Committee Report

April 25, 2024

H. 5378

Introduced by Reps. Thigpen, Howard, Garvin, Bernstein, Bauer, McDaniel and Rutherford

S. Printed 04/25/24--H.

Read the first time April 9, 2024

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The committee on House Invitations and Memorial Resolutions

To whom was referred a Concurrent Resolution (H. 5378) to request the Department of Transportation name a portion of United States Highway 21 (Wilson Boulevard) from State Road S-910 (Plumbers Road) to its intersection, etc., respectfully

Report:

That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass:

DENNIS MOSS for Committee.

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A concurrent RESOLUTION

To request the Department of Transportation name a portion of United States Highway 21 (Wilson Boulevard) from State Road S-910 (Plumbers Road) to its intersection with State Road S-130 (Sharpe Road) in Richland County "James and Barbara McLawhorn Boulevard" and erect appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

Whereas, for decades James T. and Barbara Campbell McLawhorn spent their lives at the forefront of youth leadership and development while at the same time making a mark on social justice and civil rights in the State of South Carolina. The couple met on the campus of North Carolina A&T University and were married on September 5, 1970, a union that would last for fifty-two years until her death; and

Whereas, James T. McLawhorn earned a bachelor's degree in political science from North Carolina A&T. He also earned a master's degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master's degree in business administration from the University of Miami at Coral Gables, and holds an honorary doctorate from the College of Charleston; and

Whereas, a native of Marion County, Barbara Campbell McLawhorn earned a bachelor's degree in business education from North Carolina A&T. She continued her education with a master's degree in guidance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and earned a master's degree plus 30 credential classification; and

Whereas, since 1979, McLawhorn has served as president and chief executive officer of the Columbia Urban League. The largest nonprofit provider of youth career work experience in the State, the organization has received local and national recognition in promoting leadership development for disadvantaged and foster care youths. Long an advocate for social justice and equal opportunity, he initiated the Urban League's publication The State of Black South Carolina: An Action Agenda for the Future. He founded the National Black Family Summit and was a chief planner of the "King Day at the Dome" march and rally held on January 17, 2000, which drew more than fifty thousand people to downtown Columbia to protest the Confederate flag flying atop the State Capitol. In 2010, McLawhorn and the Columbia Urban League received the Whitney M. Young, Jr., Leadership Award for advancing racial relations and the National Urban League's President's Award for public policy advocacy; and

Whereas, a man of faith, McLawhorn is a member and deacon at Saint John Baptist Church. He also serves or has served on numerous boards and commissions. Among them are the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission, South Carolina Department of Transportation, Greater Columbia Area Chamber of Commerce, charter member of the Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center, Fort Jackson Equal Opportunity committee, and the State Workforce Investment Board. He received the Order of the Palmetto twice, and is an inductee in the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame; and

Whereas, Mrs. McLawhorn worked as a clerical and administrative skills teacher at the Opportunity Industrialization Center in Charlotte, N.C., and later was a business teacher at East Mecklenburg High School. When the McLawhorn family moved to Columbia, she spent two decades as a counselor at Alcorn Middle School, where her lasting impact on students' lives saw many of them reach out to her well after her retirement. In 2021, she published the inspirational novel, The Saga of Danny Jones, A Journey to New Beginnings, which reached number five on Amazon's New Releases list for Teen and Young Adult Christian Fiction; and

Whereas, at Saint John Baptist Church, she was a member of the Deaconess Board, the scholarship committee, and the Ethel C. Wilson Missionary Circle. She received the National Council of Negro Women Living the Legacy Award, the Drum Major for Justice Award in Education, and the Columbia Urban League Guild's Tower Award. The owner of Mama…licious Southern Gourmet Pound Cakes®, she won several State Fair Blue Ribbon awards for her pound cakes; and

Whereas, it is only fitting and proper that a couple who has given so much to enhance and uplift the lives of so many South Carolinians through their work and programs be recognized with a portion of highway named in their honor. 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, request the Department of Transportation name a portion of United States Highway 21 (Wilson Boulevard) from State Road S-910 (Plumbers Road) to its intersection with State Road S-130 (Sharpe Road) in Richland County "James and Barbara McLawhorn Boulevard" and erect appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.

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