1968 Student March in Response to Orangeburg Massacre

On February 12, 1968, almost twenty Furman students marched in front of the federal courthouse in Greenville to demonstrate support for the three students killed and twenty-eight injured in Orangeburg when police opened fire at South Carolina State College. Joseph Vaughn, June Manning Thomas and Tyrone Haynes organized the march. (Johnson) The group included both White and Black students, as well as a couple of members of the Greenville community who joined the students. Almost all of the approximately dozen White students who participated were part of the Furman chapter of the Southern Student Organizing Committee. The Furman students held signs protesting police violence and denouncing racism. They planned to submit a list of four demands to someone at the federal building as a symbolic act. However, no one at the federal building accepted the list. One demand reportedly was that the President appoint US Marshalls to take over security of the SC State Campus because the National Guard and state police had unjustifiably opened fire on the South Carolina State students. (Duggan) Some examples of signs carried in the march are: “Why Go To Vietnam to Be Killed —Orangeburg’s Closer!”; “Murderers in S. C. Must Wear Police Uniforms”; “Furman Students Say Rocks Do Not Justify Bullets”; “God Is Love?”; “Destroy Racism, Not Students”; “Black Lives are just as Precious As White Ones.” (Johnson) The march was peaceful, though protesters recall people passing in cars, spitting at them, cursing them and directing racial slurs at them.

Historical Events

February 12, 1968

1945-1976: Era of Civil Rights Movement and resistance to Civil Rights Movement

In front of federal building on Washington Street in downtown Greenville

Vaughn, Joseph Allen

Brock Flemming, Lillian

Gregg L. Michel, It Even Happened Here: Student Activism at Furman University, 1967-1970, The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 109, No. 1 (Jan., 2008), pp. 38-57

Article discussed Southern Student Organizing Committee's members and activities, including the 1968 march

Thomas, June Manning and Makala, Jeffrey, "June Manning Thomas Oral History" (2018). Furman University Oral Histories. 48.

Discussed her experience as one of the first Black students at Furman, her involvement in SSOC and the 1968 march

Flemming, Lillian Brock and Tollison, Courtney, "Lillian Brock Flemming Oral History" (2004). Furman University Oral Histories. 46.

Discussed her experience as one of the first Black female students at Furman and her involvement in the 1968 march

Duggan, John and Tollison, Courtney, "John Duggan Oral History" (2004). Furman University Oral Histories. 31.

Discussed SSOC and his involvement at 1968 demonstration at federal building in support of students shot in Orangeburg

George Johnson, “Sympathetic Marchers Protest Student Killings,” The Furman Paladin, 16 February, 1968, “Furman Student Newspapers,” Furman University Digital Collections.

Paladin article describes signs at march and includes quotes from students involved