SC Governors – James Strom Thurmond, 1947-1951

Biographical Overview

• Born: December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina
  
• Died: June 26, 2003 in Edgefield, South Carolina
  
• Buried: Internment at Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield
  
• Religion: Baptist
• Political Party: Thurmond served as governor while a member of the Democratic Party but became a Republican in 1964
  

Education

• Clemson College (now Clemson University) - B.S. 1923
  
• Thurmond also holds degrees from Bob Jones University, Clemson University, Trinity College, and The Citadel
  

Occupations

• Lawyer
• Teacher
• Lieutenant Colonel, US Army - 1942-1946
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1947–1951

• February 16, 1947 – Willie Earle was murdered by a mob in Pickens County in the state's last lynching
  
• July 12, 1947 – A Charleston judge ruled in Elmore v. Rice that blacks must be allowed to participate in Democratic primaries
  
• 1948 – Construction on the eighteen-story Cornell Arms apartment building in Columbia, the state's first "skyscraper," was completed
  
• November 2, 1948 – Thurmond ran for president of the United States as a States Rights candidate, receiving 39 electoral votes and carrying Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina
  
• April 15, 1949 – The South Carolina Constitution was amended to legalize divorce
  
• 1950 – Governor Thurmond served as Chairman of Southern Governor's Conference
  
• 1950 – Governor Thurmond ran unsuccessfully against Olin D. Johnston for a seat in the US Senate
  
• November 28, 1950 – The US Atomic Energy Commission announced that the Savannah River Plant would be built on a 250,000-acre site in Aiken, Barnwell, and Allendale counties
  

Other Government Positions

• Edgefield County Superintendent of Education, 1929-1933
  
• South Carolina Senate, 1933-1938
  
• US Senate, 1954-2003
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• While in the US Army during World War II Thurmond served in both Europe and the Pacific - 1942-1945
  
• Thurmond has received many military honors including the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Arrowhead, the Legion of Merit, and several others
  
• Thurmond was the first US Senator to be elected by write-in vote - 1954
  
• Thurmond is the author of The Faith We Have Not Kept
  
• Thurmond received the USO's "Spirit of Hope" award - 1998
  
• The Strom Thurmond Federal Building in Columbia, SC and Strom Thurmond High School in Edgefield County, SC were both named for Thurmond
  

Web Resources

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

Election Results