An African-American History of Downtown Greenville

My name is Jesse and I have lived in Greenville, South Carolina my entire life. Born in 1951 in Southernside, an area actually just north of downtown, I have watched Greenville transform from a segregated town to a lively city over the past seven decades. Greenville is truly an exciting place to be.

On the other hand, there's also a sense of loss. We've gone from a small (if divided) family to a place that's hard to recognize some days, with so many folks moving in and so many old things being knocked down and rebuilt.

I'll show you some of the sites important to the Black community. This history is my heritage, and it needs to be told. As an African-American young man growing up during the civil rights movement, I have personally seen the hardships our community has endured. Greenville has changed in many ways but like every one of us, it can always grow and learn from its past. Join me as we take a stroll through the Greenville I know and the Greenville we can become.

[This tour is given by a character named Jesse, an African-American man who has grown up in Greenville, South Carolina. Written by students at Furman University of various ages and races as part of a Communication Studies course, this unified point of view can help better introduce local insights historical sites in Greenville during the Civil Rights Movement. Tour takers may want to only visit 6-13 in the center of downtown, rather than the longer walks from site 1 (Sterling High School) into the city and beyond the city to the old library location and cemetery; or take a bicycle or car to the outlying places.]