Five-volume ‘Champions of Civil and Human Rights in South Carolina’ collection released

A retired South Carolina United Methodist pastor and longtime champion of equity and justice issues, Marvin Ira Lare, has just released a five-volume anthology of more than 100 civil rights leaders telling their stories.

Told in their own words, the collection features oral histories from famous leaders such as U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn, Septima Poinsette Clark and the Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman, as well as small-town citizens, pastors and students, all sharing their experiences, motivations, hopes and fears and how they see the struggle today.

The anthology is called Champions of Civil and Human Rights in South Carolina, and the five-volume collection spans the decades from 1930 to 1980 with oral history interviews of key activists and leaders of the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

The Department of Oral History, University Libraries, University of South Carolina has now made available an online oral history exhibit, giving access to both the transcripts and sound recordings of the interviews. Volume 1 is titled “Before the Movement Began,” and covers 1930-1954. Volume 2, “Dawn of the Movement Era,” covers 1955-1967. Volume 3, “The Movement Era,” covers 1955-1967. Volume 4, “Birthing a New Day,” covers 1968-1980. And Volume 5, “Lessons Learned and Promises to Keep,” overs 1968-1980.

The project is part of the University of South Carolina’s Institute for Public Service and Policy Research and was funded in part by the South Carolina Bar Foundation, the Southern Bell Corporation and South Carolina Humanities.

Lare is a veteran administrator of public service projects for the South Carolina Department of Social Services and Community Care Inc., an interfaith community service organization. His early ministry in the inner city of Los Angeles led him to champion equity and justice issues. He specialized in community, human and economic development, and participated in many civil rights demonstrations, including the Selma to Montgomery march, and attendance at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta.

To view the collection: https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/champions .

“Dawn of the Movement Era: 1955-1967” is available in hard copy. You can order it at [email protected] or send $43.19 to Champions, P.O. Box 5101

Columbia, SC 29250-5101.