
Cecil Williams
PRESERVATION SERVICE AWARD
Spanning a career and passion for photography for more than 60 years and over 1 million images, Cecil Williams is the preeminent documentarian of South Carolina’s Civil Rights history.
In 2019 Mr. Williams designed, built and opened the SC Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg to display his vast collection of photographs, memorabilia and artifacts concerning the movement. As Claflin University’s Director of Historic Preservation he is overseeing the digitization of the university’s vast photographic archive. Cecil Williams has already received the Order of the Palmetto and a Governor’s Award in the Humanities and is now recognized for his documentation and preservation of the Civil Rights movement in SC. He is an icon and treasure for all of us.

South Carolina Civil Rights Movement Documentation