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SoulHaus Sessions with Cecil J. Williams
Location: Koger Center Upstairs Gallery - 2-27-2026 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm (America/New_York) (3 hours)

Admission Cost: $10

The next edition of SoulHaus Sessions features civil rights activist and photographer Cecil Williams. Join us for an intimate, one-on-one conversation exploring Williams’ lifelong work documenting the Civil Rights Movement, Black life in the South and the power of photography as historical witness.

Tickets are available via Eventbrite.


ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Cecil J. Williams (born November 26, 1937) is an American photographer, publisher, author and inventor who is best known for his photographs documenting the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

In 2019, with wife Barbara, and sister Brenda, Cecil created South Carolina’s first and only civil rights museum. Before 12 years of age, his camera had captured the petitioners in Clarendon County as they lit the torch of freedom. In 10th grade, he photographed Thurgood Marshall coming to Charleston for the Briggs case, and again one year later, speaking at Claflin. In 1955, he became the youngest-ever JET Magazine photographer. In 2023, through a petition to the US Supreme Court, he heightened the role the Briggs vs Elliott as the deserved name, instead of Brown v. Board of Education. Cecil is Director of Historic Preservation at Claflin University. He has 3 Honorary degrees: Doctor of Humane Letters–Claflin University; Doctor of Humane Letters Honorary Degree, Paul Quinn College in Dallas Texas, Doctor of Humane Letters, Ecumenical University, Columbia, SC.

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