A hand-operated embossing machine used by Claflin University. The exterior is painted black, with paint chipping away throughout surface. The embosser stands flat on a beveled base that is curved on two opposing sides, each containing a hole through the base at the end. The mechanism has a long, rounded lever, with a silver plated top on the end, hinged at the body of the embosser on the opposite side, with a spring element underneath, and is used to push the cylinder element into whatever material will be embossed. Below the cylindrical element, there is a two-tiered base, the bottom being circular with relief type (illegible) on the top, the other sitting on the top curved with straight ends in an oblong shape. There is a slit for the material being embossed to slide into between the pedestal and the cylinder. The main body of embosser has a relief 5-point star, painted red, with gold lines coming off of it, on both sides.
The oral history consists of ten digital files: 2011.174.43.1a, 2011.174.43.1b, 2011.174.43.1c, 2011.174.43.1d, 2011.174.43.1e, 2011.174.43.1f, 2011.174.43.1g, 2011.174.43.1h, 2011.174.43.1i, and 2011.174.43.1j.
Thomas Gaither, Ph. D. recalls growing up in Great Falls, South Carolina, attending Claflin College, and leading the college's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter. He remembers the student sit-ins in Orangeburg, South Carolina, joining the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and being arrested for protesting in Hollywood, Florida. He discusses organizing the Freedom Rides, his belief in nonviolence, and earning his Ph. D. in biology at the University of Iowa.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in partnership with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress