ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The South Carolina Humanities Festival continued today with historic church tours in Orangeburg. This is the first time the SC Humanities Festival is being hosted in Orangeburg County.
Trinity United Methodist Church, Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church and St. Paul’s Methodist Church were highlighted by the festival committee for the historic church tours.
Ronald Speight is a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He says these tours are an important way to learn about Orangeburg’s history.
"To maintain one's history, and so that others know about one's history to me is always important,” said Speight. “I do believe that you want to know your history about anything, even your own family. It's important to know from where you've come. So to know why Orangeburg is and how it is today, a lot of it has to do with Trinity United Methodist Church."
Rosemary Smith-Hickman is a member of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. She says this church has roots dating back to slavery.
"We trace our roots back to 1853 and that's through word of mouth past down,” said Smith-Hickman. “I think that is significant because 1853, we were still in the grips of slavery and black people were unable to worship openly so our worship was in secret and that's how Mount Pisgah started and we're proud that Mount Pisgah has been around all these years."
The South Carolina Humanities Festival continues Saturday with an author exhibition, children’s story time, a cooking class and more events.
The Trunk or Treat event has been rescheduled to Monday afternoon due to inclement weather.