South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008
H. 5066
STATUS INFORMATION
Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Govan, CobbHunter, Ott, Sellers, Agnew, Alexander, Allen, Anderson, Anthony, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bedingfield, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Brantley, Breeland, G.Brown, R.Brown, Cato, Chalk, Clemmons, Clyburn, Coleman, Cooper, Cotty, Crawford, Daning, Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, Duncan, Edge, Erickson, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Gullick, Hagood, Haley, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Harvin, Haskins, Hayes, Herbkersman, Hiott, Hodges, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hutson, Jefferson, Jennings, Kelly, Kennedy, Kirsh, Knight, Leach, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, Mahaffey, McLeod, Merrill, Miller, Mitchell, MoodyLawrence, Moss, Mulvaney, J.H.Neal, J.M.Neal, Neilson, Owens, Parks, Perry, Phillips, Pinson, E.H.Pitts, M.A.Pitts, Rice, Rutherford, Sandifer, Scarborough, Scott, Shoopman, Simrill, Skelton, D.C.Smith, F.N.Smith, G.M.Smith, G.R.Smith, J.E.Smith, J.R.Smith, W.D.Smith, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stewart, Talley, Taylor, Thompson, Toole, Umphlett, Vick, Viers, Walker, Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Witherspoon and Young
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24195mm08.doc
Introduced in the House on April 22, 2008
Introduced in the Senate on April 23, 2008
Adopted by the General Assembly on April 23, 2008
Summary: James E. Sultan, Sr.
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
4/22/2008 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate HJ35
4/23/2008 Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence SJ9
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
4/22/2008
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPON THE DEATH OF JAMES “JIM” E. SULTON, SR., OF ORANGEBURG COUNTY, AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND MANY FRIENDS.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Orangeburg native and Citizen of the Year, James “Jim” E. Sulton, Sr., a civil rights icon, on April 17, 2008; and
Whereas, always dedicated and dependable, Jim Sulton worked energetically and tirelessly for sixty years for civil rights in order to improve the environment in which his children would live; and
Whereas, he and his beloved wife Ruby had five fine children, and at their home in Orangeburg received many notable leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who gathered for countless strategy sessions; and
Whereas, in his early years, he learned the value of honest labor when he worked in his family’s sawmill, J. J. Sulton and Sons, the oldest sawmill in the South; and
Whereas, when he served his country during World War II, he was challenged by a German soldier and prisoner of war that Sulton did not have freedom as an enfranchised citizen in the country for which he fought; and
Whereas, when he returned to Orangeburg after the war, he found Germans, whose country had threatened American freedoms, serving in medical facilities that were segregated from African Americans, and he organized drives for voter registration and marches to protest segregation and to realize those freedoms for all Americans; and
Whereas, he owned and operated Sulton’s Esso service station with his brother for more that twentyfive years and later established the Sulton Fuel Company, providing an energy source for many Orangeburgarea residents; but his early work in the Civil Rights Movement seriously jeopardized his livelihood; and
Whereas, due to his civil rights activism, he was arrested, and many salesmen succumbed to pressure and refused to deliver parts he needed to serve his customers; as a result, black leaders in Orangeburg initiated an early policy of “selective buying”; and
Whereas, in 1963, he traveled to Washington, D.C., for the civil rights march on the nation’s capital; and
Whereas, Jim Sulton did not rest on past accomplishments when in the 1990’s he served as the coleader in Project Hope, sponsored by the Palmetto Project “to get blacks and whites to gather in frank conversation and friendship”; and
Whereas, he further served his community as an original member of Edisto Habitat for Humanity and as the leader in establishing a headquarters for the Association of Retarded Citizens in Orangeburg; and
Whereas, he lived to see a grateful community and State commend his life work in numerous accolades, including being named Orangeburg’s Citizen of the Year in 2006 and having a stretch of the street in front of his home being named to honor him; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are grateful for the legacy of service to the citizens of South Carolina left by James “Jim” E. Sulton, Sr., and are saddened to learn of his death. 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, express their profound sorrow upon the death of James “Jim” E. Sulton, Sr., of Orangeburg County, and extend their deepest sympathy to his family, community, and many friends.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Ruby Sulton.
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