Personal Injury Attorney in Kingstree, SC

(WPDE) — Ruby Cooper Graham of Kingstree is celebrating her 103rd birthday.

Mrs. Graham’s family held a big dinner and party for her on Valentine’s Day.

The South Carolina Senate issued a resolution this week in honor of Graham’s 103rd birthday.

The resolution reads:

“Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to learn that Ruby Cooper Graham celebrated this important milestone on February 2, 2026, and

Whereas, a native of Kingstree, Mrs. Graham was born on February 2, 1923, to parents Grant and Penia Cooper. She is an alumna of Williamsburg County Public Schools; and

Whereas, Mrs. Graham married the late George Graham Sr. in 1939, and together they had seven children, George, Jr., Lulether, Lydis, Joe Elvis, Jesse James, Carolyn, and Ruby Verlene. Mrs. Graham's husband, George Sr., passed away in 1968, leaving her to finish raising their children. She is still his widow to this day; and

Whereas, a devout Christian, she is a lifelong member of Elijah Methodist Church. During her tenure at Elijah, she served as Church Class Leader and a member of the United Methodist Women. Mrs. Graham now reigns as the "Mother" of Elijah United Methodist church; and

Whereas, in addition to her five surviving children, Mrs. Graham has fourteen grandchildren, twenty-eight great-grandchildren, and eleven great-great-grandchildren; and

Whereas, in her free time, Mrs. Graham enjoys gardening, watching gospel programs, listening to gospel music, hosting Sunday dinners, spending time with family and friends, and sharing words of wisdom to all; and

Whereas, Mrs. Graham has witnessed the rise of indoor plumbing and bathrooms, electric and gas stoves, color picture televisions, microwave ovens, computers, cell phones, and the first Black president of the United States. As the oldest living member, she is pillar of her community; and

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate takes great pleasure in honoring this daughter of South Carolina at the celebration of her one hundred third birthday and is pleased to join with her family and friends in congratulating her. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate Ruby Cooper Graham on the occasion of her one hundred third birthday and wish her a joyous birthday celebration and much happiness in the days ahead.”

To honor of the life + legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and in observance of MLK Day, we dug into his ties to the Lowcountry. More specifically, his ties to South Carolina.

Here’s some Palmetto State-centric history about the civil rights leader:

King visited the state capital to give an honorary banquet at the Township Auditorium on September 28, 1959.

While in town for a few days, he delivered an address at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the Township.

In 1962, the civil rights leader visited Charleston’s Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church to speak to about the importance of registering to vote. There were ~3,000 people in attendance.

King was also in Charleston five years later. On July 30, 1967, he gave a speech:

“We live in America. We have to face the fact that, honestly, racial discrimination is present. So don’t get complacent. We made some strides. We made some progress here and there and it hasn’t been enough. It hasn’t been fast enough. We still have a long, long, way to go.”

Decades later, a Summerville family found a recording of the 1967 speech:

The 40 minute recording was found in a box and included the civil rights leader saying, “[They] said I came to Charleston to start a riot, been here a week organizing. As much as I talk about love, how could anybody accuse me of organizing a riot?”

On May 8, 1966, King spoke at Tomlinson High School to encourage voter participation in elections. He urged voters in the state to protect + expand civil rights with a “march on the ballot boxes.”

In 2019, a rare recording of one of his Charleston speeches sold for $68,000 in a civil rights auction in New York City. The speech includes King’s calls for the crowd to help build the Black community.