Bill Text: SC S1157 | 2013-2014 | 120th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-03-25 - Introduced and adopted [S1157 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2013-S1157-Introduced.html
A SENATE RESOLUTION
TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE MANIGAULT-HURLEY FUNERAL HOME TO THE MIDLANDS AND TO BID FAREWELL TO THIS HISTORICAL COLUMBIA BUSINESS AND LANDMARK.
Whereas, after almost a century of service, the Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home, the oldest family-owned funeral home in Columbia, closed its doors on March 15, 2014; and
Whereas, serving generations of African-Americans for more than ninety years, the Hurley family decided that the family-owned business would have to close; and
Whereas, the socially prominent family, now headed by Alice and Tony Hurley, and their proud business had deep roots in Columbia and provided vital community services from the distinguished edifice on Two Notch Road; and
Whereas, in 1923, William Manigault, a tailor, established the funeral home in downtown Columbia on Washington Street, one of four black undertaking establishments in Columbia; and
Whereas, Mr. Manigault expanded his entrepreneurial efforts to include the Congaree Casket Company, and during the Great Depression it employed more black people than any other black-owned business in the Palmetto State; and
Whereas, his daughter, Annie Mae Manigault, who was one of the first women to be licensed as an embalmer in South Carolina, carried on the family business for fifty years before her son assumed its leadership; and
Whereas, in 1959, the funeral home moved to Two Notch Road in a modest church building, and Tony Hurley continued the business while he and his devoted wife of 54 years reared their three children as he had been reared, in the family business; and
Whereas, although two of the children were credentialed to assume the family business at an early age, their later career decisions foreshadowed the eventual sale of the firm. Today Brian Hurley is a local physician, Kelly Hurley is a fundraiser in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Michelle Hurley serves as a family court judge in Columbia; and
Whereas, the South Carolina Morticians Association, a professional organization for black-owned funeral homes, recognizes Manigault-Hurley as the oldest black-owned funeral home in Columbia; and
Whereas, the family has graciously offered to donate the Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home's record books to the South Caroliniana Library, records which contain family histories that may not be verified elsewhere; and
Whereas, spanning four generations, the handwritten ledgers include records of a client's birth date, birth place, occupation, address, and cause of death, and include survivors, funeral arrangements, costs, and burial sites. Some of the old books contain notes of payments made with vegetables or livestock; and
Whereas, the South Carolina Senate is grateful for the legacy of excellence and caring that the Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home has left to the Columbia community. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, recognize and honor the outstanding contributions of the Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home to the Midlands and bid farewell to this historical Columbia business and landmark.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Alice and Anthony Manigault Hurley.
