Criminals become heroes: files of seven civil rights activists deleted after more than 60 years

Columbia, SC (WACH) — A historic afternoon unfolded in a Richland County courtroom in downtown Columbia as a judge expunged the records of seven civil rights activists who helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Five of the men, Reverend Dr. David Carter, Johnny M. Clark, Richard M. Counts, Milton B. Greene and Talmadge J. Neal, have already passed but were represented by the presence of their family members. Two of them, Charles Barr and Rev. Simon Bouie, were personally honored.

In 1960, Bouie, Barr and the others were shamed by the state for their efforts to achieve equality between whites and blacks in Colombia. Now the court is honoring them for these actions. “Nobody knows what happened 60 years ago,” he said. Barr reflects on his experience when he was arrested in 1960.

Bouie, who celebrates his 85th birthday this month, expressed his gratitude. “I have waited for this day for over sixty years and I want to thank you,” he said.

Although the five men who stopped by were not in person, white roses hung on a table in front of their name tags so people knew who they were. On Friday afternoon, Richland County Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson requested that the criminal records of all seven civil rights heroes be expunged, and Judge Robert Hood said he was honored to grant the request.

The executive director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Bobby Donaldson, emphasized the importance of the ceremony.

On March 14, Simon Bouie and Talmadge Neal walked into the Eckeridge Drug Store on Main Street in downtown Columbia and demanded to be served at the all-white lunch counter. Instead, he was arrested and charged with breach of peace and resisting arrest. “We were all scholarship recipients but had a desire to fight for what was right,” Bouie said.

The next day, March 15, 1960, Charles Barr and several others, including David Clark, Richard Counts and Milton Greene, went to the Taylor Street pharmacy, now called the Hawthorne Pharmacy. They also asked to be served and were instead arrested and charged.

“That day when I sat at the lunch counter, I was probably the most anxious person there. I sat down next to one of America’s trophies, a blonde, white woman, and all the men stood up and started getting behind me and you. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to you,” Barr recalled.