This museum is the first and only civil rights museum in the state of South Carolina. The museum’s official opening was offset by COVID-19, but still attracted more than 9,000 visitors. It has preserved more than 1,000 photographs, documents and artifacts – including original photography of marches and protests, a travel trunk that once belonged to Justice Thurgood Marshall and more -- that are exclusive, one-of-a-kind historical treasures relating to the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina.

Created and directed by Dr. Rhondda Thomas, Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University, the project is committed to preserving the places of African Americans in the history of Clemson University and its neighboring communities. In 2013, while conducting a historical survey of African American life in Pickens, Oconee and Anderson counties, Dr. Thomas found the names and records of the convict laborers—nearly 700 men and boys—who built Clemson University’s first buildings. She realized that their names must be remembered, and began Call My Name to document all aspects of African American history in the Clemson area.

Joseph McGill is founder of The Slave Dwelling Project. Ten years ago, McGill began spending the night in historic slave quarters and has slept overnight at more than 150 such sites across the country. He uses the experience to talk about the importance of preserving these historic structures so that we may have full and honest conversations about our country’s history. He has worked as a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a former director of history and culture at the Penn Center, and is a former docent to the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston. McGill is currently a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation & Gardens in Charleston.