South Carolina General Assembly
123rd Session, 2019-2020

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H. 3997

STATUS INFORMATION

Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Rep. Kirby
Document Path: l:\council\bills\rt\17583sa19.docx

Introduced in the House on February 19, 2019
Introduced in the Senate on February 19, 2019
Currently residing in the House

Summary: Frazier B. Baker

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   2/19/2019  House   Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate 
                        (House Journal-page 30)
   2/19/2019  Senate  Introduced, adopted, sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 15)

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VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/19/2019

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO COMMEMORATE THE DESIGNATION OF THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE AS THE POSTMASTER FRAZIER B. BAKER POST OFFICE IN LAKE CITY, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND TO RECOGNIZE THE HISTORY THIS REPRESENTS.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly deem it altogether fitting and proper to pause in their deliberations to recognize the naming of the United States Post Office located at 226 West Main Street in Lake City, South Carolina, as the Postmaster Frazier B. Baker Post Office in honor of the first African-American postmaster in that city; and

Whereas, in 1897, Frazier B. Baker was the first African American appointed to serve as postmaster at the Lake City Post Office. Mr. Baker was a forty-two-year-old school teacher from Effingham with a wife and six children; and

Whereas, in this position, Mr. Baker faced unspeakable hatred. Almost immediately after his appointment, he began receiving intimidating letters telling him not to come to Lake City at all. Mr. Baker refused to be intimidated; and

Whereas, Mr. Baker's great-niece describes him as "an educated man, and he believed that he should be able to serve his country as any other man"; and

Whereas, in January 1898, the post office was burned to the ground in an attempt to drive away the Baker family. Mr. Baker was determined to stand his ground. He set up another post office at his family's home on the outskirts of Lake City; and

Whereas, in the middle of the night on February 22, an armed white mob approached the Baker home and post office and set both structures on fire. The mob then began shooting. Mr. Baker and his infant daughter Julia were shot and killed inside the burning house. Mrs. Baker and their remaining five children barely escaped; and

Whereas, United States Representative James Clyburn, with the backing of South Carolina's entire Washington delegation introduced a federal bill to rename the town's post office in memory of this honorable man. Representative Clyburn stated that he sees it as part of his mission in Congress to do what he "can to help our country repair its faults, and this is a fault in need of repair"; and

Whereas, Lake City is a town of approximately six thousand seven hundred people. Mayor Lovith Anderson, Jr., who is also an African American, said Mr. Baker's story was hidden in plain sight for many years. He says that the best way to move forward "is to admit that it has happened, and then we can start our healing process"; and

Whereas, the naming of the post office ensures that the story of Frazier B. Baker and what he and his family were forced to endure will never be lost to history. 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, commemorate the designation of the United States Post Office as the Postmaster Frazier B. Baker Post Office in Lake City, South Carolina, and recognize the history this represents.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the Postmaster Frazier B. Baker Post Office and to the surviving family members.

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This web page was last updated on February 22, 2019 at 1:02 PM