Lennie Glover
Student and civil rights activist
Lennie Glover (1936-2005) was a student at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. On March 2, 1961, he took part in a student-led demonstration at the S.C. Statehouse that resulted in Edwards v. S.C. (1963), a landmark First Amendment court case. Three days later, March 5, 1961, Glover was stabbed by an unidentified White man at a sit-in at the Woolworth’s on Main Street. The man escaped from the crime scene in the middle of the day. Glover survived but needed emergency surgery. After the stabbing, African American students boycotted Main Street businesses from March 24-26. Their protest was known as the “Easter Lennie Glover No Buying Campaign.” After a four-week recovery period, Glover returned to demonstrations at Woolworth’s. He held a sign that read, “This Store Bears the Blood of Lennie Glover. Beware of Woolworth’s.”
Image courtesy of Cecil Williams