1. Barack Obama
‘AmAzing
yeAr’
Columnist:.Obama’s
S.C. primary win
shows attitudes about
race will change
A politicAl journey By dionne Gleaton
T&D Staff Writer
– At wArp speed
Orangeburg proved itself to be
a key battleground city during
the South Carolina presidential
primary and that recognition has
By sharon cohen gained momentum all the way up to
AP National Writer the inauguration of Barack Obama
C
as the nation’s 44th president, says
HICAGO — Every year, the dedicated teacher would put together a Washington Post columnist who
a bulletin board for Black History Month, honoring famous achiev- grew up in Orangeburg.
ers. Orangeburg was initially cast
There was Martin Luther King Jr., of course. Thurgood Marshall, into the na-
the first black U.S. Supreme Court justice. George Washington Carver, the tional spotlight
inventor and scientist. when S.C. State
Barack obama, with his base-
Several years ago, Loretta Augustine-Herron added a little-known face to University was
the board at her Mississippi school. It was a photo of a friend she had worked ball bat in hawaii during the tapped as the
closely with in Chicago who was just launching his political career. 1960s. site for the first
His name was Barack Obama. Democratic
“Who is he?” the kids would ask. presidential
“Just remember the name,” she’d tell them. “Just remember the name. You primary de-
need to know who this is because he’s going to be president one day.” bate of the 2008
——— election cycle
in April 2007. robinson
The mileposts are familiar by now:
The exotic childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia. The teen years struggling with his (Ke- “I think it was an incredible
nyan father, white mother) identity. The humble beginnings in Chicago. The success at thing for Orangeburg. I remember
high-powered Harvard. The legislative career in a sleepy state capital. The improbable leap being there at the time and talking
from freshman U.S. senator to presidential candidate. to people and saying, ‘Did you ever
Finally, on Tuesday, 47-year-old Barack Hussein Obama Jr. will be sworn in as the na- image that Orangeburg would be in
tion’s 44th president, his hand resting upon the burgundy velvet, gilt-edged Bible used the international spotlight the way
by Abraham Lincoln. it was?’ All eyes were on our little
The odyssey that brought him to the White House has been extraordinary, in so town,” said nationally syndicated
many ways. Those who’ve witnessed his journey or helped to shape it remem- columnist Eugene Robinson, an Or-
obama, while a student at
ber the big and small moments; together, they recite the story of the unlike- angeburg native.
ly politician who is about to become the most powerful man on Earth. harvard law school. “One thing I found really inter-
——— esting was how all these people who
As a big brother, Barack Obama sometimes took on the role of father. descended on Orangeburg reacted
His half-sister, Maya, was just 16 when her father, Lolo Soetoro, died to the place and seemed really in-
and Obama — nine years her senior — tried to fill the void. terested in the history and learning
They lived thousands of miles apart. But Maya would visit him in more about what Orangeburg was
Chicago or New York, and he would introduce her to museums and art about,” Robinson said. He recalled
galleries, to jazz, classical and flamenco music, to different neighbor- a reaction from Valerie Jarrett, one
hoods. And when it came time for her to check out college campuses, of president-elect Obama’s closest
her older brother escorted her across around the country. advisers, when she learned Robin-
“He wanted me to see how big the world is,” she says. son was from Orangeburg.
The big brother she’d tease — “Don’t touch the ’fro,” he’d warn as a “Valerie just really ... brightened
teen when she tried to mess with his hair — became a source of com- up and remembered Orangeburg
fort and advice. because she was there when Mi-
“He made sure I thought about things carefully, and considered chelle (Obama) gave a speech in
them thoughtfully and let things sit in my mouth and brain for a Orangeburg. In a minor but an im-
while,” says Maya Soetoro-Ng. portant way, perhaps, I think the
And in life’s big moments, he proved to be a constant. election has kind of put Orange-
“I always had him there to offer guidance — where I should look obama and his bride, Michelle burg on the map,” Robinson said.
for work and what I should look for in a life partner,” she says. “He The South Carolina primary in
robinson, on their wedding February also put another spot-
helped me to heal in disappointment and with the loss of our mother
... he helped remind me all that she had given us.” day, oct. 18, 1992, in chicago. light on Orangeburg, he said.
—— “It was certainly a real battle-
see oBaMa, a7 ap photos ground in the primary scene.
see chanGe, a8
On the podium ‘right time, right plAce’
for FDR inaugural
Austin Cunningham came South in 1973 in an Court Historical Society’s Quarterly. In review-
executive position with Sunbeam Corp., which ing his article, the editors inquired about the
had plants then in Denmark and Manning. Be- elevator experience, saying the private eleva-
fore and after the move that introduced him to tor (the court was then situated in the Capitol)
Orangeburg and T&D readers, he had could not be found. With a little direc-
By lee harter He has another account as memorable encounters beyond being tion, they found the abandoned elevator
T&D Editor the nation prepares to inaugu- on the podium with FDR. He’s written and the story was substantiated.
rate a new president. about many. Here are some highlights. n After leaving the court, Cunning-
The T&D writer’s note with Cunningham won’t be in n While working as a page in the ham became a statistician with the FBI.
his column describes Austin Washington Tuesday for the U.S. Supreme Court beginning at age It was in the role that he saw the late
Cunningham as an attorney, ceremony that will launch the 14, Cunningham’s experience involved Director J. Edgar Hoover on a regular
the president of five com- historic presidency of Barack meeting Chief Justice Oliver Wendell basis. Hoover knew Cunningham by his
panies and a former senior Obama – but he was right Holmes. He has written: “One day I took first name. It was the era of John Dill-
citizen of the year in South there on the podium that day Judge Holmes up on the private eleva- inger and other gangsters.
in March 1933 when Franklin tor when the regular operator was else-
cunningham n In Paris after World War II, Cun-
Carolina.
One might say that is enough Delano Roosevelt took the oath where, trembling in my boots because ningham and his late wife, Jackie, were
to make for interesting life for his first term and delivered I’d not done it before, and I had to get the eleva- preparing for a parade honoring French leader
stories, but it is the extraordi- the now-famous “Nothing to tor even with the floor so the most beloved old Charles de Gaulle. “We just wanted to see him
nary accounts of the 94-year- fear but fear itself” address. man wouldn’t trip and fall. I did a good job and go by.” The event was canceled, but not before
WWW.fDrLibrAry.COm
old Cunningham’s encounters Here’s the story. was rewarded with some not-quite-intelligible the Cunninghams encountered actress Greta
with history and its notables After leaving his post as a franklin d. roosevelt and his wife, mumble of appreciation.” Garbo on the street, talking away. She realized
that have made his T&D col- U.S. Supreme Court page at eleanor, are shown during the 1933 Cunningham in 1998 wrote of his experiences the Americans recognized her and went back into
umn a longtime favorite. see podiuM, a8 presidential inauguration. with Holmes and the court for The Supreme see place, a8
index Today in The T&d
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