Columbia Honors Local Heroine of Civil Rights Movement

Article and photos by Shireese Bell

Sarah Mae Flemming — known to friends and family as unselfish, strong, hardworking and a pioneer — was honored Friday for a heroic act that helped paved the way for others during the Civil Rights Movement.

The corner of Main and Washington streets in downtown Columbia, the site where Flemming was ejected from a bus for taking a seat in the "whites-only" section, is now named Sara Mae Flemming Way.

“We have a deep and rich history here in Columbia, South Carolina, and we never spent the time, resources and efforts celebrating the history,” Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told Patch. “We have someone who made such a significant contribution to the course of American history.” 

On June 22, 1954, Flemming, a resident of Eastover, boarded a crowded segregated bus operated by South Carolina Electric and Gas. When a passenger left the bus, the 20-year-old Flemming took the seat.

The driver of the bus asked Flemming to leave her seat and move toward the rear of the bus. Flemming tried to exit the bus from the front, an action that violated racial customs at the time. The driver struck Flemming and ejected her from the bus on the corner of Main and Washington streets.

The NAACP filed a suit on her behalf. A federal court in Columbia rejected Flemming’s case  but in 1955, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Brown v. Board of Education case applied to public transportation.

The court's ruling was often referred to and cited during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, said Dr. Bobby Donaldson, a University of South Carolina history professor and co-chair of Columbia SC 63 — the group that conducted the unveiling of the street sign.

Columbia SC 63 is a collaborative effort between the city, the Historic Columbia Foundation, the University of South Carolina and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau to preserve, showcase and commemorate Columbia's own history during the Civil Rights era.

Friday's event — which was attended by members of Flemming's family, city and county leaders and other community members — was held to do just that. 

Asia and Kenyon Hall, Flemming's grandchildren, said the family was "grateful and pleased" that someone took the time and dedication to highlight their grandmother's contributions, even though she didn't do it for fame.

"She didn’t look for any fame, fortune and any recognition," Kenyon Hall said. "She was very unselfish in that way."

Donaldson said it's important to remember Flemming's story, while never widely recognized, because she played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement.

"We sometimes know the headlines of what occurred but we know very little about the substance of what happened," Donaldson said. "And many of us knew of Sarah Mae Flemming but the real national impact of her courageous decision on this corner, I don’t think many people knew."

"I hope that it (Friday's dedication) reminds people that history is all around us and that history is not simply a tourist attraction or some date on the calendar," he said. "It’s something that’s meaningful and instructive, that there are really extraordinary lessons for us to learn from the past."

Friday would have been Flemming's 80th birthday.

On Sunday, the commemoration continues with the showing of the film "Before Rosa: The Unsung Contributions of Sarah Mae Flemming" at 3 p.m. at the Richland Library.

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