Seneca to share in Mellon Foundation award

A major announcement of big money for Seneca, Clemson, and the university wowed an audience this afternoon, at the end of a three-hour Black History luncheon, the setting for which was a former all-Black educational institute.  Dr. Rhondda Thomas, faculty director for Clemson University’s Call My Name project, announced a $3.4M award from the Mellon Foundation.  She made the announcement standing between Angela Agard of the Clemson African-American Museum and Shelby Henderson, director of Seneca’s Department of Art, History and Culture.  And Henderson’s hometown of Seneca will play a big part in the creation of a trail that’ll help depict the history of African-Americans in Seneca, Clemson, and other parts of the Upstate.  With a nod of approval, Henderson went further in the announcement by stating that Seneca’s part in the project, amounting to one-third of the Mellon grant, will be centered in the Perry Hill Community, the location of two former all-black schools from the days of segregated education.