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Oral History: Jack Bass

Remembering eyewitnesses to history

Oral History of S.C. Newspapers

Jack Bass

Journalist, Author, Professor
Charleston, SC

Reporter visits South Carolina State University days before the Orangeburg Massacre

Bass tells of his experience deep in the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina, from the Orangeburg Massacre to Strom Thurmond.

Video Interview

This video has been edited for length. If you’d like to listen to the full raw audio from our interview with Jack Bass, contact SCPA.

Photo Gallery

Jack Bass
Jack Bass
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Bass featured with some of his published books in his USC office, circa early 1980s.
1956: Jack Bass in uniform while attending Officer Candidate School
1956: Jack Bass in uniform while attending Officer Candidate School
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1978: Jack Bass meeting with Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill
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Jack Bass with Sen. Dale Bumpers in 1978.
1970: Bass upon the publication of his book, The Orangeburg Massacre, with the South Carolina State House in the background. (Photo by Bill Barley).
1970: Bass upon the publication of his book, The Orangeburg Massacre, with the S.C. Statehouse in the background. (Photo by Bill Barley).
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Circa 1972 with Gov. John C. West, upon publication of Porgy Comes Home.
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Jack Bass with his parents, circa 1950.
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1978: Bass as a candidate for Congress from South Carolina.
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Jack Bass in 1993, upon publication of his book Taming the Storm.
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1978: Jack Bass, as a candidate for Congress from South Carolina, with President Jimmy Carter.
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The staff of USC's student newspaper, The Gamecock. Bass (seated front) was managing editor.

Related Links

Biography

Born: Columbia, SC

Newspaper History:

  • News and Courier
  • The West Ashley Journal
  • The Columbia Record
  • The State 

Honors and Awards: 

  • South Carolina Journalist of the Year
  • American Library Association’s “Notable Books for Adults List” for The Transfomation of Southern Politics
  • Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for Taming the Storm

Education:

  • University of South Carolina
  • Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
  • Ph.D. Emory University

Military Service: U.S. Navy

Family: Wife, Nathalie Dupree

Books:

  • Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond
  • Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. and the South’s Fight over Civil Rights
  • The Orangeburg Massacre
  • Unlikely Heroes
  • The Transformation of Southern Politics

SCPA's oral history project is dedicated to preserving the heritage of our state's journalists and newspapers.

View other interviews

This program is funded by the South Carolina Humanities Council, whose mission is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. This program is co-sponsored by the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.