South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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Bill 5066


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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPON THE DEATH OF JAMES "JIM" E. SULTON, SR., OF ORANGEBURG COUNTY, AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND MANY FRIENDS.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Orangeburg native and Citizen of the Year, James "Jim" E. Sulton, Sr., a civil rights icon, on April 17, 2008; and

Whereas, always dedicated and dependable, Jim Sulton worked energetically and tirelessly for sixty years for civil rights in order to improve the environment in which his children would live; and

Whereas, he and his beloved wife Ruby had five fine children, and at their home in Orangeburg received many notable leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who gathered for countless strategy sessions; and

Whereas, in his early years, he learned the value of honest labor when he worked in his family's sawmill, J. J. Sulton and Sons, the oldest sawmill in the South; and

Whereas, when he served his country during World War II, he was challenged by a German soldier and prisoner of war that Sulton did not have freedom as an enfranchised citizen in the country for which he fought; and

Whereas, when he returned to Orangeburg after the war, he found Germans, whose country had threatened American freedoms, serving in medical facilities that were segregated from African Americans, and he organized drives for voter registration and marches to protest segregation and to realize those freedoms for all Americans; and

Whereas, he owned and operated Sulton's Esso service station with his brother for more that twenty-five years and later established the Sulton Fuel Company, providing an energy source for many Orangeburg-area residents; but his early work in the Civil Rights Movement seriously jeopardized his livelihood; and

Whereas, due to his civil rights activism, he was arrested, and many salesmen succumbed to pressure and refused to deliver parts he needed to serve his customers; as a result, black leaders in Orangeburg initiated an early policy of "selective buying"; and

Whereas, in 1963, he traveled to Washington, D.C., for the civil rights march on the nation's capital; and

Whereas, Jim Sulton did not rest on past accomplishments when in the 1990's he served as the co-leader in Project Hope, sponsored by the Palmetto Project "to get blacks and whites to gather in frank conversation and friendship"; and

Whereas, he further served his community as an original member of Edisto Habitat for Humanity and as the leader in establishing a headquarters for the Association of Retarded Citizens in Orangeburg; and

Whereas, he lived to see a grateful community and State commend his life work in numerous accolades, including being named Orangeburg's Citizen of the Year in 2006 and having a stretch of the street in front of his home being named to honor him; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are grateful for the legacy of service to the citizens of South Carolina left by James "Jim" E. Sulton, Sr., and are saddened to learn of his death. 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, express their profound sorrow upon the death of James "Jim" E. Sulton, Sr., of Orangeburg County, and extend their deepest sympathy to his family, community, and many friends.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Ruby Sulton.

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