Site linked to a 1968 SC massacre, is becoming a destination. Here’s what to know
An old Orangeburg, South Carolina, bowling alley tied to the 1968 killing of three Black college students by police is being transformed into a multi-million dollar cultural destination. The project will feature bowling lanes, affordable artist housing, a commemorative park and community spaces, with an expected opening sometime next year.
FULL STORY: Future SC tourist attraction connected to bloody massacre will preserve history
Here are key takeaways:
• The preserved All Star Bowling Lane will include 16 lanes, a 1960s-style lunch counter, a community room and a new attached building with affordable housing for artists, a visual arts studio and a rehearsal space — what project leader Ellen Zisholtz calls an “artist village.”
• On Feb. 8, 1968, S.C. Highway Patrolmen fired shotguns into a crowd of students on S.C. State’s campus, killing Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond of S.C. State and Delano Middleton of Wilkinson High School. More than 30 others were injured.
• The shootings came after students protested All Star’s refusal to desegregate. Owner Harry Floyd defied the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing bowling lanes didn’t fall under the law’s jurisdiction. On Feb. 6, 1968, a woman near the bowling alley was beaten by two police officers using billy clubs, according to Cecil Williams, founder of the S.C. Civil Rights Museum.
• Nine patrolmen were indicted for illegally firing but were later acquitted, according to CBS News. The Orangeburg Massacre predated the Kent State Massacre by two years.
• The National Park Service has given more than $2.7 million toward the project. All Star is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler, the city’s first Black mayor, said the project will help heal racial divisions. “I’m a firm believer that you cannot move to the future until you to heal from the past,” Butler told The State.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.