During Black History Month in February, the City of Anderson unveiled a fourth and final story box in Church Street Heritage Plaza.
The story boxes serve as lasting pieces of public art to honor the 20th century African American pioneers who made the Church Street area an entrepreneurial village, said Project Director Beth Batson and spokesperson for the City of Anderson.
A spirited and successful center of activity for African American commerce from 1907 until 1980, downtown’s Church Street was home to a lengthy list of black-owned businesses from doctors, dentists and drug stores to restaurants, movie theaters and funeral homes.
Entitled We Are Still Here, the new story box recognizes the contributions of the people of the Church Street era and reflects on how they continue to inform and influence the future.
“I can remember back in those days, I always thought about education,” said Anderson City Councilwoman Dr. Beatrice Thompson, who inspired Batson to pursue the Church Street Heritage Project. “And even though I may have been called names in the field, I knew that was not going to define me. I could even envision myself walking across the campus with books in my hand, thinking about what I was going to do next.”
Funded by the South Carolina Heritage Corridor, the Church Street project includes a documentary film entitled Trading Church Street: Pride, Prejudice and a Parking Lot. The film spurred plans to build a park on the original Church Street site, which opened in 2017. The hour-long documentary can be viewed on the Church Street Heritage Plaza website.
Video courtesy of the Anderson County Media Department.
