A Banquet and Archived History

Yesterday I drove down to Columbia, SC to meet my parents so that we could all go to the James R. Crumley Archives banquet. In years past, I've seen pictures of the event, and I've always been curious. This year, schedules aligned, and we could go.Each year, as far as I can tell, the banquet is held at a different place. So far, the Archive has not had a permanent home. That's about to change: Newberry College has donated land for a building and now the capital campaign begins. We heard a bit about that new development last night.(l-r Don Poole, Ina Berkey, Jane Mitcham,Tom Berkey)But most of last night's banquet was to celebrate the accomplishments of the honorees: an individual, a church, and a synod of the ELCA. It was enough of a program to justify the banquet, but not so overwhelming/long that people started leaving early.(l-r Honoree Dorothy Jeffcoat, Don Poole, Ina Berkey)Before the event, we had been invited to be part of a program that told the story of African American…