CIVIL RIGHTS LANDMARK TO BE TRANSFORMED FROM BOWL TO MUSEUM

On Feb. 8, 1968, three African American men were killed and 27 other individuals were injured when a demonstration over racial segregation turned violent on the South Carolina State University campus in Orangeburg, S.C.

Three days earlier, a group of 40 students had entered the nearby All Star Triangle Bowl, the owner of which, Harry K. Floyd, refused to desegregate. Those students left peacefully when Floyd had asked them to.

The next night, more students arrived at the center, but police officers were waiting for them. When someone broke a window, police began beating the protesters with billy clubs, sending eight to the hospital.

Two nights later, about 200 students gathered on the campus to protest Floyd’s policy and what had happened at his center, and that’s when a clash with the National Guard ensued. It was one of the most violent episodes of the civil rights movement, an incident that came to be known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

Now, the shuttered All Star bowling center and a neighboring former jewelry store have been acquired by the Center for Creative Partnerships, which plans to transform the properties into a social justice-focused museum and education center.