King Day at the Dome through the years
2000: Roughly 50,000 people rallied at the State House for the largest civil rights demonstration in S.C. history. NAACP national president Kwesi Mfume delivered the keynote address.
2001: From 3,000 to 5,000 - estimates differ - attended the second King Day at the Dome. Nelson Rivers III, national field director for the NAACP, delivered a keynote address expressing dissatisfaction with the Confederate flag compromise. NAACP officials said the organization's boycott remained in effect.
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2002: About 1,500 people attended the march, which featured a mock funeral procession for the Confederate flag.
2003: About 3,500 people attended the march, including Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, a U.S. senator from North Carolina who was born in South Carolina. The Rev. Al Sharpton, also a presidential candidate, participated in a pre-march church service.
2004: Two Democratic presidential candidates - Gen. Wesley Clark and the Rev. Al Sharpton - attended a rally of 2,000. The rally was used to highlight the poor quality of public education in rural South Carolina.
2005: Former S.C. Gov. Dick Riley and State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum spoke to a crowd of roughly 2,000. The 2005 march focused on education, and again highlighted problems in rural South Carolina.
2006: About 2,000 marchers gathered at the State House during a year when King-related events were held in all 46 S.C. counties for the first time. Charles Jackson Sr., of Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, was the keynote speaker.
2007: Two Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, told 5,000 marchers the Confederate flag should be removed from the State House grounds.
2008: U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama added star power weeks before Obama took the S.C. Democratic presidential primary. About 7,000 marchers gathered at the State House under tight security.
2009: About 1,000 marchers rallied at the State House, and the buzz was as much about Obama's inauguration the following day as it was about remembering King. National NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous, the scheduled keynote speaker, was unable to attend because of inclement weather in Washington, D.C.
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