Orangeburg County · Marker 38-27
The Orangeburg Massacre
Watson St., near the entrance to the campus of South Carolina State University, Orangeburg
Front inscription
On February 8, 1968, after three nights of escalating racial tension over efforts by S.C. State College students and others to desegregate the All Star Bowling Lanes, 3 students died and 27 others were wounded on this campus. S.C. Highway Patrolmen fired on a crowd here, killing Samuel Hammond Jr., Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith. This tragedy was the first of its kind on any American college campus.