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TO REQUEST THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NAME THE PORTION OF UNITED STATES HIGHWAY 25 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY 291 TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH LENHART ROAD IN GREENVILLE COUNTY "DR. S. C. CURETON MEMORIAL HIGHWAY" AND ERECT APPROPRIATE MARKERS OR SIGNS ALONG THIS HIGHWAY THAT CONTAIN THE WORDS "DR. S. C. CURETON MEMORIAL HIGHWAY".
Whereas, Dr. S. C. Cureton was born on March 24, 1930 and died on December 28, 2008, and participated at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960's; and
Whereas, Dr. Cureton received a Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences in 1953 and a Doctor of Divinity in 1956, both from Benedict College; and
Whereas, on December 22, 1954, he married his beloved wife Claudette Hazel Chapman, and they raised four fine children; and
Whereas, Dr. Cureton served as a teacher for twenty-six years and pastored churches in the Missionary Baptist Convention since 1954 in Simpsonville, Pickens, Chester, and other places throughout South Carolina; and
Whereas, from 1965 until his death, Dr. Cureton pastored his home church, Reedy River Missionary Baptist Church in Mauldin, and taught his congregation to live their lives in such a way that others would see Christ, who is the light of the world, in them; and
Whereas, the church developed many outreach programs under his able leadership, including tutoring services, scholarship and academic-achievement recognition, senior-citizen recognition, family-night programs, extensive missionary programs, youth organizations, and the Save Our Sons Outreach Program; and
Whereas, from 1986 to 1991, Dr. Cureton served as the president of the Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina, and during this time the convention increased its contributions to Benedict and Morris Colleges, administered a teen pregnancy prevention program, constructed a multi-unit housing project in Anderson, started the Dufauskie Island Project, and purchased land for a convention-owned conference center; and
Whereas, he served from 1996 to 1999 as vice president at large for the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.; and
Whereas, when he served as the interim president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., from 1999 to 2000, Dr. Cureton became the first South Carolinian ever to be named president of the convention, the largest black-organized body in the world, consisting of eight and a half million members and thirty-three thousand churches; and
Whereas, President Bill Clinton appointed him to serve as a Commissioner of Presidential Scholars from 1993 to 2000. He was also the vice chairman of Morris College Trustee Board; and
Whereas, it is fitting and proper for the members of the South Carolina General Assembly to forever recognize the many accomplishments of Dr. S. C. Cureton by naming a portion of South Carolina Highway 25 in Greenville County in his memory. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly request that the Department of Transportation name the portion of United States Highway 25 from its intersection with South Carolina Highway 291 to its intersection with Lenhart Road in Greenville County "Dr. S. C. Cureton Memorial Highway" and erect appropriate markers or signs along this highway that contain the words "Dr. S. C. Cureton Memorial Highway".
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.
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