Photographer Cecil Williams' vision gives South Carolina its only civil rights museum

Much of how South Carolina has seen its civil rights history has been through the lens of photographer Cecil Williams. From sit-ins to prayer protests to portraits of African Americans integrating universities and rising to federal judges, Williams has snapped it.

After years of work, Williams' millions of photographs are being digitized and categorized and his chief dream of a civil rights museum marking how Black Americans fought segregation and discrimination in the state is about to move out of his old house and into a much bigger, and more prominent, building in Orangeburg.

“Images can be very powerful storytelling,” said Williams, who turned 85 last month. “And the struggle to get the rights we were