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Becoming the third literary landmark site in South
ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018, THE GLEAMNS DR. BENJAMIN E. MAYS HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SITE HELD A LITERARY LANDMARK DISTINCTION CEREMONY AND PLAQUE UNVEILING. BECOMING THE THIRD LITERARY LANDMARK SITE IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
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THIS EVENT WAS PLANNED TO COINCIDE WITH DR. MAYS’ 124TH BIRTHDAY.
Director Christopher Thomas with Sen. Nicholson and Rep. Parks reveal a painting of the Historical Site
The Literary Landmarks Association was founded in 1986 by Frederick G. Ruffner to encourage the dedication of historic literary sites throughout the United States.
Mays was accomplished as an author and writer, publishing nearly 2000 articles and nine books throughout his career. Dr. Mays is mostly recognized as a Baptist minister, theologian, educator, college administrator, and for laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. When considering the legacy of Dr. Mays, far less attention has been given to his work as an author. But on Wednesday, August 1, 2018, that aspect of his legacy was enshrined at the historic site that bears his name, with the dedication of the Mays Site as just the third Literary Landmark distinction in South Carolina.
This recognition placed Mays, a Greenwood County native, in the same company as James Dickey and Pat Conroy. The James Dickey Library at the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) and the Pat Conroy Literary Center (Beaufort, SC) previously received this distinction 1999 and 2017 respectively.
LITERARY LANDMARK DISTINCTION
LITERARY LANDMARKS ARE BESTOWED BY STATES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, WITH MORE THAN 200 ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
Two additional site in South Carolina now carry the Literary Landmarks distinction: the Harvin-Clarendon County Public Library (Manning, S.C.) in recognition of children’s author Peggy Parish, and the Arthenia J. Bates Millican Home (Sumter, S.C.) in honor of the American poet, essayist, short-story writer and educator, Arthenia J. Bates Millican.
Speakers included Dr. Tom Mack (Board Chair of the South Carolina Academy of Authors), Marlena White (President of the Board for Friends of South Carolina Libraries), Leesa Aiken (Agency Director of the South Carolina State Library), Senator Floyd Nicholson, and Representative J. Anne Parks. There was also a keynote address from Dr. Orville Vernon Burton, the inaugural Judge Matthew J. Perry Distinguished Chair of History and Professor of Pan-African Studies, Sociology and Anthropology at Clemson University, and writer of the foreword for revised editions of Mays’ autobiography, Born to Rebel.
