Columbia native and former astronaut donates personal artifacts to USC

When Charles Bolden took his college placement tests at the University of South Carolina in the sixties, they made him do it "in a broom closet" because he was black.

On Monday, the university set aside a special exhibit of artifacts that the first African-American administrator of NASA, Columbia native, retired Marine general and retired astronaut collected over his Hall of Fame career.

Despite his myriad accomplishments, Bolden brushed off the significance of donating artifacts, some of which are one-of-a kind.

"It's just things I've collected over my time in the Marine Corps and NASA," Bolden said. "I didn't realize I had all this stuff."

Some of the artifacts were personal: the musical cassettes he took to space (such as Patti LaBelle's Winner in You), handwritten letters and toothbrush he brought back from space. Others functioned as career landmarks: a tire from one of the space shuttles he flew, a picture of him sitting across the table from then-President Barack Obama and a solar panel from the Hubble Telescope, which he helped launch into space.

The artifacts, many of them encased in glass, sprawled out over several tables. The university, however, says there's more to come.

"That's just a small portion" of the total artifacts, said Henry Fulmer, USC's library director.

Once the artifacts are compiled and cataloged, the exhibit will move throughout the state, to places like historical societies or museums, Fulmer said.

Bolden attended the U.S. Naval Academy, not attend USC, but said he chose to donate his artifacts here because "This is my home, so that's one reason, but also when my mother passed, she donated her papers to the university," Bolden said.

Bolden's mother, Ethel, whom he referenced multiple times during Monday morning's ceremony, was a decorated educator who served as librarian at Dreher High School in 1968, making her the first African-American professional at the school. Ethel Bolden donated her personal collection to the university in 2002.

Attendiing the ceremony were students from Lower Richland High School, Columbia High School and his alma mater, C.A. Johnson High School.

He encouraged students to find a mentor, be themselves and never to limit their dreams.

"Somebody sitting in this auditorium may be a researcher or an astronaut who discovers ... life," on another world, Bolden said.

That message resonated with Kareem Golson, a sophomore at C.A. Johnson who attended the speech.

"I have thought about being an astronaut, so he inspires me a little bit," Golson said.

Bolden teared up when talking about interacting with students from his hometown.

"When I talk to kids from (Lower) Richland High or Johnson, I know what they're going through," Bolden said. "We should never forget our past and what we have been through because we need to know where we have been to know where we're going."

This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Columbia native and former astronaut donates personal artifacts to USC."