Mission
The Clemson Area African American Museum is managed by the City of Clemson and is the only African American Museum in Pickens County. The mission of CAAAM is to collect, interpret, exhibit and preserve the rich and vibrant history of African Americans in the City of Clemson and upstate South Carolina for the period of the arrival of the first African in this region until the present day. There is a special emphasis on collecting books, documents, artifacts and other cultural objects, preserving them and interpreting them for the public by means of museum exhibitions, educational programs, lectures, public events and publications and to encourage others to collect and preserve the history of African Americans in Upstate, SC and to do everything worthwhile to carry out our purpose.
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Events Leading to the Founding of the Museum
Board Officers and Members (2009-2012)
In 2002 the Pickens County School Board announced that they would be selling a school building in Clemson (then known as the Morrison Annex) located on Butler Street in the historic African American community of Goldenview. The building had originally been constructed in the 1940s as a segregated African American elementary school called Calhoun Elementary.
In 2003 the City of Clemson acquired the Morrison Annex building and property for $100,000 from the Pickens County School District
The City of Clemson applied for and received a $1.3 million grant from the South Carolina Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to refurbish the building for use as a community and cultural center. Work on the building was completed in 2006 and the renovated building was renamed the Calhoun Bridge Center.
While these events were taking place, neighborhood meetings were held with local residents to gather suggestions and input into how this building could best be utilized by the community and also honor the students, teachers, and administrators who attended the Calhoun Elementary School.
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Many suggestions came out of these meetings, but the most strongly supported was the creation of an African American museum whose mission would be to present, preserve and celebrate black history and cultural achievements in the Clemson area.
In August 2007 a diverse group of local residents, graduates from the former Calhoun Elementary School and volunteers from Clemson University joined together to establish the Clemson Area African American Museum (CAAAM)
In 2008 a founding Board of Directors and officers for CAAAM was selected, a Constitution and Bylaws for the new Museum was approved by the Board, and Articles of Incorporation were submitted to the South Carolina Secretary of State’s office. The new Museum received IRS confirmation of its status as a 501(c)3 the following year.
Several other local non-profits also stepped forward during the construction and renovation of the Calhoun Bridge Center to express their interest in leasing space in the building, and two of these nonprofits – the Clemson Child Development Center and the Arts Center of Clemson – became CBC tenants alongside CAAAM in 2007.
The Calhoun Bridge Center
As noted above, the Calhoun Bridge Center, earlier served as a segregated elementary school for the Clemson area and was named the Calhoun Elementary School. The original building was constructed in 1948 to serve the growing number of African American families residing in the Calhoun area.
When the Clemson/Pickens County public schools were desegregated in the 1970s, African American students who would have attended Calhoun Elementary were instead reassigned to the Morrison Elementary School. The Butler Street building was converted to a kindergarten and first grade facility and renamed the Morrison Annex School.
By the 1990s, both Morrison Elementary School and the Morrison Annex School were fast outgrowing their buildings. On November 16, 1999, ground was broken for a new school named Clemson Elementary, and students and teachers moved into this building in August of 2000.
On April 16, 2007, following the completion of renovations on the Morrison Annex, the City of Clemson officially changed the building’s name to the Calhoun Bridge Center
The Founding Board Officers (2008)
President – Matthew Green
Vice-President – William Peppers, Jr.
Chair, Finance Committee – Elouise James
Secretary – Gail Wright
Assistant Secretary – Bessie (Pat) Kemp
President and Treasurer – Matthew Green
Vice-President – Robert Kemp
Secretary – Gail Wright
Members:
Abel Bartley
Julia Bell
Dr. Angela Eckhoff
Elouise James
Dorothy Jones
Bessie Kemp
Dr. Del Kimbler
George Lignon
William Peppers, Jr.
Dr. Mindy Spearman
Dr. Rhondda Thomas
Isaac Wallace
Henry Young
Board Officers and Members (2012-2014)
President – Paul Elston
Vice-President – Robert Kemp
Treasurer – Larry Walker
Secretary – Angels Hick
Assistant Secretary – Bessie Kemp
Members:
Jamaine Dawkins
Vivian Green
Deborah Hamilton
Abe Isham
Gloria Isham
Dorothy Jones
Maryetta Jones
Dr. Deborah King
Mattie Morris
Diane Perry
Barry Richard
Board Officers and Members (2014-2019)
President – Robert Kemp
Vice President – Vince Jackson & Pat Kemp
Treasurer – Larry Walker
Secretary – Deborah Hamilton
Assistant Secretary – Julie Ogletree
Accountant – Diane Kincaid
Members:
Cicsley Galloway
Vivian Green
Kendra Johnson
Mia Tensley
Dr. Jody Usher
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