African American History Documentary: Spartanburg, South Carolina

This film is both personal and political. I’ve spent my entire existence in Spartanburg, County. It is home, this film is a collection of clips from 2018 and 2022. The clips from 2018 make it personal for me, it showcases my families family reunion and our long standing connection to Spartanburg. I am from Fairforest, which had one of the first Training (Spartanburg County Training School – 1921) schools for African Americans in the county. Many of the people who worked tirelessly to build a better African American community in Spartanburg are memorialized with street names, building or even communities. This video is an attempt to highlight them. People such as Mr. C.C. Woodson, Dr. J.C. Bull, Mrs. Mary H. Wright and Mr. James Young. This film was originally commissioned by the City of Spartanburg and the 2022 Juneteenth Celebration committee, hence the American themes and Juneteenth references. African American excellence and Black culture is just as American as apple pie!

This video is made for Spartanburg residents or those who love Spartanburg. Places such as Wofford College are included. The political aspect includes many of Spartanburg FIRST African American elected officials such as City of Spartanburg’s First Mayor, James Talley and state representatives such as Hudson Barksdale (district 31) and the first female state representative to represent the city of Spartanburg, Brenda Lee Price. A effort was made to commemorate Mrs. Price’s work she has done to salvage the history of the Liberty Street Community, which was torn down unjustly for what is known as “Urban Renewal”. Mrs. Price co-authored the book South of Main.

The film goes on to showcase African American businesses both new and old. Mount Moriah Baptist Church was gracious to host us for the filming of interviews (which are not included), Mount Moriah is one of the oldest African American churches in Spartanburg, started in a bush arbor shortly after the Emancipation.

Lastly, this film highlights newer emerging communities such as the North Side and places like Regenesis Healthcare who serve our community but also who have long standing roots here. This is a celebration of how far we’ve come as a community.

Thanks for watching!

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