams, who served as the official photographer for both Claflin University and South Carolina State, watched as Black students gathered in protest around the All-Star Bowling alley in Orangeburg, SC, 1968. Although racial segregation in public places had been declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, several Southern privately-owned businesses did not honor those rulings at the time. On the night of February 8, 1968, on the campus of SC State, Black students gathered in peaceful protest of the bowling alleys actions. At about 9:30pm, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) officers who were on standby loaded their double-barreled shotguns with double-aught shotgun shells. Usually reserved for big game hunting, the shot is the deadliest you can put into a shotgun. Three students were killed that evening in the “Orangeburg Massacre,” and Cecil Williams, by memory and photography, recalls the tragedy he can never forget.