[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Featured Image caption” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”]<\/p>\n
A crowd gathers outside the Summerall Chapel before Sen. Hollings’ funeral. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n On a bright spring day, politicians, friends and family said their final goodbyes to Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, a man who once dominated South Carolina politics.<\/p>\n The funeral service for the lifelong Democrat took place on April 16 at the Summerall Chapel at The Citadel in Charleston. Hollings graduated from The Citadel in 1942.<\/p>\n Hollings died April 6 at the age of 97. The body of the former governor and U.S. senator lay in repose at the State House a day before the funeral. A three-day period of mourning began April 14 when family held a visitation in his hometown of Charleston.<\/p>\n Eulogists included former Vice President Joe Biden, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.<\/p>\n Hollings became a mentor to Biden, the vice president recalled, and was the first person Biden called outside of his family when he won his first Senate election. Just six weeks later, Biden\u2019s first wife and daughter died in a tragic car crash. Biden credited Hollings and his wife \u2018Peatsy\u2019 for taking him under their wings and encouraging him to still take his Senate seat despite his family loss.<\/p>\n Clyburn, who represents South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, spoke through tears while remembering Hollings.<\/p>\n \u201cThank God a man can change,\u201d Clyburn said of Hollings’ transformative view on the issue of race.<\/p>\n Hollings initially campaigned as a segregationist when running for lieutenant governor and governor in the 1950s, but later advocated for integration at the end of his term. He cleared the way for the peaceful integration of Clemson University and other colleges and universities in 1963 when Harvey Gantt petitioned to become the first black student at the all-white institution. \u00a0<\/p>\n Clyburn said Hollings asked that his own name be taken down from the federal courthouse in Charleston and \u00a0replaced by the late U.S. District Judge J. Waties Waring, whose dissent in a South Carolina case cleared the way for the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s Brown v. Board of Education ruling desegregating public schools.<\/p>\n Herb Hartsook, the founding director of S.C. Political Collections at the University of South Carolina, believes Hollings’ legacy will live on far after his death. Hartsook began working on Hollings’ archives in 1987 and considers himself a part of Hollings’ senior staff.<\/p>\n \u201cThe template that he created is one we’re still following today,” Hartsook said of Hollings’ time spent as governor of South Carolina where he actively recruited new businesses to come to the state.<\/p>\n Hollings served as governor from 1959 to 1963.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a product of the early 1930s-1940s South and he probably believed in segregation as a very young person,\u201d Hartsook said. \u201cI think he realized in the army that segregation was morally wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Hartsook believes that Hollings was waiting for the right time to advocate for equality for all. That time finally came as Hollings was leaving office.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he made his final address to the General Assembly he called for desegregation, and a lot of people told him not to do that and advised him to leave that alone,\u201d Hartsook said.<\/p>\n Hollings ignored that advice and prepared for the integration of Clemson. He passed the duty onto his successor to fulfill the responsibility of desegregation after he addressed the General Assembly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hartsook says that was not the only time Hollings went against political advisors.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see the same kind of courage in Hollings’ famous hunger tours of 1968 and 1969, where he brought national attention to the terrible hunger that was pervasive in South Carolina,” Hartsook said.<\/p>\n Political elites in South Carolina thought that showcasing the hunger crisis would make the state look bad in the eyes of the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n Through his 38 year career in Washington, opponents tried to unseat him without success, including McMaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe challenged Fritz to a drug test. He responded by saying he would take a drug test if I would take an IQ test,\u201d McMaster said as he remembered running against Holling\u2019s in the 1986 S.C. U.S. Senate election.<\/p>\n Other prominent attendees included former Secretary of State John Kerry, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, and state and national representatives.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jim.png”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn speaks at Sen. Hollings’ funeral. He was one of three eulogists, including S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and Former Vice President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/copy.png”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n A collection of artifacts from Hollings’ career, located in the University of South Carolina Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vice President Joe Biden, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and others reflect on the life and legacy of the late S.C. governor Ernest Hollings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":21266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" It was a bright, Spring day when politicians, friends and family said their final goodbye to a man who once dominated South Carolina politics.<\/p> Former U.S. Senator Ernest \u2018Fritz\u2019 Hollings\u2019 funeral service took place on April 16 at the Summerall Chapel at The Citadel in Charleston. Hollings graduated from The Citadel in 1942.<\/p> Eulogists included former Vice President Joe Biden, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.<\/p> Hollings became a mentor to Biden and was even the first person Biden called outside of his family when he won the election. Just six weeks later, Biden\u2019s first wife and daughter died in a tragic car crash. Biden credits Hollings and his wife \u2018Peatsy\u2019 for taking him under their wing and encouraging him to still take his Senate seat despite his loss.<\/p> U.S. House Majority Whip Clyburn spoke through tears while remembering Hollings.<\/p> \u201cThank God a man can change,\u201d Clyburn said of Holling\u2019s transformative view on the issue of race. Hollings initially campaigned against segregation when running for governor in the 1950s but later advocated for integration at the end of his term.<\/p> Clyburn even remembered when Hollings asked that his own name be taken down from a courthouse and replaced by that of a judge whose dissent led to the Supreme Court\u2019s Brown v. Board of Education ruling desegregating public schools.<\/p> Political archivist like Herb Hoover also believe Holling\u2019s legacy will live on far after his death. Hoover began working on Hollings archives in 1987 and considers himself one part of Holling\u2019s senior staff.<\/p> \u201cThe template that he created is one were still following today,\u201d Hoover said of Holling\u2019s time spent as governor of South Carolina where he actively recruited new businesses to come to the state. Hoover says it\u2019s the same technique used by governors today.<\/p> Hollings served as \u00a0governor from 1959 to 1963 and believed public television and education were critical. Yet, as Clyburn mentioned during the funeral, Hollings was governor during segregation.<\/p> \u201cHe was a product of the early 1930s\/1940s south and he probably believed in segregation as a very young person,\u201d Hoover said. \u201cI think he realized in the army that segregation was morally wrong.\u201d<\/p> Hoover believes that Hollings was waiting for the right time to advocated for equality for all. That time finally came as Hollings was leaving office.<\/p> \u201cWhen he made his final address to the general assembly he called for desegregation and a lot of people told him not to do that and advised him to leave that alone,\u201d Hoover said.<\/p> But Hollings ignored that advice and prepared for the integration of Clemson. He passed the duty onto his successor to fulfill the responsibility of desegregation after he addressed the general assembly.<\/p> Hoover says that was not the only time Hollings went against political advisors.<\/p> \u201cYou see the same kind of courage in Hollings famous hunger tours of 1968 and 1969 where he brought national attention to the terrible hunger that was pervasive in South Carolina,\u201d Hoover said. Political elites in South Carolina thought that showcasing the hunger crisis would make the state look bad in the eyes of the rest of the nation.<\/p> Hoover even said that a number of elites looked to recruit someone who could defeat Hollings when he came up for re-election. One of those people that ran against him was current S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, who also spoke at Holling\u2019s funeral as a eulogist.<\/p> \u201cWe challenged Fritz to a drug test, he responded by saying he would take a drug test if I would take an IQ test,\u201d S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said as he remembered running against Sen. Holling\u2019s in the 1986 S.C. U.S. Senate election. Incumbent Hollings won.<\/p> Other prominent attendees included former Secretary of State John Kerry, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham and other state and national representatives.<\/p> Hollings died earlier this month at 97. The former governor and U.S. Senator\u2019s body lay in repose the Monday at the state Capitol. The funeral ended a three day period of mourning.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[62,39],"tags":[818,730,767,80,99],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21028"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21264,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21028\/revisions\/21264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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