Friendship Nine - "Jail, No Bail"

From WBTV:

ROCK HILL – Local students from Winthrop University and the Rock Hill schools are taking part in a commemorative walk and re-enactment that will retrace the steps that 10 Friendship Junior College male students, now known as the “Friendship Nine” along with several females, known as the “City Girls” took 50 years ago. 

The re-enactment and walk will begin on Sunday, January 30 at 3 p.m. at the corner of Dave Lyle Boulevard and E. Main Street.  The walk will end in front of the Old Town Bistro (former site of the McCrory’s Five and Dime Variety Store). The walk, themed “Footsteps from the Past: A March to Freedom” will kick-off a series of events scheduled to commemorate the anniversary.

“The students will walk and interact with each other as the students did 50 years ago while they took their journey from Friendship Junior College to downtown Rock Hill to the McCrory’s Five and Dime variety store, while a narrator paints the picture to the audience of what those students experienced,” said Trina Ricks, walk coordinator. 

“The students and community volunteers are delighted and honored to be a part of this event because of its historical significance, but also to have the opportunity to really learn about local history and even feel some of the emotions that the students felt 50 years ago.”

Immediately following the walk, light refreshments will be served inside the Palmetto Room.  Attendees will also get a chance to see a sneak preview of the SCETV “Jail, No Bail” documentary that will be televised statewide on February 3 at 8 p.m.  A flyer listing other anniversary events will be available at the walk.

The final event to wrap up the anniversary celebrations will be a gala titled “Friends of the Nine Dinner Gala.” The gala will be held on February 26 at 7 p.m. at the Palmetto Room in Old Town.  The guest speaker will be Dr. Cleveland L Sellers, Jr. 

Tickets will be available for purchase soon.

For more information about the walk and other 50th Anniversary events, call 803-329-5200 or visitwww.friendshipcollege.org.