By Seanna Adcox | Editor-in-chief
Happy Juneteenth! The federal holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers told enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, they were free. It was two months after the Confederacy surrendered, but news didn’t exactly travel at today’s speed. Today celebrates the 161st anniversary of the official end of slavery in America.
It is not a state holiday. But there is no early voting today because of the federal holiday. (If you’re like me and getting a ton of texts from campaigns, ignore any that say early voting is underway. It ended at 5 p.m. yesterday.) If you missed early voting, plan to vote Tuesday for the runoffs. Juneteenth is also a holiday for States Newsroom, so we’re officially off today.
“We call ourselves a hidden jewel, and we’d be more than happy to share it not only with the local community but the entire United States of America.” - Ralph James on the potential for St. George Rosenwald School to be part of a new national park.
St. George Rosenwald School in Dorchester County would be among three ambassador schools in a proposed national park. (Photo courtesy of St. George Rosenwald School)
Proposed national historic park would highlight history of SC’s Rosenwald schools for Black students
By Skylar Laird
A school that opened 100 years ago for Black children in the Lowcountry could become part of a proposed, multi-state national historical park that connects the remaining structures where tens of thousands of students were educated in the Jim Crow South.
A University of South Carolina student studies in April 2024 on the historic Horseshoe, the original part of campus. (File photo by Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
COMMENTARY
By Oran Smith
Today’s commentary comes from Oran Smith, vice chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, (who notes that he’s giving his own views, not writing for the agency). He writes about the existing process of reviewing colleges' academic programs and lawmakers' calls for more. The House and Senate have passed two very different versions in their budget packages.
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