L. Marion Gressette Papers

The L. Marion Gressette Papers consists of 10 linear feet of material, c.1920 to 1984. The collection contains primarily public papers chiefly dating from the 1970s to 1984. A small but significant group of records dates from 1953 to 1956. The collection is arranged in five series: General Papers, Topical Files, Speeches, Audiovisual Material, and Clippings.

General Papers, 1953 to 1956, and 1971 to 1978, includes correspondence with constituents and colleagues, notes, reports, and legislative records. Letters dating from 1953 to 1956 offer revealing insights into South Carolina’s political climate during a period of heightened racial tension and uncertainty concerning the future of the national Democratic Party in South Carolina. Correspondence between Gressette and other members of the Democratic Executive Committee addresses the need for South Carolina Democrats to work together to get the state, as one Democrat wrote, “back in harness.” Many political colleagues, confident of Gressette’s legislative acumen and popular appeal, also wrote encouraging Gressette to run for governor or seek a South Carolina Supreme Court nomination. Other 1950s correspondence regards the Calhoun County Legislative Delegation, the Highways Department, Clemson University, and Winthrop College. Papers generated during the 1970s focus on issues such as unemployment, education, and the South Carolina Finance Equalization Act.

Topical Files, 1965 to 1983, chiefly consists of legislative files that represent Gressette’s committee work as well as issues of local, state, and national interest. Extensive files document Gressette’s role in helping defeat the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in South Carolina between 1971 and 1978. This material consists of correspondence, newsletters, advertisements, and petitions for or against the ERA, as well as papers relating to the International Women’s Year Conferences held in Columbia in July 1977, and in Houston, Texas the following November.

As first vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, Gressette strongly opposed the movement to make Winthrop College co-educational. The collection contains correspondence from Winthrop alumni and constituents between 1965 and 1975, as well as reports and statements from various organizations and individuals, including the transcript of a 1972 Senate Education Committee hearing discussing the future of Winthrop. Extensive newspaper clippings about this issue are located in the Clippings series.

Papers reflecting Gressette’s participation in the South Carolina State Reorganization Commission date from 1972 to 1983. These include meeting minutes, information related to the Commission’s history and budget, and responses of several state agencies to a questionnaire designed by the Commission to assess an agency’s organizational structure, function, and programs. Records of the Commission’s “Sunset Review,” a process by which state agencies were assigned termination dates and required to document their progress to the Commission to remain in existence, constitute the majority of material between 1979 and 1983.

Gressette represented three counties between 1937 and 1984. Although he served Calhoun County throughout his entire career, re-districting expanded his representation to include portions of Orangeburg County in 1967 and Dorchester County in 1969. Records of his service in these two counties include correspondence, notes, reports, and drafts of budget appropriations. Documents relating to Gressette’s service in the Calhoun County Legislative Delegation are not as voluminous as the Orangeburg/Dorchester material and are located in the General Papers series.

Although early material related to Gressette’s role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is contained in General Papers, more voluminous later material, 1975 to 1980, is located in Topical Files. Letters from representatives of the Council of State Governments, the Lower Savannah Regional Planning and Development Council, the State Budget and Control Board, and the Rural Development Agency characterize the majority of papers. Other material includes transcripts of committee hearings held in 1979, records regarding sub-committee appointments made by Gressette between 1979 and 1980, and 1980 meeting minutes.

Speeches, 1950 to 1977, consists of handwritten and typed manuscripts. Topics of early speeches include segregation, budget appropriations, reapportionment, and federal and state relations. Gressette’s speeches from the 1970s announce his support for then Lieutenant Governor John West during West’s gubernatorial campaign and later in support of West’s gubernatorial accomplishments.

Audiovisual Material, c. 1920s to 1983, is composed primarily of photographic portraits taken during various periods of Gressette’s life, family portraits, and photographs with colleagues at various public and social events. A cassette recording dated May 26, 1978, begins with an unidentified speaker narrating the pivotal roles played by Gressette and fellow legislator and longtime friend Rembert Dennis in helping establish Orangeburg/Calhoun Technical College, and concludes with remarks from both senators. Another, dated March 26, 1981, records a “Testimonial Dinner” held in Gressette’s honor, featuring the opening remarks of Governor Richard Riley and the keynote address of former governor John West, who declared Gressette to be “the number one man of our generation.”

Clippings, 1924, 1955 to 1988, highlights legislative and social issues including topics such as race relations and government spending. Approximately one inch of clippings from the Gressette vertical file was added by staff.