Past Honorees

2023 Honorees

Brook Benton
January 2023

Thomas Barnwell
February 2023

Bobby Doctor
March 2023

Judi Gatson
April 2023

Rose Gibbs
May 2023

Doris Greene
June 2023

 

William Jenkins
July 2023

Joseph Rainey
August 2023

Ronald Rhames
September 2023

Rollin Sisters
October 2023

Donald Sampson
November 2023

Freddie Stowers
December 2023

 

2022 Honorees

Karen Alexander-Banks & Sergio Hudson
January 2022

Linda Bell
February 2022

Chadwick Boseman
March 2022

Nick Aaron Ford
April 2022

The Gaither Family
May 2022

Saundra Glover
June 2022

 

Thomas Gordon
July 2022

Willie Harriford & Harry Walker
August 2022

Elise Jones Martin
September 2022

Thomas Ezekiel Miller
October 2022

Arthur Stanley
November 2022

Isaac Woodard
December 2022

 

2021 Honorees

Allie Brooks
January 2021

Gilda Cobb-Hunter
February 2021

Bernard & Herbert Fielding
March 2021

Rosa Franklin
April 2021

Sherman James
May 2021

Willis & Clara Langley
June 2021

 

L. Casey Manning, Sr.
July 2021

Amy Surginer Northrop
August 2021

Gloria Blackwell Rackley
September 2021

Nathaniel Spells, Sr.
October 2021

Nathaniel & Viola Stewart
November 2021

Dorris Wright
December 2021

 

2020 Honorees

Vivian Ayers-Allen
January 2020

Reubin Bookert
February 2020

Mignon Clyburn
March 2020

Richard Fields
April 2020

Benjamin James Glover
May 2020

James Hall
June 2020

 

Roy Jones
July 2020

Joe Neal
August 2020

Xanthene Norris
September 2020

George Rogers
October 2020

Nathaniel & Viola Stewart
November 2020

The Taylor Family
December 2020

 

2019 Honorees

Steve Benjamin
January 2019

David “Dave the Potter” Drake
February 2019

Lottie Gibson
March 2019

Ethel & Maxie Gordon
April 2019

Jannie Harriot
May 2019

Janice Marshall
June 2019

 

Patina Miller
July 2019

Henry Minton
August 2019

Bessie Moody-Lawrence
September 2019

Oliver “Buddy” Pough
October 2019

Henrietta Snype
November 2019

Isaac Washington
December 2019

 

2018 Honorees

J. Arthur Brown
January 2018

Maude E. Callen
February 2018

Louise Miller Cohen
March 2018

Mabel James Dickey
April 2018

Percival Everett
May 2018

James L. Felder
June 2018

 

Nathaniel J. Frederick
July 2018

Burnett William Gallman, Jr.
August 2018

Richard T. Greener
September 2018

Barbara Williams Jenkins
October 2018

James L. Moore III
November 2018

Elaine Nichols
December 2018

 

2017 Honorees

Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
January 2017

Cynthia Graham Hurd
February 2017

Susie Jackson
March 2017

Ethel Lee Lance
April 2017

Rev. DePayne Vontrese Middleton
May 2017

Honorable Rev. Clementa Pinckney
June 2017

Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders
July 2017

Rev. Daniel L. Simmons, Sr.
August 2017

Myra Singleton Thompson
September 2017

The Survivors
October 2017

Mother Emanuel AME Church
November 2017

Moving Forward
December 2017

 

2016 Honorees

Durham E. Carter
January 2016

Schylver V. Foster
February 2016

Dr. Stuart A. Hamilton
March 2016

Aubrey D. Jenkins
April 2016

Howard F. Jeter
May 2016

Bernett “Bernie” William Mazyck
June 2016

James P. (JP) Neal, Jr.
July 2016

James H. Salley
August 2016

Carrie Sinkler-Parker
September 2016

Martha Scott Smith
October 2016

Thomasena Stokes-Marshall
November 2016

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Evelyn Wright, deceased
December 2016


2015 Honorees

Mary M. Bethea
January 2015

Tyrone Corbin
February 2015

Rev. Dr. William P. Diggs
March 2015

Brig. Gen. Calvin H. Elam
April 2015

Terry K. Hunter, PhD
May 2015

Brooklyn Mack
June 2015

Dr. David E. Rivers
July 2015

Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, PhD
August 2015

Willie R. Rogers
September 2015

Harry Rutherford, PhD and Evaretta Rutherford, PhD
October 2015

Robert Satcher, MD, PhD
November 2015

David Holmes Swinton, PhD
December 2015


2014 Honorees

Rock Hill Nine
January 2014

Orangeburg Massacre
February 2014

Charleston Hospital Strike
March 2014

Establishment of Mitchelville
April 2014

CSS Planter
May 2014

Elmore v Rice
June 2014

Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott
July 2014

1955 Cannon Street YMCA All – Stars
August 2014

Desegregation of Clemson University and USC
September 2014

Festivals
October 2014

Greenville New Year’s Day March
November 2014

Randolph Cemetery
December 2014


2013 Honorees

SC Sen. Ralph Anderson
January 2013

1st Lt. Leroy Bowman
February 2013

Gwendolyn Bradley
March 2013

Marie Brailey and Willie Van Brailey
April 2013

William H. Carson, MD
May 2013

Nikky Finney
June 2013

Vince Ford
July 2013

Angela L. Walker Franklin, PhD
August 2013

Lorenzo Levon Kirkland
September 2013

Otto Neals
October 2013

Luther Seabrook, PhD
November 2013

CSM Gail M. Williams
December 2013


2012 Honorees

J. Anthony Brown
January 2012

Monique Coleman
February 2012

John and Marie Epps
March 2012

Georgia Good
April 2012

Michael L. Parks, MD
May 2012

Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne
June 2012

Lessie B. Price
July 2012

Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook, PhD
August 2012

Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty
September 2012

Rick C. Wade
October 2012

Cleveland L. Sellers Jr., PhD
November 2012

David A. Williams
December 2012


2011 Honorees

Bertie Bowman
January 2011

Bobby D. Gist
February 2011

Dorothy Golden Harrison
March 2011

Esau Jenkins
April 2011

Donella Brown Wilson
May 2011

Jeffrey Livingston
June 2011

Louis B. Lynn, PhD
July 2011

Beatrice Taylor McKnight
August 2011

Dr. Jasper Salmond
September 2011

Yelberton R. Watkins
October 2011

Anthony and Helen Nelson Grant, Esq.
November 2011

Maurice Williams
December 2011


2010 Honorees

Fannie Phelps Adams
January 2010

Mac Arnold
February 2010

John W. Bluford, III
March 2010

Warren Bolton
April 2010

Timothy R. McConnell
May 2010

William and Michael Dean Perry
June 2010

Brandolyn Thomas Pinkston
July 2010

Eugene Robinson
August 2010

Darius Rucker
September 2010

O’Neal Smalls, Esq.
October 2010

James Solomon, Jr., PhD
November 2010

Darrin Thomas
December 2010


2009 Honorees

James A. Bennett
January 2009

Sandra Blake
February 2009

Anna Love Boyd
March 2009

Ron & Natalie Daise
April 2009

James Brown
May 2009

Sallie Elliott
June 2009

Reginald Lloyd
July 2009

John Gilliam
August 2009

Craig Melvin
September 2009

Bernice Putman
October 2009

Luns C. Richardson, PhD
November 2009

Dr. Ethel M. Henderson Taylor
December 2009


2008 Honorees

Nathaniel Abraham, Sr.
January 2008

Paul Benjamin
February 2008

Harry Carson
March 2008

SC Rep. William and Beverly Clyburn
April 2008

Sarah Mae Flemming
May 2008

Adrenée Glover Freeman, Esq.
June 2008

George Glymph
July 2008

Jaime Harrison
August 2008

Milton Kimpson
September 2008

Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III
October 2008

Ann Pringle Washington
November 2008

Josephine Helen Wood
December 2008


2007 Honorees

Charles and Valerie Aiken
January 2007

George A. Elmore
February 2007

Lydia Sharon Garrett
March 2007

Patricia Sowell Harris
April 2007

Chuck Jackson
May 2007

SC Sen. John Wesley Matthews, Jr.
June 2007

Alex Snipe, Jr.
July 2007

Bobby B. Stafford, Esq.
August 2007

Henry N. Tisdale, PhD
September 2007

Louis L. Waring, Jr.
October 2007

Cecil J. Williams
November 2007

Lee Thompson Young
December 2007


2006 Honorees

Augusta Baker
January 2006

SC Rep. Joe E. Brown
February 2006

Marlena Smalls
March 2006

Pearl Fryar
April 2006

Ruth Ann Butler
May 2006

Jarvis Brothers
June 2006

Willie Dereef
July 2006

Beryl Dakers
August 2006

Dr. Maceo Nance
September 2006

Etu Evans
October 2006

Curtis Inabinett
November 2006

Frank Washington
December 2006


2005 Honorees

Louis George Gregory, Esq.
January 2005

Gloria Schumpert James
February 2005

Paul and Wendy C. Brawley
March 2005

James Roland Clark, MD
April 2005

Maj. Gen. Abraham J. Turner
May 2005

Diane E. Sumpter
June 2005

Isom Bartrone Lowman, Jr.
July 2005

Willie L. Johnson
August 2005

Willie Jeffries
September 2005

Horace Ott
October 2005

Armstrong Williams
November 2005

Bennie Lee Cunningham, Jr.
December 2005


2004 Honorees

Anna DeCosta Banks, RN
January 2004

Luther J. Battiste, III, Esq.
February 2004

Ethel Martin Bolden
March 2004

Johnnie McFadden, PhD
April 2004

Willis H. Crosby
May 2004

Alice Wyche Hurley
June 2004

Martin Douglass Cooper
July 2004

Janie L. Mines
August 2004

Mark Myers & Sandra Myers
September 2004

Thales Thomas “Skipp” Pearson
October 2004

Col. Walter L. Watson, Jr.
November 2004

Isaac W. Williams
December 2004


2003 Honorees

Judge Jasper Cureton
January 2003

Rev. Joseph A. Darby, Jr.
February 2003

Margaret Abner Dixon, EdD
March 2003

Col. Claude J. Eichelberger
April 2003

Ozie Jackson, Sr.
May 2003

SC Sen. Kay Patterson
June 2003

Brenda Pressley
July 2003

Hemphill P. Pride, DDS
August 2003

Johnny Michael Sanders
September 2003

Rev. Julius L. Scipio
October 2003

Marva Smalls
November 2003

SC Rep. Lucille Simmons Whipper
December 2003


2002 Honorees

Kitty Black-Perkins
January 2002

Rev. William M. Bowman, Sr.
February 2002

Noble P. Cooper, DDS
March 2002

Althea Gibson
April 2002

Maranda Phillips Holmes
May 2002

Janice Huff
June 2002

Johnnie Ruth Jenkins
July 2002

Cassandra Maxwell, Esq.
August 2002

Drink Small
September 2002

Lt. Col. Spann Watson
October 2002

Clemmie E. Webber, PhD
November 2002

Justice Jonathan Jasper Wright
December 2002


2001 Honorees

James F. Brown, DDS
January 2001

Judge Merl F. Code
February 2001

Thomas (Tom) Feelings
March 2001

Anna May Manigault-Hurley
April 2001

Judge Robert N. Jenkins, Sr.
May 2001

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson
June 2001

James T. McLawhorn, Jr.
July 2001

Patty Jaye Garrett Patterson
August 2001

Bill Pinkney
September 2001

Bishop Sanco King Rembert
October 2001

Brig. Gen. Velma L. Richardson
November 2001

Tommy Scott Young
December 2001


2000 Honorees

Gen. Lloyd “fig” Newton
January 2000

Maxine Smith Martin
February 2000

C. (Curtis) Tyrone Gilmore, Sr.
March 2000

Jacqueline Rhinehart
April 2000

Bernice Stokes Robinson
May 2000

A. Tony Fisher
June 2000

Catherine McKee McCottry, MD
July 2000

Bishop Frederick Calhoun James
August 2000

Mayor James E. Talley
September 2000

Lillian Brock Flemming
October 2000

Kelly Miller, PhD
November 2000

Jesse Washington, Jr.
December 2000


1999 Honorees

Jean Sanders Hopkins
January 1999

John Roy Harper II, Esq.
February 1999

Allen Louis Code, Sr.
March 1999

Frieda Mitchell
April 1999

Judge Willie T. Smith, Jr.
May 1999

E. (Edmund) Perry Palmer
June 1999

Shirley Tyus
July 1999

Dr. James A. Blake, Sr.
August 1999

Geraldyne I. Pierce Zimmerman
September 1999

Eddie McGirt
October 1999

Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr.
November 1999

Lt. Col. Paul Ross
December 1999


1998 Honorees

Emory Shaw Campbell
January 1998

SC Rep. Juanita Willmon-Goggins
February 1998

John Artemus
March 1998

Beatrice Rice Thompson
April 1998

William “T” Thompson, Esq.
May 1998

Peggy Dillard-Toone
June 1998

Gilroye A. Griffin, Jr., Esq.
July 1998

Sylvia Woods
August 1998

Raphael C. Lee, MD
September 1998

Lee Haney
October 1998

Dwight E. Woods
November 1998

Prezell Russell Robinson
December 1998


1997 Honorees

Israel Brooks, Jr.
January 1997

Fouche’na Everlyne “Che” Sheppard
February 1997

Taft M. Watson
March 1997

Jonathan Green
April 1997

Lt. Col. Charity Edna Adams Earley
May 1997

I.S. Leevy Johnson, Esq.
June 1997

Nina Mae McKinney
July 1997

J. Arthur Jones
August 1997

William “Bill” Terrell
September 1997

Larry Doby
October 1997

Judge Joshua W. Martin III
November 1997

Margaree Seawright Crosby, EdD
December 1997


1996 Honorees

Richard Samuel Roberts
January 1996

Walker Emanuel Solomon, Sr.
February 1996

Vivian Glover
March 1996

Willie Larry Randolph, Jr.
April 1996

Earl Matthew Middleton
May 1996

Hattie Logan Duckett
June 1996

Reuben M. Greenberg
July 1996

Jonas Thomas Kennedy
August 1996

Matilda Arabelle Evans, MD
September 1996

Richard Kerns
October 1996

Marjorie Amos-Frazier
November 1996

Larry Francis Lebby
December 1996


1995 Honorees

Mary Jackson
January 1995

Thaddeus J. Bell, MD
February 1995

Bishop Joseph Benjamin Bethea
March 1995

Alberta Tucker Grimes
April 1995

Rev. Joseph A. DeLaine
May 1995

Maj. Gen. Irene Trowell-Harris
June 1995

Lawrence W. Long, MD
July 1995

Edwin Roberts Russell
August 1995

Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney, Jr.
September 1995

Arthur Rose, Sr.
October 1995

US Rep. James E. Clyburn
November 1995

Kimberly Clarice Aiken
December 1995


1994 Honorees

Dori Sanders
January 1994

Harvey B. Gantt
February 1994

Rev. Charles P. Austin, Sr.
March 1994

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor
April 1994

Everett L. Dargan, MD
May 1994

Ernest Henderson, Sr.
June 1994

Linda Dingle Gadson
July 1994

Donnie Shell
August 1994

Maj. Gen. Matthew A. Zimmerman, Jr.
September 1994

Sarah Reese
October 1994

Leo F. Twiggs, EdD
November 1994

James E. Bostic, Jr., PhD
December 1994


1993 Honorees

Edward Sawyer Cooper, MD
January 1993

Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr.
February 1993

Lugenia Key Hammond
March 1993

Wilfred Junius Walker
April 1993

Janie Glymph Goree
May 1993

Art Shell
June 1993

Eartha Kitt
July 1993

Listervelt Middleton
August 1993

Dr. Sara Dunlap Jackson
September 1993

Dr. Thomas Elliot Kerns
October 1993

Harold R. Boulware, Sr., Esq.
November 1993

Lila Mae Brock
December 1993


1992 Honorees

Smokin’ Joe Frazier
January 1992

Naomi Garrett, PhD
February 1992

William H. Johnson
March 1992

Charlayne Hunter-Gault
April 1992

J. T. Pace
May 1992

Bernice Robinson
June 1992

Robert Smalls
July 1992

Henrie Monteith Tredwell, PhD
August 1992

Charles G. Gomillion, PhD
September 1992

Myrtle Hall Smith
October 1992

Philip Simmons
November 1992

Ophelia DeVore-Mitchell
December 1992


1991 Honorees

Edwin A. Harleston
January 1991

John Stevenson, PhD
February 1991

Jane Edna Hunter
March 1991

James T. McCain
April 1991

Dr. Ernest Everett Just
May 1991

Ruby Middleton Forsythe
June 1991

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
July 1991

Stephen J. Wright, PhD
August 1991

Marion Wright Edelman, Esq.
September 1991

Annie Greene Nelson
October 1991

Judge Harold A. Stevens
November 1991

Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates
December 1991


1990 Honorees

Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden
January 1990

W. Melvin Brown
February 1990

Alma Byrd, PhD
March 1990

Septima Poinsette Clark
April 1990

Alex English
May 1990

Modjeska Simkins
June 1990

Jesse Jackson
July 1990

Benjamin E. Mays, PhD
August 1990

Ron McNair, PhD
September 1990

SC Sen. I. DeQuincey Newman
October 1990

Justice Matthew Perry
November 1990

Dizzy Gillespie
December 1990