Hours of operation vary depending on days, months, and special events.

Tours are currently available by appointment only. You may schedule visits here or by calling the museum.

A: May 17, 2023 marks the 69th year since this pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling which is one of the major waves of change associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

A: Hundreds of museums are located in residential areas and considered to be an asset, not a liability. Because the founder is architect of the building; the location of the Museum is actually a part of the DNA concept:upon graduating from high school, he wanted to study architecture but Blacks were unable to attend; he bought a drafting board and designed three homes he has lived in and which housed his photography operation. Throughout South Carolina and the United States, museums in residential areas include: Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Monroe Street, Topeka,Kansas; Modjeska Simkins House, Columbia, SC; Martin Luther King - Birth House, Atlanta, Georgia; Benjamin Mayes Historic Site, Greenwood, SC.

Within 24 months, the museum is expected to move to a new larger 10,000 sq. ft. facility. Stay tuned!

A: In an effort to serve the public at at same time, remain a viable business operation, we have eliminated the admission fee for onsite visits (when they are resumed) and instead respectfully request donations of a minimum of $20 or more. All contributions will be greatly appreciated to help us build this concept. When onsite visitations resume, it will be by appointment only.  Other visitations & VIP tours may be allowed but under special circumstances only. 

A: Approximately 500 images will be on a full time exhibit status. This number exceeds all other civil rights museum's display status. Presently, the museum's virtual tour is undergoing updates and soon will be replaced.

In addition, over 2,000 names of individuals will be posted on a Wall of Recognition complimented by a kiosk which electronically reveals contributions to society. 

360 Virtual Reality Tours were initiated after the COVID-19 restrictions and close contact and distancing protocols. The world is entering uncharted social behavior which may forever change the norm. Meanwhile, technology such as 360 Virtual Reality Tours rival and sometimes may surpass on-site visitations. Visitors may experience each and every exhibit in the Cecil Williams Civil Rights Museum. Also, by placing mouse on a tagged circle, visual presentations will start and continue until the mouse is removed.

The historically significant artifacts, photographs, and materials most come from the personal collections of the founder who endured first-hand, the decades of living under segregation in the Deep South. Special one of a kind artifacts like the Briggs Family Historic Bible are on loan from Briggs family members exclusively to the SCCRM.

A. The  SCCRM commemorates and defines the missing links in the origin of the National Civil Rights Movement. Before Rev. Martin Luther King, Roasa parks, and the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1950 Clarendon, South Carolina Briggs v. Elliott case— first in the nation to attack school segregation—had become the catalyst for the five cases that became Brown v. Board of Education. Our history mostly reflects South Carolina events from 1950 thru 1970. The museum features fifteen permanent exhibitions and highlights over 100 individual profiles. Content -wise, it has no equal to any other museum. Approximately 12 images that appear in the IAAM are courtesy of the SCCRM

The beautiful and magnificent IAAM in Charleston honors the untold stories of the African American journey at one of the country's most sacred sites. Much emphasis is given to the journey and import of slaves into Charleston. The IAAM building is a magnificent structure located  at Gadsden's Wharf, original site where thousands of slaves embarked from ships that crossed the seas with their stolen cargo-human beings. Twelve permanent exhibitions that include 9 galleries makeup the impressive historical perspective not found in any other museum of its type.