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TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF JAMES HENRY HOLLINS, WHO ON SEPTEMBER 12, 1963, ACTED ON HIS PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO OPEN DOORS TO PUBLIC HIGHER-EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS TO ALL CITIZENS AND ENROLLED AS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT.
Whereas, James Henry Hollins was born August 15, 1928, the eldest son of the Reverend Willie H. Hollins and Naomi Banks Hollins. Raised in Mississippi, he attended public school and graduated as valedictorian of New Hymn High School. The young James was brought up on Christian principles and was a lifelong student of the Bible; and
Whereas, he entered military service in 1945 as a member of the Montford Point Marines, a group of African Americans who desegregated the U.S. Marine Corps, and he served his country proudly for twenty-three years; and
Whereas, throughout America during James Hollins' early years, many citizens endured threats, humiliation, and physical harm in their quest for civil rights and social justice; and
Whereas, on September 12, 1963, while stationed at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant James H. Hollins enrolled at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB), thereby becoming one of the first five African-American students to desegregate the University of South Carolina during the twentieth century; and
Whereas, in so doing, James H. Hollins, like fellow African-American students Harvey Gantt, James G. Anderson, Henrie D. Monteith, and James L. Solomon, courageously faced a segregated higher-education system in South Carolina and pursued his legal and moral right to receive an education; and
Whereas, Staff Sergeant Hollins, in spite of anticipated tensions at the University of South Carolina, stated that September 12, 1963, was "just another day in the life of a Marine" and that he felt welcomed by the faculty and students at the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus; and
Whereas, through the efforts of James Hollins, acting as the sole African American to enroll at USCB, through the support of six fellow Marines who were not African American and who accompanied him that semester, and with the support of the faculty, students, administrators, and Beaufort Higher Education Commission, the University of South Carolina Beaufort was desegregated quietly and without incident; and
Whereas, James Hollins went on to complete his baccalaureate degree and work as an analyst for EJ&E Railroad, later founding Hollins Tax and Accounting in Joliet, Illinois, which he operated for thirty-three years; and
Whereas, James H. Hollins passed from this life on January 5, 2014, having left a legacy that will mark him for all time as a significant benefactor of this great State through the opening of doors to higher education and civil discourse on human rights for all South Carolina's citizens; and
Whereas, grateful for his personal courage and leadership at a watershed period in American history, the General Assembly takes great pleasure in honoring and commending James Henry Hollins, as well as the U.S. Marines who accompanied their fellow serviceman on September 12, 1963, and the USCB faculty and students of that era, with whom James peacefully began his successful journey to a baccalaureate degree. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, honor the memory of James Henry Hollins, who on September 12, 1963, acted on his personal commitment to open doors to public higher-education institutions to all citizens and enrolled as the first African-American student at the University of South Carolina Beaufort.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to the family of James H. Hollins.
This web page was last updated on February 4, 2014 at 12:52 PM