The Phillis Wheatley Community Center in Greenville will induct the late Rev. Jesse Jackson into its Hall of Fame Champions class this October, honoring a hometown son whose activism began decades ago at a segregated public library just blocks from where he was born. The fourth annual Hall of Fame Champions Luncheon is scheduled for October 12, 2026, at 11:45 a.m., with a concert to follow that evening at 7 p.m.
Jackson died at age 84 in Chicago on February 17, 2026, closing out a career that carried him from a childhood in Greenville to two presidential campaigns and international recognition. As reported by FOX Carolina, he is among the inductees being recognized at this year's luncheon, hosted by the Phillis Wheatley Community Center. The center says the fourth annual event will honor a total of four community leaders and raise funds for upward mobility and sustainability programs, according to the Greenville Journal.
A Sit-In That Started It All
Jackson was born in Greenville in 1941, and his path toward national civil rights leadership started there as well. He was part of the Greenville Eight, a group that staged a sit-in at the segregated Greenville County Public Library, according to FOX Carolina's report. On July 16, 1960, Jackson — then an 18-year-old college freshman — and seven high school students from Sterling High occupied the whites-only main branch, an act that led to their arrest, per the Zinn Education Project.
The protest was personal for Jackson. The Zinn Education Project's account, corroborated by American Libraries Magazine, notes that the movement traced back to January, when Jackson returned home from the University of Illinois on college break and was denied access to a research book he needed at the segregated, single-room Black library branch on East McBee Avenue. A librarian at the Black branch told him he would have to wait six days for the book to arrive through inter-branch request, American Libraries Magazine reports.
That was not the first attempt to desegregate the library. A group of 20 Black high school students had already tried to integrate the main branch on March 1, 1960, only to have officials close the library rather than admit them, according to BlackPast.org. The July sit-in that followed months later finally forced the issue.
Charges Dropped, Libraries Reopened
After their arrest, the Greenville Eight were represented by Donald J. Sampson, Greenville's first Black lawyer, who secured the dismissal of all charges, according to the ACLU of South Carolina. The city council had briefly shut down the public libraries rather than integrate them before ultimately voting to reopen them on an integrated basis, the ACLU notes. The sit-in eventually led to the integration of the Greenville County library system, an outcome FOX Carolina's report also confirms, with the city libraries reopening desegregated on September 19, 1960, per the Zinn Education Project.
Greenville has continued to formalize that legacy in 2026. Local officials dedicated a section of Haynie Street — where Jackson was born — as Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. Street, according to the Post and Courier. The street naming itself was authorized years earlier, by the South Carolina General Assembly in May 2022, the paper notes.
A Century-Old Institution Honors Its Own
The Phillis Wheatley Community Center hosting the luncheon has its own deep roots in Greenville's Black community. It was established in 1919 by educator Hattie Logan Duckett as an academic and social center for young Black women, according to the Greenville Journal. The center continues to serve Greenville.
Jackson joins a list of past honorees that reflects the center's reach across South Carolina public life. Previous Hall of Fame inductees include former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, late State Senator Ralph Anderson, and John McCorroll, per the Greenville Journal's earlier coverage. The Hall of Fame Champions honors people from varied backgrounds.
Prince Collaborator Set for Evening Concert
The evening's concert will feature Marshall Charloff as special musical guest, according to FOX Carolina. Charloff co-founded the Prince tribute group The Purple xPeRIeNCE in 2011 alongside Prince & The Revolution keyboardist Dr. Fink, and he wrote and produced music for the Commodores, the release notes. Concert tickets are on sale, FOX Carolina reports.
Jackson's death in February drew tributes in Greenville. But the October luncheon returns his story to its origin point — a teenager who could not get a library book, and the community institution built decades earlier to make sure young Black Greenville residents had a place to learn regardless of what the segregated system allowed.
