SC Governors – Ernest Frederick Hollings, 1959-1963

Biographical Overview

• Born: January 1, 1922
  
• Died:
• Buried:
• Religion: Lutheran
• Political Party: Democrat
  

Education

• The Citadel
• University of South Carolina - LL.B. 1947
  

Occupations

• Captain, United States Army, 1942-1945
  
• Lawyer

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1959–1963

• 1959 – The press dubbed the 1959 session of the General Assembly the "Industrial Session" due to the amount of business legislation passed.
  
• January 1, 1960 – After baseball player Jackie Robinson was threatened with arrest for entering a white waiting room at the Greenville airport, blacks marched from the Springfield Baptist Church to the airport to protest the segregated waiting rooms in the state's first modern civil rights demonstration.
  
• February 12, 1960 – Approximately 100 black students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill staged the state's first sit-ins at the lunch counters of Woolworth's and McCrory's.
  
• March 2, 1961 – Civil rights demonstrators marched to the state capitol to protest segregation.
  
• May 15, 1961 – The findings of a joint study committee on education appointed by Governor Hollings resulted in a legislative charter that initiated the state's technical education system.
  
• February 14, 1962 – The state House of Representatives drafted a resolution requesting that the Confederate flag be flown on the flag pole on top of the State House.
  
• Summer, 1962 – Our Lady of Mercy Junior College (a now-defunct private Catholic junior college on Legare Street in Charleston) admitted ten African-American students. It was the first historically-white college in South Carolina to admit black people.
  

Other Government Positions

• South Carolina House of Representatives, 1948-1954
  
• Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, 1955-1959
  
• US Senate, 1966-2005
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• 1963-1966 – After leaving office, Hollings returned to his law practice until being elected to the US Senate
  

Web Resources

• Biographical information - US Congress
  
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center
  

Election Results