The Orangeburg Massacre

by Jack Bass, Jack Nelson

On the night of February 8th, 1968, officers of the law opened fire on protesting students on the campus of South Carolina State College at Orangeburg. When the shooting stopped, three young men were dead and twenty-seven other students were seriously wounded. What had begun as an attempt by peaceful young people to use the facilities of a local bowling alley had become a violent confrontation between aroused students and the coercive power of the state. This tragedy was the first of its kind on any American college campus and became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read a detailed account of the Orangeburg Massacre, and Bass and Nelson did not disappoint. I came away with a better understanding of this tragic event in South Carolina history.

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Voting Rights Act of 1965 had been intended to end racial segregation throughout the U.S.
And while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did result in a lot of progress regarding integration and equality, the owner of a number of businesses in the southern states still refused to allow African Americans to enter into the businesses that they owned.
The owner of a bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina had refused to allow African Americans to enter into the bowling alley which he'd owned. This led to a series of arrests, which led to a protest on the campus of South Carolina State University in February of 1968.
The governor of South Carolina sent the state police as well as the National Guard to the campus of the state university to disperse the protesters.
On February 8th, 1968, three protestors were killed, 28 protestors were injured, and a number of the policemen ended up getting injured too. This occurred on the campus of a state university, which is public property, this occurred in the country in which The First Amendment of its Constitution guarantees the rights of the citizens to peaceably assemble.
The historians who coauthored this book do a very thorough job of explaining the events which preceded the protest which had occurred on February 8th, 1968, they explain the events of the evening of February 8th, 1968, and they do a very impressive job of explaining the aftermath including the investigation into the events of February 8th, 1968.
You do have to be in the mood to read about a civil rights protest in which people ended up getting killed in order to read this book. This book does do an impressive job detailing the events of one of the civil rights protests of the latter half of the 1960's.
I highly recommend this book. As one reads this book, we have to ask ourselves, have we learned our lessons from the civil rights era, and could similar events occur today in 2023?
I am intentionally not going to attempt to answer that question here- read this book, then read present day newspapers, then draw your own conclusions.

[Shannon Dillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book. It’s not so scholarly that the average reader would feel intimidated. The event happened in my own state. I knew of a vague reference to it but that was it. I’m glad that over time the state officials finally admitted that it shouldn’t have happened. That three lives were lost too poor police training and racial prejudice is still pertinent in 2024 is a sad reflection on the lack of progress made in that area in the country.

[Mary Camarillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crisp journalism recounts a horror story

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an awful event that is never discussed in our history books. The book is comprehensive. My one criticism is that at times the authors went back and forth with their timeline and that was confusing.