Cecil Williams' civil rights era photos on display at Charleston's Main Library starting July 1

Starting July 1, the Charleston County Main Library, in conjunction with the S.C. State library, will be featuring the exhibit, Unforgettable: Celebrating a Time of Life, Hope and Bravery, Orangeburg native photographer Cecil Williams. With talent in videography, publishing, inventing, and photography, Williams is best known for his focus on capturing the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

With a collection of up to 40 images, this special exhibit sets the stage to introduce Williams’ most recent publication, Unforgettable. Williams’ work reveals a unique perspective of significant moments within social reform throughout the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. In several of his frames, Williams pays special tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Charleston Hospital Workers’ Strike, one of the most significant labor events in the city’s history which drew Coretta Scott King to Charleston in support of striking workers.

On July 30, residents are invited to a free reception and talk with the photographer himself at 6-7:45 p.m. at the Main Library at 68 Calhoun St.

For those who can’t make it, the exhibit will be on display at the branch until Sept. 30.